Recent Discussions — The Alexander Technique Forums https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/ Wed, 13 May 2026 10:10:08 +0000 en Recent Discussions — The Alexander Technique Forums Question - sleeping position https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/79/question-sleeping-position Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:07:06 +0000 Learning Jimmie 79@/index.php?p=/discussions Question - pain in the sitting bone https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/76/question-pain-in-the-sitting-bone Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:35:16 +0000 Please read the student 76@/index.php?p=/discussions
when i sit i usually lean back on the back support when i sit like i should with the AT i get a pain feeling in my sitting bones - i feel like they are sitting on the chair and there is no muscle under them like just the bone and it hurts]]> Pilates and Alexander Technique https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/49/pilates-and-alexander-technique Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:26:17 +0000 Learning alan 49@/index.php?p=/discussions
In that time I have not progressed much at all, as a result I am thinking of doing Pilates to complement the AT lessons.

However, my AT teacher warns against doing pilates becuase he says it only stengthens and therefore shortens the muscles in the stomach area, and long term pliates practice can lead to kyphosis. Surely this cannot be true !]]> Running and the Alexander Technique https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/13/running-and-the-alexander-technique Tue, 07 Mar 2006 02:58:21 +0000 Links dod 13@/index.php?p=/discussions http://www.theartofrunning.com/malcolmbalk/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/03/07/hrun04.xml&sSheet=/health/2006/03/07/ixhmain.html]]> The Will to Perceive https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/78/the-will-to-perceive Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:46:53 +0000 Learning Lawrence Smith 78@/index.php?p=/discussions
http://www.alexandertechnique-running.com/?page_id=459]]> Alexander Technique in a corporate setting https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/77/alexander-technique-in-a-corporate-setting Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:41:55 +0000 Teaching maryderby 77@/index.php?p=/discussions
I am about to embark on a journey of creating an Alexander practice at a large corporation. Yes I am very excited !! I know that there are other teachers who are doing this but I cannot seem to find them!
I would like to ask questions about setting up a program...etc, etc.....So please respond if you have experience, advice or ideas!

Thank you!
Mary]]> Research into Alexander Technique https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/68/research-into-alexander-technique Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:08:07 +0000 Please read Matty30 68@/index.php?p=/discussions Best/earliest age to start learning? https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/64/best-earliest-age-to-start-learning Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:09:18 +0000 Learning Matty30 64@/index.php?p=/discussions For any parent wanting to give their child the best opportunity in life, I would like to hear what everybody thinks is the best/earliest age for them to start learning? (i.e paying for private lessons for them)

Also, although i am not a teacher, i would like to know do teachers teach their own children? One teacher said to me they dont know any that do because it's quite intrusive. Personally, i would have liked to have grown getting lessons from my mum or dad. my old teacher before i moved, used to give sessons to her grandkids after me, they loved it, they were about 7 years old and would run in saying 'can i get on the table, nanny?!' in excitement.

thanks]]> Lack of facial and cranial development https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/61/lack-of-facial-and-cranial-development Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:50:16 +0000 Please read Michael 61@/index.php?p=/discussions
Could poor use be related to poor cranial development (evidenced in facial features) and to failure of the middle third of the face and the lower mandible to develop properly? This must surely change the whole balance of the head, and have knock-on effects throughout the body.

Why do so many people in "developed" countries need dental braces and have impacted wisdom teeth?

There's an American dentist, who was chairman of the research committee of the American Dental Association in the 1930s who had an interesting answer to this one. At the time it was thought that this must be due to "racial mixing" -- people thought almost everything was down to "race" in those days. They thought maybe a individual might have got his teeth from one "race" and his jaw from another, so that they didn't match. Price said not. He toured all around the globe looking at hunter-gatherer populations, even then disappearing, and found that living in the traditional state they had perfect, or near-perfect teeth, well-formed dental arches, and broad well-formed faces. As soon as they begun to get hold of modern foodstuffs, such as sugar and white flour, their children started to get rotten teeth -- and more than that dental arches that didn't form properly, thin narrow faces with constricted nostrils, and receding chins where the jaw hadn't developed. So it couldn't be "racial". Price said the problem had to be dietary. He found, in fact, that contrary to today's wisdom a diet high in fat-soluble vitamins (A & D) -- and hence in animal fats -- seemed to be a good thing nutritionally. All over the world wherever there were hunter-gatherer groups living on traditional diets, he found the levels of the fat soluble vitamins in the diets of *all* these groups were *ten* times as high as in the American diet of his day. (The levels of A & D are probably even lower in the average Western diet these days.)

So how about this as an explanation for some of the bad use around?

As a footnote to that, why is eyesight so much poorer with us than it is with primitives? (E.g., notice what Darwin says about the eyesight of the Tierra del Fuegians in _The Voyage of the Beagle_ -- but one could multiply references here)

Here is what one dentist says:

"Another sign of poor facial development can be detected in the eyes. When someone is looking straight at you and you can see the sclera or white of the eye, that is a tip off to a very, very under developed upper jaw and mid-facial area."

Here's an article specifically on cranial development (or the lack of it) and what the author says is its relation to general physical health and what Alexander people would call "use".

http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/facial-development.html

Here's Weston Price's original book:

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/pricetoc.html

Some startling sets of pictures in there -- such as the pictures of the little Swiss girls from the remote Loetschental Valley with perfect teeth, broad strong faces, and large open nostrils. (The people were, apparently very strong and well formed in the body -- and no wonder the Popes chose to have a Swiss guard!) Girls from a valley a little nearer to what we fondly think of as "civilization" show rotten teeth, narrow faces, and pinched nostrils.

So what thoughts have people got on this? It looks like there's something there to me.]]> End-Gaining 2 https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/15/end-gaining-2 Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:30:36 +0000 Learning Malcolm 15@/index.php?p=/discussions Alexander Technique question https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/52/alexander-technique-question Wed, 26 Dec 2007 06:36:10 +0000 Learning Matty30 52@/index.php?p=/discussions
Does anyone else out there doing the technique feel the same?

I know any AT teachers would say stop end-gaining during sex. Easy said than done. It seems when it comes to 'fight or flight' then Im in fight mode during sex. Over time things have got better and I feel things will continue to improve.

Any teacher's /students views would be much appreciated!]]> AT & OOBE https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/75/at-oobe Sat, 09 Apr 2011 09:55:46 +0000 Please read Matty30 75@/index.php?p=/discussions head going forward and up back lengthening and widening https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/74/head-going-forward-and-up-back-lengthening-and-widening Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:20:01 +0000 Learning rajesh_chirala_2006 74@/index.php?p=/discussions =========================================================
i think the head goes forward and up in relation to
the torso goes forward and up in relation to
the pelvis goes back and up in relation to
the knees goes forward and away from the pelvis

then the shoulders float at their balance location at the back of the torso.
=========================================================================
is this correct or any modification needed.?????????????????????]]> The Lost Sixth Sense https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/73/the-lost-sixth-sense Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:13:34 +0000 Please read Matty30 73@/index.php?p=/discussions 10 myths about Alexander technique https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/72/10-myths-about-alexander-technique Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:30:25 +0000 Please read Matty30 72@/index.php?p=/discussions MRCP II MADE EASY https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/71/mrcp-ii-made-easy Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:46:48 +0000 Please read kay halloway 71@/index.php?p=/discussions My husband who is a musician loves it as well as my two kids as each story is like a series of House MD. He describes the FRMI ( long before SALT ) and the importance of mindfulness in one's posture as well as the fact that the human body can pharmaceutically synthesize all the drugs needed on an organic basis. I hope that this is helpful and supportive of a field which has the patronage of The Prince of Wales.]]> Alexander Technique and hormones https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/70/alexander-technique-and-hormones Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:19:20 +0000 Please read Matty30 70@/index.php?p=/discussions Should it ever be painful? https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/69/should-it-ever-be-painful Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:59:51 +0000 Please read harriet 69@/index.php?p=/discussions STAT https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/2/stat Sat, 14 May 2005 07:24:34 +0000 Links dod 2@/index.php?p=/discussions
www.stat.co.uk]]> Changing the way you talk... https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/35/changing-the-way-you-talk Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:59:05 +0000 Learning Angel 35@/index.php?p=/discussions
We were writing on the introduction thread when dod made an observation about himself as he was reading someone else's story...

dod wrote:
A personal trait of my own surfaced as I was reading your post. I thought I saw where it was going (you were walking towards a reflection of yourself) and responded to that before I had got more than half way.

I find I do that a lot of the time, especially when people are talking to me. I then take over their part of the conversation, just to ensure it goes the way I have anticipated.

dod, I agree that our mannerisms of style tend to take over, just to be on the safe side. :lol:

There seems to be a rainbow of timing and second-guessing that is much more distinctly divergent in people's styles of speaking than anyone would first imagine. Also, they can be surprising similarities. For instance, I'm from a Californian subculture - and dod is not. We Californians tend to interrupt other people to show that we are in rapport with others. We Californians as a group also tend to finish sentences and imagine where speakers are going with their important points of meaning.

CA speakers also allow others to interrupt us, and suffer possibly never getting out what we meant to say. We tend to allow ourselves to be too easily interrupted and distracted.

Nicholas (dod) and I would be a very exaggerated combination - because he would interrupt me, I would interrupt him, and neither of us would get out what we meant to say. In fact, we'd probably be incorrigible together!

Why change a thing such as this about the way we speak? Sometimes we are talking to others who speak the same language, but grew up in other subcultures. Where I live it's not as obvious as the differences between the Brits and USA cultures, but more unique and subtle. It's as if each person's family grew up in their own subculture. Someone might see interrupting as an example of disrespect. So, for people such as that, it would be handy to stop ourselves from interrupting others, or to just be flexible.

But...dod and I wouldn't want to do that. This situation used to happen to me quite a bit, and it wasn't even dod's fault. :oops:

Putting my challenges into a positive question, (another way I've changed my style of speaking) I'd ask something for that purpose like this:

How could I provide for the warm fuzzy feelings of rapport through interrupting and also remember what the two of us were saying despite having both gone gladly off on an interesting tangent?

One solution that worked for me was to temporarily carry around a little notepad. When I'd get interrupted, (or when I was in a group of people who all wanted to talk,) I'd write down my point. Then I could be patient until I could eventually get my point out, because I wasn't likely to forget something I'd noted. This exercise of using a notepad made me interrupt people much less and be more patient to hear what they were saying. It also made me unashamedly be interrupted and gladly follow any tangent. Eventually, my ability to retain my point past being distracted from it grew wider as my memory improved through the use of this notepad, and now I no longer needed the notepad for that purpose.]]> Footwear https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/59/footwear Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:17:10 +0000 Please read Michael 59@/index.php?p=/discussions
The issue of unsuitable running shoes seems to be slowly emerging into public consciousness thanks partly to the book _Born to Run_ by Christopher McDougall. This had some fairly good reviews in the press one of which, in the _Daily Mail_, was linked quite widely:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html

Then one finds out there's a fair bit going on. Some sports people are going barefoot or experimenting with the Vibram FiveFingers footgloves. Terra Plana, started by a "rogue member" of the Clarks family is actually (unlike Clarks) offering shoes that don't hurt the foot. (Interestingly, it turns out his "Vivo" shoes emerged out of a suggestion made by the Alexander teacher Richard Brennan to his son -- that he play tennis barefoot.)

And reading around and following links, one eventually finds there's a can of worms here. It's not just sports shoes. There's a fair bit of research out there implicating ordinary shoes in foot (and probably ankle, knee, and hip) damage. For example, there is this study from the University of the Witwatersrand:

http://web.wits.ac.za/NewsRoom/NewsItems/feet.htm

From the perspective of the shoes, not the feet, there are also some interesting articles from a Dr. Rossi, who seems to have been a podiatrist, a contributor to the Encylopaedia Britannica, and an advisor to the shoe industry -- and one has to wonder why they're not taking his advice.

This is perhaps his most enlightening article:

http://nwfootankle.com/files/rossiWhyShoesMakeNormalGaitImpossible.pdf

But there are more here (including "Children’s Footwear: Launching Site for Adult Foot Ills"):

http://nwfootankle.com/home/FootHealth/drill/2/110

Among the things I learnt were:

* that "toespring" (a device to compensate for inflexible soles) intereferes with gait;

* that most shoes are built on the wrong axis;

* that most are too narrow, forcing the toes in;

* that most lasts deliberately (and unforgivably) create a kind of dip intended to allow the middle of the ball of the foot to sink, so that narrower shoes can be worn;

* that most are too heavy (12 oz. for women 14-16 oz. for men would be better);

* that while women's shoes are worse and more foot-distorting, in some respects men's shoes are worse than women's, being more enclosed (thereby allowing less free movement and less circulation of air -- as well as interefing with blood supply if laced tight), heavier, and with thicker and less flexible soles;

* that "Relative to body height, a one-inch heel worn by a child of seven is the equivalent of a two-inch heel worn by an adult. So almost all children above age seven are wearing “high” heels the equivalent of two inches in height -- and neither the shoe industry nor the doctors has any idea of this absurdity occurring before their eyes".


I hardly know what to say. It's truly staggering. If people only knew, the rage against tobacco companies would be nothing to how they'd feel about the shoe industry. So far as they know, their feet hurt a bit. What they don't perceive is that their footwear could be causing bone damage (c.f. the South African study) and making natural gait impossible. The only acceptable shoe from the podiatric point of view, might be something like the North American Indian moccasin -- no heel, wide, soft material, flexible sole.

One thing that surprises me is that I've never heard much on shoes from Alexander people. There's the odd remark about ladies' high-heels, and there's the injunction to remove your shoes at the start of a lesson. That seems to be about it. I can't even recall any comments in any of F. M. Alexander's books.'

But it looks like shoes have a lot to do with how the natural gait becomes messed up -- in Rossi's words "Shoes Make 'Normal' Gait Impossible". If chairs are one of the worse things we do to children, I have to wonder if putting them in the currently available crop of shoes is perhaps *the* worst.]]> Become ambidextrous? https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/67/become-ambidextrous Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:19:33 +0000 Please read Matty30 67@/index.php?p=/discussions 'No direction' teaching https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/66/no-direction-teaching Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:21:51 +0000 Teaching Matty30 66@/index.php?p=/discussions The England Cricket team and other sports. https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/65/the-england-cricket-team-and-other-sports Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:27:56 +0000 Learning Matty30 65@/index.php?p=/discussions Im listening to the Ashes on the radio and the commentors are making big deal of the England players, especially Bell, looking nervous and playing very nervously.
I was wondering what an alexander technique lesson prior to the start would have on the players?
Should they all get lessons before a match?
Is a sudden introduction to the technique prior to sporting event a good idea?
I would think it could make them more relaxed and more focussed.
However, my teacher once said that at the beginning of learning the technique, it can change someones performance for the worse. Specifically, What I mean by that is, I said I was going to play Snooker and he said it could make it my shots slightly harder due to the changes to the balance to my body, in other words, I would still be used to the old way but my new movement would be doing the shots.
So if this the case, would someone involved with 'precision sports' like Stephen Hendry be best to start learning the technique AFTER their careers have finished as oppose to the middle of their career, to avoid a potential dip in form (and loss of earnings)?

Also, the same question goes to other sports like long distance running, boxing etc?
Surely with endurance sports, the sooner they start learning the better?

thanks]]> Arms-Control Breakdown https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/63/arms-control-breakdown Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:56:01 +0000 Please read Michael 63@/index.php?p=/discussions
"... it’s really about a culture gone insane, favoring victory over health and ambition over balance. Our relationship with sports and youth sports in particular has become a cultural obsessive-compulsive disorder. We would be right to call it a form of socially-accepted child abuse, except that we, as adults, treat ourselves in a similar fashion, driving ourselves far past the point of balance."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09littleleague-t.html]]> Wave Stool https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/62/wave-stool Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:52:03 +0000 Links decoy 62@/index.php?p=/discussions
I do suffer from occasional lower back pain and I suspect my sitting habits contribute to this.]]> does the right thing do itself? https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/60/does-the-right-thing-do-itself Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:46:18 +0000 Alternative views alex 60@/index.php?p=/discussions
The phrase implies:
1) that there is a "right thing" waiting to happen
2) that it is innate, so you don't really have to learn it.

The phrase is, in my opinion, intimately connected with the concept of a primary control.

However, from what I've read, reflex patterns are malleable at the deepest levels. This suggests that when you learn a habit, you learn it at the deepest level. Therefore unlearning a habit also requires learning something new at the deepest level.

I can see that in practice, it is helpful to tell people that "the right thing does itself" to basically calm them down. Most people tighten up when they think about changing a habit. If the goal is to reduce excess tension and increase efficiency, then tightening up is just the wrong response. So it is helpful for these people to think that there is a right thing just waiting for them as they let go of a pattern of postural tone basically to keep them calm.

But taking the phrase literally may fly in the face of physiology.

The alternative view is that we are nothing more than a collection adaptations to our environment. Some of these adaptations may not work so well in the long run and need to be reconsidered if we want to get the most out of life and/or reduce chronic pain. But the process of change will require taking a smart look about what patterns you want to change, as well as how and why you want to go about changing them.

So . . . what do people think - does the right thing REALLY do itself, or is it just a useful image? What does it really mean?
And . . . can you be a true Alexandrian without believing that the right thing does itself?]]> Dizzy (during session) https://at.dodman.org/index.php?p=/discussion/58/dizzy-during-session Sun, 31 May 2009 18:12:29 +0000 Please read bradls 58@/index.php?p=/discussions fainted, had the sensation of blacking out preceded by a long moment of nausea.
We took a rest, I got flushed and began a cold sweat. Ok, I was freaked. My
teacher was surprised and said it was odd for a young person in good physical
shape and health to experience this but said not to worry, that it sometimes
happens.

Anyone ever have this happen before?]]>