Holistic, Spiritual & Self-Improvement Articles, Interviews, Links & Online Magazine

Join Our Mailing List

Links For Health, Prosperity & Joy!

Editor's
Blog

Editor's
Articles

Join Our Mailing List

OfSpirit's New Resource

Thousands Of Articles!

Getting Started With the Alexander Technique the Hard Way
by Jamee Culbertson, Dan Arsenault and David Arsenault


Editor’s note: Contributions to this story come from three authors. In order to spare some confusion, three typefaces are used. Contributions from Dan Arsenault look like this. Contributions from David Arsenault are italicized. Contributions from Jamee Culbertson look like this.

The irony is not lost on me. When I got the phone call from my sister-in-law Laurie that my brother David had been in a bad car accident, I was just getting ready for an Alexander Technique lesson with my teacher, Jamee Culbertson. It was the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, the start of a four-day weekend. I’m sure I was not an apt pupil at that lesson, but, on my way out, Jamee offered to see David as soon as he was well enough.

I had a car accident on November 25, 1998. I broke both my hips and shattered my right kneecap. While I was recovering at home I had a visiting nurse and a physical therapist but it was obvious to those who knew me that I was really uncomfortable, not in any undue pain but my body no longer seemed to fit very well. My brother told me he knew someone who did something called the Alexander Technique, and he thought it might help. I met Jamee two weeks later and began lessons. From the first few minutes it was clear to me that this was helping me a great deal. Like many people who have had massive trauma, I felt delicate and tense, as if I was trying to hold myself together by brute force. The lessons have taught me to find the time and to allow myself the room to move freely. Jamee would frequently talk about making some room in the joints and allowing me to find my proper place.

When I first went to see David he was at home in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries. I wanted to approach him easily and gently at first without much overt movement until I found out what his limitations were. He had had surgery on both hips and his right knee and there remained a considerable amount of hardware inside keeping him together to aid in the healing process. He suffered temporary nerve damage in his left leg, which left him unable to flex his foot very far. While we were saying our hellos, I assessed just how I wanted to approach working with him in the most cooperative way. The head of the bed was up against the wall so I couldn't put my hands directly on his head and neck right away. There were movable brackets on both sides of the bed but it seemed the most unobtrusive to begin at his feet. I pulled up a chair and began at his left side making contact with David through his feet. There was no interference in David's ability to access his postural reflex, what F.M. Alexander calls the primary control, "…that which governs the working of all the mechanisms and so renders the control of the complex human organism comparatively simple…it depends upon a certain use of the head and neck in relation to the use of the rest of the body…" (quoted from The Use Of the Self, pp. 59-60). The Primary Control is a first and primary movement that allows for a freedom of movement throughout. Head-neck reflexes are the central mechanism that orients us to our environment. It is "…the primary relation upon which all more ultimate relations depend." (Frank Jones, Body Awareness in Action pp. 60). David first noticed a lengthening along his left side as a sigh of relief came over him. He moved to stretch a bit and discovered that he could flex his foot farther than he could before.

After passing the life or death stage there is a natural tendency to rely on the wisdom of the medical professionals. While I knew what benefit David could derive from Alexander lessons, I’m sure David would have been highly circumspect about doing anything that his medical team did not know about and approve. The key here was an enlightened physical therapist.

I told my physical therapist what I was learning at the lessons and she approved heartily. She had heard of the Technique and knew it to be beneficial. She thought that in conjunction with doing the prescribed exercises the Technique would allow me to use myself to my best advantage and allow my recovery to proceed faster.

David was finding a great deal of relief in the lessons. The first report was more mobility with his left foot, a decrease in his pain medication and finally, a good night’s sleep! David has a growing understanding of what Alexander called "Inhibition," an awareness of indirect action, a decision to cease giving permission to habitual unconscious reactions. "In the presence of a stimulus to move, inhibition facilitates lengthening of the spine and adds to the efficiency of the movement. Too quick a response will shorten muscles in the neck and prevent the lengthening of the spine." (Frank Jones Body Awareness in Action pp. 149.) Inhibition has allowed David to learn to bring conscious choice into his response to the stimulus created by his desires. At first we worked with his reaction to the pain he was experiencing so that his reaction to the pain would not make his overall experience worse. "The Alexander Technique is the only method of improving human use and functioning which teaches an indirect method of consciously preventing interference with one’s best use and functioning and is the only method where its teachers consciously use these principles at the same time they are teaching the Technique to others." (Quoted from the ATI Professional Development Committee report on the ATI web site, www.ati-net.com).

Around Christmas I was allowed to stand, and at the end of January I began to learn how to walk again. The Technique was very helpful in these early stages. In the beginning walking was very awkward. My legs did not feel as if they belonged to me and would obey very few commands. I had a walker at first and crutches a week later, but even in this sort of condition the Technique helped. I needed to be conscious all the time of my position and how I wanted to move. Jamee and I discussed the rare opportunity that presented itself in learning how to walk almost from the very start but with an adult sensibility and the Technique to apply. It was mid-March when I traded in my crutches for canes. We kept doing lessons all along and by the time I could stand a little straighter on my canes I was ready to do so. Although most of my lesson happens with me reclined we always focus on the kinetic aspects of the Technique and as I became more kinetic it helped more and more. This last week 
I have been able to discard my last cane, I had been walking with one cane for the last month. At all these stages there has been improvement in my posture and in the way I use my hips to move. As I learn to control my muscles again and as the strength comes back into them it becomes ever more important to apply the things I have learned. I get both lazy and occasionally stupid and forget to apply what I know, but fortunately there is a price to be paid almost immediately so I tend to remember more often.

I am about half way through my recovery now, but I hope I am only starting to learn the Alexander Technique. As I continue to grow stronger and better I hope to apply what I learn to improve how I use my body. I am an amateur actor so I hope to be able to apply some of the Technique to my work on stage. I am in a fall production so we shall see how well I have learned. There are so many things to try to remember when one is on stage that the Technique will have to be well ingrained. I am also a piledriver and I hope to get back to work around Thanksgiving if the doctor gives the O.K. This will be the real test for me. The type of construction work I do can be very demanding, but I feel certain that I will be able to do it again.

I am waiting somewhat impatiently to see how the Technique will affect the way I per-form both on stage and at work, but also how it will be when I really am recovered. I hope that I can learn to do things wholly and with better focus so I can enjoy the act in each case for itself. We shall see.

It goes without saying that David’s trauma was not his alone. His wife, Laurie has, understandably, had a lot to deal with over the last several months. From bedpans to "helpful" relatives, from finances to somehow finding the strength to continue. Laurie has also been taking Alexander lessons with Jamee. It has been of equal benefit to her, I believe, although in a much different way. Laurie, I think, sees the Technique as a treat for her body and soul. She typically can’t wait for her next lesson.

During Laurie's first lesson she said with tears in her eyes, "This is the first deep breath I’ve had in weeks!"

They continue to be apt students and are making their way through this challenging time together.

____________________

Jamee Culbertson is a Practitioner of the Alexander Technique, Certified by Alexander Technique International, (www.ati-net.com). She is the Chair of Alexander Technique International, a worldwide professional society of teachers and friends of the Alexander Technique. With nearly a decade of experience teaching the Alexander Technique, Jamee has helped people of all ages from many walks of life. Some are martial artists, musicians, athletes, mothers, pregnant women, computer programmers, or people recovering from injuries who are looking to re-learn how best to coordinate themselves. Jamee has a private practice in Somerville, Massachusetts and teaches throughout the United States and Canada. You can reach her by email: chair@ati-net.com, or by phone: 617-628-6570.