This month's issue of New Age Journal has an article about back pain, citing the re-education process of the Alexander Technique as a valuable tool in back care. After our recent victory with the New York State Massage Board, who determined that the Alexander Technique does not fall under the scope of practice of any of the licensed professions in New York, it is more clear than ever that our work is truly educational in nature, though it can have quite an impact on physical well-being. The technique is truly a body/mind tool.

When someone with back pain chooses to come for lessons, we have a useful tool to teach them. The Alexander Technique is not a replacement for medical intervention. It is a valuable addition to anyone's skills for living (whether in pain or not).

Basics:

To work with someone having back pain, I begin where I would with any other student: exploring habits. The Alexander Technique is a unique tool to learn to bring greater and greater efficiency and ease to the task of living by knowing how to identify overuse of muscles, mental and physical energy, and lessen that overuse.

With any new student, I am going to begin with the simple activity of moving in and out of a chair (chairwork). This is a rich "laboratory" in which to bring habits of thought and movement to light for a student and teach them how to interrupt those habits, allowing for new and more effective patterns to become available.

The process of learning the Alexander Technique asks the student to suspend their interest in being right. F. M. Alexander learned through his exploration that in trying to reason out a solution to his vocal problem (chronic hoarseness) he was using his sensation to tell him whether he was right or not. He was relying on his sensation to tell him he had the correct amount of muscle energy; the proper alignment; and the appropriate volume of voice to gain his end: reciting text. However, how he used his voice habitually had always felt right to him all along, and using his voice that way was how he had created his vocal problems to begin with. F. M. soon realized he would have to "ignore" sensation to find a solution to his self-created mis-use. That meant things would very probably feel wrong. So, I repeat: The process of learning the Alexander Technique asks the student to suspend their interest in being right.

Two Examples of working with students with back pain:

1) Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching my colleague, Judy Stern, give a first lesson in the Alexander Technique to a woman named Alice, who was having sciatica (pain referring down her lower leg into her foot) from a pinched nerve.

Before Judy began working with her, she wanted to get a sense of Alice's discomfort. On a scale of 0 - 10, 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst, Alice was at about a 4-5. Judy then gave an basic introductory lesson to Alice, with a particular emphasis on the idea of teaching her how to decompress through her spine, and use her legs for support. Judy worked with her the same way any of us would work with any student, teaching the principles of awareness, inhibition and direction. There was no special attention paid to any one part of Alice. Rather, Judy taught her how to use her whole self by releasing her head from her neck.

After the lesson, Alice reported her pain at 1/2 to 0. At the end, Judy asked Alice if she'd ever had a massage (she had) and if this was like massage. Alice’s reply: "No, this is not at all like massage."

Watching Judy reminded me all over again how much potential our work has to teach people how to use their bodies in a healthier, more accurate way.

2) Quite coincidentally, I have a friend, Dierdra, who recently tore the disc between her sacrum and lowest lumbar vertebrae. I saw her this past weekend and she agreed to try Alexander lessons to help her with her injury.

Last night, I gave her a lesson. When we began working, she was walking bent forward at her waist, with sciatica pain down her left leg. Unlike Alice, I watched Dierdra wincing in obvious pain as she changed positions while lying on her couch, and at moments when she was walking.

I began working with her at her desk chair, since she spent a lot of time sitting at work. She was able to stand and sit using her legs, and change her habit of arching her lumbar spine. She immediately understood how using her hip joints instead of bending her waist could help stop some of the irritation and compression on her nerves.

In walking, I helped Dierdra locate how high the top of her spine goes and helped her release some downward compression from the top down. When I showed her where her knees are and how her legs could move, she was able to walk without pain. She saw how her anticipation of the pain and her attempt to keep weight off the sore leg was actually causing her to use her waist to lift her sore leg to move it for a step. When I showed her how she could let her leg swing in the hip joint to take a step, the waist area was no longer being bent back and forth and there was less irritation to the nerves.

When we finished, Dierdra felt much better. She said she also felt more hopeful about her recovery. She'd started feeling depressed and was emotionally as well as physically relieved.

I was not at all surprised by the results Dierdra and Alice had from their lessons. They both understood how the tools they were learning helped their situations. As dramatic and immediate as their relief was (and not everyone will get results as quickly) it made sense. The Alexander Technique teaches a simple set of principles which help anyone interested access more accuracy in their body by engaging their mind in a clear way.

Conclusion:

As a teacher, I do not diagnose or treat physical conditions. I educate my student in the principles of the work of F. M. Alexander. When someone comes to see me who has pain, I always recommend they be evaluated by the medical world and seek the appropriate treatment available. If they are already in treatment, I tell them to continue to pursue their treatment with their healthcare providers while we work together.