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Stress Relief

Robert Rickover

Articles

Animals, Fitness and Us

Joseph Pilates and F. Matthias Alexander, two pioneers in the field of somatic education, derived inspiration from their observation of animals. Just what is it that animals can teach us?

The Dark Side of Fitness

Fitness programs and competitive sports can be harmful to your health. This article explores some of the reasons.

F.M. - The Life of Frederick Matthias Alexander, Founder of the Alexander Technique

This new biography of F. Matthias Alexander, the developer of the Alexander Technique is well worth reading by anyone interested in the man, and the development of his ideas.

The Alexander Technique and Tai Chi

Some parallels between the principles of Tai Chi and the Alexander Technique are explored. If you are a Tai Chi practitioner, this article could be very helpful for you.

Asthma -- A Breath of Fresh Air

A Johns Hopkins Medical Center Study casts new light on the causes of asthma, and suggests that the kind of reeducation offered by the Alexander Technique could have beneficial effects.

Pilates and Me

F. M. Alexander is considered by many to be the “grandfather” of somatic education and as such has had a profound influence on how we think about mind, body and movement. Joseph Pilates’ work has, in the past few years, had a huge impact on our thinking about fitness. This article ...

Be Here Now!

You only truly live in the present moment. And the Alexander Technique one of the best ways to truly appreciate this fact.

The Alexander Technique - A Resource for Reversing Back Pain and Continued Self-Care

A Physical Therapist and teacher of the Alexander Technique gives some advice for backpain sufferers.

Feeling, Seeing, and Right Political Action

The danger of relying on our feelings to make political decisions is explored in this article.

Feeling, Seeing and Effective Self-Improvement

This article explores the dangers of relying in an uncritical way on our feelings when we decide to make changes in our lives.

Get Out of (Your Own!) Way

Our exercises and fitness programs can actually make things worse for us when we fail to address our harmful habits of posture and movement. The insights of the Alexander Technique can help us avoid that trap.

Fear of Falling - How the Alexander Technique can Help

The risk of falling is a serious issue for many older people. The Alexander Technique can often lessen that risk.

Aging Well with the Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique can make a huge difference in the lives of older adults. This article explains how.

“Let There be Light”

What can we learn from God's choice of words as He commands the creation of the earth? This article explores this question, with a special emphasis on posture improvement.

“Strengthen Ye the Weak Hands”

The connection between hands and healing, which many of us today take for granted, has not always been well understood or utilized. Some aspects of their relationship are explored in this article.

Improve Your Posture by Doing Less

We tend to think that posture improvement requires us to work harder. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Yoga, Posture and the Alexander Technique

"This is a story of how I found a Yoga study guide to compliment my learning of the Alexander Technique." - Mary Albro

Fitness Quality and the Alexander Technique

Many fitness programs today - particularly aerobics training - ignore the way in which we use of bodies when we exercise. This article explores ways in which the Alexander Technique can help.

Taking a Stand with Awareness

Jack was a sloucher, Bill a stiff over-straightener. Both were blissfully unaware of how they stood and sat until severe backpain forced them to take a fresh look at themselves.

How to Do Things Better

How the Alexander Technique can help you perform your daily activities more skillfully, safely and efficiently.

The Alexander Technique - Taking the Pressure off Your Body

There's a growing understanding of the importance of good posture, but very little understanding of how to achieve it. The Alexander Technique is a time-tested method of teaching ways to restore our natural balance, flexibility and ease of movement.

Backpacks, Kids, and Us

Overloaded backpacks, in combination with poorly designed school furniture, are putting are kids' health at risk.

The Alexander Technique - A Unique Perspective on Fitness

There are a great many methods designed to improve our physical functioning. This article illustrates some of the unique, and powerful, qualities of the Alexander Technique.

Skill and Success - The Careers of Nellie Bly and F. Matthias Alexander

The lives of Nellie Bly and F. Matthias Alexander illustrate how a single individual can make a huge difference in the lives of many others.

Technology and Us

It has become common to talk about the best use of technology. But how about the best use of the human beings who must work with that technology?

The Alexander Technique and Sports Performance

Boston Alexander Technique teacher Adam Bailey explains how the Technique can help improve your athletic performance skills and reduce the risk of injury.

Posture Miseducation in our Schools

The posture advice given to our kids in school is almost always useless - sometimes even harmful. And this advice is inflicted upon them as they are forced to use desks and chairs practically guaranteed to harm their posture!

The Missing Ingredient in Education

We all know people who keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Is there a way our schools can give students the tools they need to say "no" to harmful choices? John Dewey, the American educational reformer, believed the work of F. Matthias Alexander offered a practical answer.

Backpacks and School Furniture - Threats to Our Children's Wellbeing

By neglecting the effects of heavy backpacks and poorly-designed school furniture, we may be harming our children's health.

Nirvana in your Neck

Learning how to release harmful tension in your neck can have far-reaching consequences, both physical and mental.

Learning How to Stop

When things aren't going well in our lives, we often feel the need to change something. But how can we be sure the change we have in mind will be useful? That it won't make matters worse? This article suggests an entirely different strategy for dealing with problems.

A Different Approach to Fitness

Recent trends in fitness may have created some new problems of their own. This article explains why.

Children's Posture

Most posture-related ailments suffered by adults can be traced back to harmful habits developed during childhood. The challenge is how to effectively help children to release those habits.

Horse Sense and Sensibility

How much do we really know about what's going on in animals' minds? How much do they understand us? The Alexander Technique provides a fascinating framework within which to explore this question.

Flexibility in Five Minutes a Day

If you'd like to become more flexibile, the simple, efficient and effective method described in this article might just do the trick!

The Alexander Technique and Focusing

A teacher trained in both methods explains how they can complement each other in helping clients shed unwanted habits.

Know Thyself - Habits, Self-Knowledge and our Future

Today we have more information, tools and power at our disposal than ever before in human history. Why are we so often unable to use these advantages in ways that benefit the human race?

The Alexander Technique and the Tomatis Method

the Alexander Technique and the Tomatis Method are recognized as having an extraordinarily wide range of beneficial effects - physical, mental and even spiritual - which extend well beyond the original motivation of their developers.

Learning the Alexander Technique Without a Teacher

Some practical suggestions for anyone wanting to benefit from the discoveries of F. Matthias Alexander without the help of a trained teacher.

Dewey and Me

John Dewey is not exactly a household name although he had an enormous influence on American education. He also had a profound understanding of the importance of F. M. Alexander's discoveries, and of the Alexander Technique.

Fitness Without the Flaws

Are there ways to achieve physical fitness without the dangers inherent in many of today's fitness programs? Somatic, or movement-oriented, methods can provide a major part of the answer through their emphasis on the quality of how we use or bodies.


IT and Us - The Segway and Human Balance

The Segway is an impressive device that may revolutionize the way we travel about. But it also reminds us that our own structure is even more impressive.

Mind-Body Unity: A Practical Approach

Mind-Body unity has become somewhat of a cliche in recent years. The Alexander Technique is, among other things, a practical and time tested method of discovering this unity in yourself.


The Alexander Technique and Psychological Growth

Through the Alexander Technique, we can learn to face the inevitable stresses of life without adding to the stress and tension in our body.

Habits: Friends or Foes?

Habits are essential to the smooth running of our lives. But harmful habits can cause us no end of misery. How do we identify these harmful habits - and how can we learn to let them go?

A "Stiffnecked People"

God railed against the "stiffnecked people" when they built a built a golden calf and began worshiping it. Why did He choose this particular phrase?


The New Physical Education

The New Pysical Education movement makes some important changes for the better. Unfortunately, it still largely ignores the whole question of movement quality.

The Pitfalls of High Heels

Wearing high heels can cause all sorts of problems with your balance and coordination, not to mention pain and discomfort. Here are the reasons for this, and some practical alternatives

Common Misconceptions about the Alexander Technqiue

People who have heard about the Alexander Technique sometimes have serious misconceptions about what it is. This article explores several of the most common of these.


Operating Instructions for Human Beings

Our body is the most complicated piece of equipment we'll even need to know how to operate. Yet it doesn't even come with an Owner's Manual. What can we do about this?


Posture Commands - Why they don't Work

We've all been told good posture is important for good health. But the advice to "stand (or sit) up straight" is often worse than useless.

On Coming to Terms with the "P" Word

A physical therapist looks at what constitutes good posture, and how we can achieve it.


Reflections on Narcissus and Alexander

Both Narcissus and F. M. Alexander spent a lot of time looking at their reflections. The former was a tragic figure who eventually lost his life to his obsession; the later used his observations to create one of the most powerful methods of self-transformation available.

Repetitive Strain Injuries - What We Can Learn From Musicians

Because of the nature of their work, musicians are much more likely than most people to suffer Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI's). Of necessity they have become experts in effective ways to overcome RSI and the experience of many of them with the Alexander Technique is a valuable guide to anyone who ...

The Alexander Technique and Me - One Student's Experience

How lessons in the Alexander Technique helped an accident victim with her recovery and with her fybromalgia.

Learning from Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods set about to improve his swing at a time when he was the best golfer in the world. What are the lessons we can learn from his experience?


Here and Now!

The only time to make useful changes in yourself is the present moment. The Alexander Technique is a powerful way to learn how to be present with yourself.

Chairs, Posture, Ergonomics and the Alexander Technique

Why looking for the "perfect chair" may not be as important as learning how to look after your own posture and coordination.

The Alexander Technique and Early Childhood Education

How children acquire harmful habits of posture and movement in the classroom

How Children Develop Harmful Posture and Movement Habits

Ways in which we acquire harmful habits of posture and movement are explored.


What Happens During an Alexander Technique Lesson or Group Class

Basic information about Alexander Technique lessons and classes.

Introduction to the Alexander Technique

Introduction to the Alexander Technique