In Touch: Method helps find balance, cuts stress

By: WENDY HAMMARSTROM - For The Californian | Friday, May 7, 2004 3:46 PM PDT ∞

I was not having a good day when I went for an Alexander Technique session with Christie Johnson of Temecula. I almost canceled.

That reminded me of my introduction to the Alexander Technique. That was in Philadelphia in 1976 by Kitty Wielopolska, a gifted, white-haired Russian bodywork educator.

At that time, I was not having a good day every day, and I often wanted to cancel. But I would force myself to go, looking at it as part of my bodyworker's education. I always was amazed by how her minimal verbal and touch suggestions could change my mood, energy, posture and sense of mobility.

I met Christie at her studio, and I was struck by her balanced, open posture. I gave her information about my health and concerns. She gave me a choice between Alexander table work and Alexander movement work.

Unlike some bodywork, you are completely clothed. And unlike much bodywork, you participate in the process. Christie gave me suggestions for releasing and creating space, with her hands following my body's lead. From my deeply relaxed place, I could hear her say, "Think of creating space between your right neck and left shoulder," and, "Imagine there is more room between your shoulder and your hip." In both cases, I felt as if weight lifted and layers of tension let go, from the inside out. Whenever there was discomfort, she placed her hands there, inviting me to let go some more.

When the session was over (and it was over much too soon), she guided me up and off the treatment table, in what felt like an effortless way. Then she helped me explore walking into the next room, with the least amount of tension and with maximum ease. Working on my posture in this way, from the inside out, seemed a much better way than in my teenage days of book balancing!

Alexander Technique originated about 100 years ago, when Frederick Matthias Alexander, a Shakespearean actor, suffered voice loss. He decided to explore why and discovered he had a habit of pulling his head back and down, tightening the neck muscles and shortening his back. In learning to undo this habit, he discovered he could minimize stress and optimize freedom of movement in the body. Alexander believed "we can throw away the habit of a lifetime in a few minutes if we use our brains."

Christie says that "with new choice in movement, students may experience a lightness that they have not experienced since childhood, and the effects include a centered, more confident ability to move that is fluid and efficient." And, she says, students gain greater ability to manage physical and mental stress.

"Everything is a stimulus. How we choose to respond is our choice. We can respond with a holding pattern or a fluid one."

Wendy Hammarstrom, a massage therapist and yoga instructor, writes a monthly column about complementary health-care issues. Call her at 677-5962 or send e-mail to Innerworks1@aol.com.

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