Guest post: Barbro Olsson on the Alexander Technique

Alexander Technique teacher Barbro Olsson is by far one of the most talented practitioners I have had the privilege to learn from, regardless of discipline. I mean, have you ever met someone who, by placing their hand on your sacrum, can accurately determine whether you have excessive muscular activation on your thighs of calves? Well, Barbro is that person, and I still don't quite understand how she did it! I had the opportunity to take lessons in the Alexander Technique from her back in 2009 (if I recall correctly) during a period that I suffered from a nagging injury in the supraspinatus muscle in my right shoulder, so I could do very few things with my right arm. After a few lessons with her, my shoulder (as well as most of my joints) felt decompressed and strong enough for me to go back to my strength training. After completely recovering from my injury I continued taking lessons in the AT, because I felt I had a lot to gain in my posture and movement awareness. Later, Barbro also helped me polish my deadlift technique, during my preparation for a strength competition. Today, I still use some of the 'tips' I learned from Barbro, to help my martial art and kettlebells students to understand a more efficient use of the body during specific tasks. Now, although I wholeheartedly recommend the Alexander Technique, if you asked me to describe in a few words what it is exactly, I would be able to. That is the reason I asked Barbro to share some of her insight for the readers of my blog. After staying off-line for four months, due to relocating from Sweden to Greece, the time has come to post this article. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

What can a person who practices martial art, learn from the discoveries a young man – an actor in his early twenties – made more than 100 years ago? F.M. Alexander was facing vocal difficulties that occurred during his theatrical performances and from his wish to cure his own problem, he gained great insight in how the Use of the Self effects functioning and thus, he developed what is known as Alexander Technique (AT).

Young and determined as he was, he started to observe himself in a mirror and he noted a movement habit of his, involving his head, his neck and his back. He came to realize the importance of having a free neck that allowed the head to have a direction out and away from the body so that his back could lengthen and widen – he called this the Primary Control. He also developed a set of principles which unify body and mind in order to help a student work on himself during all sorts of activities (simple or complex), through the process of stopping and inhibiting a reaction, thinking through the best way to reach what one wants, and then allowing a more constructive response. This process is very practical and useful when working with habits.

The AT-work is quite physical and practical but at the same time, a very intellectual technique. Fredrick Matthias Alexander called it a Psycho-Physical Reeducation, because he realized he could not affect one part of himself without considering the wholeness of how the body/mind worked. The Primary Control, when it is working, creates a basis for a natural coordination of the whole body, by allowing the head to lead and the body to follow. The Primary Control and posture reflexes will result in ”good posture”, a strong back, and connection through the whole body, which will benefit anyone who is practicing martial art.

Every time you react to a stimulus, your habitual patterns of thoughts, emotions, movements, and posture are activated. Take a minute to think about how you got out of bed this morning:  Where did your movement start from, that split second when your intention of getting out of bed was formed? Was it your feet? Your legs? Stomach? Chest? Arms? Neck? Head? What happened to each one of your body parts? What happened when you actually started to move? What information did you perceive through your senses while you were doing this? What did you see? Did you relate to what you saw? What did you hear? Where was your mind, your thoughts while you were doing what you were doing? Probably somewhere else – perhaps you were already making coffee while you were still sitting on the bed. Well, if the mind is in the kitchen it´s not easy for it to know what the body – still in bed – is up to! We usually don´t think of how we do what we do – it all happens on a subconscious level.

We have all habitual patterns of how we walk, stand or sit in front of the computer. We have even more habits when we’re driving a car, standing up from a seated position, talking or even thinking. These situations and, more or less, everything we do, think and feel, trigger the habits of movement or posture, that which we “practice and train” over and over again, day after day. Eventually, the habits become the Use of our selves. A student of any martial art that takes up the Alexander Technique will soon realize that his/her habitual movement pattern in bending to pick something up from the floor or reaching for a coffee mug will eventually transfer to their performance on the mat or in the dojo.

When studying the Alexander Technique students develop and expand their awareness of body and mind. The practice awakens or lifts the subconscious to a conscious level. Through self-observation and feedback from the teacher (both vocal feedback and ”hands on”), an awareness and understanding develops of  how the intention, the pure thought of getting out of a chair, for example, trigger muscular tensions and a habitual pattern of standing up. Through the AT the proprioceptive sense develops and allows a person to more accurately sense the position of the body in space and in relationship to itself. This gives a basis for better functioning of the musculo-skeletal system which will mean less wear and tear in your tissues. A martial artist can benefit in numerous ways by applying the Alexander Technique principles in martial practice: better balance, coordination, body awareness, smoother movements, increased strength, better grounding, focus of mind, accelerated learning and a good natural posture are just a few of them. Should you decide to apply the teachings of the AT in your everyday life, injuries can be prevented  and recovery from injuries can happen much faster.

The Alexander Technique is a great experience and a process to bring into Your life!

As F.M Alexander said: “You are not here to do exercises, or to learn to do something right, but to get able to meet a stimulus that always puts you wrong and to learn to deal with it”. Now, who wouldn’t benefit from something like that?

 For more information on Barbro Olsson and her work, you can visit her website (in Swedish): http://www.alexandertechnique.se/