“Via Alexander Technique Maaike has helped me help myself. I’ve been able to reduce my mental and physical stress levels tremendously.”
What is Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique is a practical method that will help you restore the natural balance and coordination of your head- neck and back. This balance of your head on the top of your spine (called the atlanto-occipital joint) is essential for your whole body to move freely and function well; the spinal column, muscles, joints and breathing are all affected by it. When you’re out of balance, due to either pulling down or straining up, your muscles are forced to work much harder than they really need to, making them overworked and tense.
By learning the Alexander Technique you prevent undue pressure on your joints and organs. You learn how to release excess muscle tension and enhance the volume and springiness of your spine and intervertebral discs.
The Alexander Technique also helps you develop a more accurate ‘sixth sense’, which is the kinaesthetic sense of proprioception. This sense tells you where your body is in space (for instance; you know where your neck is, without having to look in the mirror). Under the influence of unhelpful habits, this sense can lose its reliability. For instance; your neck may be clearly craned forward when you’re sitting at the computer, but you don’t notice it: because your neck feels absolutely “normal”! That is until you look in the mirror or see yourself in a photo....
By learning the Alexander Technique you will gradually restore the reliability of your sixth sense. Your brain will then get the message ‘my neck is actually forward in space’ without the help of a mirror. Consequently, the Alexander Technique will give you the means to allow your neck to release upwards, restoring the balance of your head on the top of your spine, while maintaining full, free, natural breathing.
Alexander Technique lessons will not only give you more awareness of your physical habitual patterns and more knowledge of your physical body, but also of your mental and emotional self.
Maybe you try to pack too many tasks into too little time and often leave late for appointments feeling stressed. Maybe you are about to give a presentation, thinking negative thoughts, which makes you more nervous than you would like to be.
Once you begin to be more aware, you will learn how to release the unnecessary tension in your neck and shoulders while you’re at the computer. Or learn how to think helpful rather than negative thoughts while practising for your presentation. Or learn how to be more connected to flow and your musical feelings on stage.
In this way you are addressing the root causes of issues, since the start of your habitual patterns lie in your brain-body connections. And since by learning the Alexander Technique you are reprogramming your brain, you are working on a long-term solution:
Imagine your roof is leaking. Instead of needing to empty the bucket again and again, wouldn’t you rather repair the roof?
The Alexander Technique is taught at most conservatories, drama schools and dance academies around the world.
The Alexander Technique is of great help for everybody: not only musicians, but also to people doing computer work and all other daily life activities, and sports like swimming and running.
Learning the Alexander Technique is like learning to play a musical instrument. Only... you yourself are the instrument!
The unique thing about the Alexander Technique is that you don’t have to stop what you’re doing in order to practice it. When you’ve learned the basic principles you can put them into practice while riding your bike, working at the computer or playing your instrument. It’s not only very efficient but it’s also very calming; you get a lovely sense of being while you’re doing the things you need to do anyway.
How does it work? Read more>
What happens in a lesson? Read more>