This is taken from Interaction issue no. 22 1996 and expresses the Alexander teacher’s view (Andrea McLaughlin).
The Alexander Technique and CFS
by Helen C McCorry and Andrea McLaughlin
Part 2 The Teacher’s View
In the last issue of Interaction, Helen McCorry described how the Alexander Technique helped her to feel lighter, to move more easily with less effort, and to sleep more soundly. In this issue, we read about what is behind this. Andrea McLaughlin teaches the technique in Edinburgh, and has been teaching Helen since September 1995. In this article, Andrea gives some background on the Alexander Technique, and how she feels it helps, those suffering from M.E./CFS.
“The Alexander Technique provides a way of feeling more at home with yourself, in your body. I think this must be particularly appealing to sufferers of M.E./CFS, who have found their body becoming unfamiliar, and at odds with what they want to do. The Alexander Technique uses the power of the mind to reach across this rift to get to know the physical aspects of ourselves, and to learn to work with them, as a harmonious whole. Alexander Technique can be pared down to three basic steps: – becoming aware of how you do what you do – letting go old, habitual ways of doing things that cause tension and dis-ease – directing yourself in a more co-ordinate, balanced way in everything you do. Of course, these steps are easier to outline than to perform, as F M Alexander, the originator of the technique, found.
Alexander was an actor, around the turn of the century, who had problems with his voice whilst on stage. Doctors were unable to help, so he began a detailed investigation himself. He discovered that when reciting, he tightened his neck and throat, and pulled his head back, quite without realising it. Alexander studied and experimented for years, and finally came up with a technique for stopping, or ‘inhibiting ‘ the old habits, and consciously choosing how to recite, or perform other activities. He devised a series of directions, so that with his mind, he could send the message to his neck to stay free, and to his head to balance easily on top of his spine.
The result of all this is that you can let go a lot of tension and excess muscle effort and employ the mind body connection to work with you, rather than against you. This is hugely helpful to most of us. But for sufferers of M.E./CFS, whose muscles have a rather more limited capacity anyway, it is all the more important not to overuse them, and to use them in a balanced way. This involves allowing support where available. For instance, most people walk as if they had to hold themselves up as they went, rather than finding a balanced use of the skeleton, so as to let the ground under their feet bear that weight, and use the anti gravity force to give them an upright impetus.
So, how do you learn to use yourself in an easier, more balanced way? The Alexander Technique is essentially a practical skill. An essential part of the training of Alexander teachers is developing the skill of teaching with one’s hands, using them not only to guide, but to convey, directly, a lighter, easier, more balanced way of being and doing things. The use of words, directions, ideas and images are an essential part of teaching, but I cannot over emphasise the powerful effect of helping a pupil feel what it is like to be less tense and to move more easily.
This manner of teaching is, I feel, particularly useful when working with sufferers of M.E./CFS. When Helen came to me for lesson, she did not have the stamina to sit for any length of time, far less to learn through movement. Most of our lessons centred around work in a semi-supine position, with her feet on the table, to allow the whole of her back to be supported by the table. Even in this seemingly passive state, we were able to work towards letting go previously unrecognised tensions, build ups a more refined cody awareness, and develop a more co-ordinated relationship between the parts of the body to one another and to the mind. At the end of this work, Helen could use this enhanced awareness to direct herself in an easier way even as she rolled over and came off the table.
In the lesson situation, the Alexander teacher is working directly on, as well as with, the pupil to bring ‘lightness’ about. For sufferers of M.E./CFS, whose resources are limited, this direct input from someone proficient in the technique is especially valuable. For this reason, although some teachers run very successful group classes, I would recommend that patients with M.E./CFS have one-to-one lessons.
Perhaps this way of learning is what distinguishes Alexander Technique from other practices which deal with M.E./CFS. I have read in Interaction how helpful yoga can be to your readers. I am particularly interested in the overlap and complementary nature of the Alexander Technique and Yoga. I have practised yoga for many years, and I am currently undertaking a yoga teacher training course. I find that I use Alexander Technique in my yoga practise. It is in the nature of Alexander Technique to be in the background: it is not something in itself, but rather informs what we do, so that we do it with greater awareness, ease and harmony.
In conclusion, I would say that the benefits of the Alexander Technique, in helping us do everything with less tension and greater ease, reducing fatigue and improving general well-being, are particularly valuable to people with M.E./CFS. It can also complement other valuable activities, such as yoga. And for times when you need more than guidance and can do with some direct input from someone else to help you on your way, the Alexander Technique comes into its own.
For further information and to find a teacher, go to the website for the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, www.stat.org.uk