Muscle tension with interest: it’s payback time

Have you ever considered how muscle tension can accumulate over time: what you might call ‘compound tension’? Here’s a recent chart I created to express the idea:

suboptimal and optimal focused activity
Succumbing to, and avoiding, cumulative tension

Here are some interesting points to note:

  • unnecessary muscle tension often occurs during focused activity. When our attention narrows down on something, so does our overall posture.
  • unnecessary tension can ‘layer up’ (as expressed on the left) until it reaches a critical level where we experience discomfort or pain.
  • we can prevent the build-up of unnecessary tension by taking breaks (as expressed on the right). In the Alexander Technique, this is termed ‘inhibition’, or pausing to prevent unnecessary patterns of tension.
  • there are deliberately no scales on the chart. ‘Overall tension’ on the y-axis can accumulate in minutes, hours, days or years. And on the x-axis, an inhibitory pause could last seconds (for example, we could take a few moments to notice our breath, soften the eyes, reconnect with our support – sit bones and feet – and rebalance), or it could last much longer (such as when we lie down in a semi-supine position).
  • in fact, over time, inhibition can transform into something continuous – a less reactive state where you’ve become skilled at preventing tension from interfering in your overall coordination. In other words, you can become more in tune with the interplay between yourself as a well-coordinated whole and the activity itself. You become less likely to ‘lose’ yourself in the intensity, frustration or all-consuming nature of a task – and so less likely to subject yourself to ‘cumulative tension’. This is the Alexander Technique in action.

Alexander Technique at Lloyds and BBC Studios

Last week was Back Care Awareness Week, a campaign run by charity Backcare (the National Back Pain Association) to help companies better support the health and wellbeing of their staff.

It is estimated that around eight million UK adults suffer from chronic back pain, costing the economy around £10bn year.

As part of Back Care Awareness Week, this year I gave ‘posture checks’ in Bristol at both Lloyds Banking Group (Canons Way) and BBC Studios (Bridgewater House). This was the offer:

During your 15 minute session you will:-

➣ feel lighter, taller and freer in how you move;
➣ discover strategies to avoid back and neck pain;
➣ have the opportunity to book a discounted trial session at the Bristol Alexander Studio.

The feedback was extremely positive. The sessions identified a strong demand, and both events were quickly oversubscribed. I therefore hope to return and work with more people at these locations.

Alexander Technique at IGF Classical Guitar Course

IGF logo Jan2022

Last month, I was privileged to introduce the Alexander Technique on the Classical Guitar Course run by IGF (International Guitar Foundation and Festivals) at its summer school in Bath, UK. Although the course was founded in 1994, it has recently relaunched under its new course leader, renowned Colombian classical guitarist Francisco Correa. Special guests this year included Marco Tamayo, Berta Rojas, Stephen Goss and IGF CEO’s Tom Kerstens.

As well as solo lessons, guitar ensembles, chamber groups, masterclasses and concerts, Francisco was keen to include the holistic activities of mindfulness and Alexander Technique.

Together, we devised a schedule that included a workshop presentation and one-to-one Alexander Technique sessions for participants.

The details of the workshop are below; however, before that, here’s one of the Alexander Technique one-to-one sessions I gave condensed into 16 seconds. Why? Because it’s silly and fun (courtesy of Aurora Orsini).

Alexander Technique IGF Workshop details

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Introducing Alexander Technique to classical guitarists at IGF
Balance and Ease pyramid
The foundation of everything: balance and ease. © Henry George

Here’s a brief summary of the contents of the workshop:

  • lessons from athletics: can less effort achieve greater results?
  • a foundation for everything: balance and ease.
  • unity of self: patterns of movement, patterns of thought
  • AT outcomes: movement, balance, pain reduction, emotions
  • AT ‘black box’: postural tone and body schema
  • two AT skills: Inhibition and Direction
  • the AT ‘Ready List’: stop, see, breathe, ‘soft and tall’
  • guitar specifics: Alma Sehic (2014) The Conscious Guitarist: Alexander Technique and Body Mapping for Guitarists. Doctoral thesis. University of South Carolina.
  • body mapping: shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, fingers.

Same posture, less tension?

I have a new teaching aid: a miniature ‘push puppet’ skeleton. Left on its own, the skeleton stands very stiffly, held taut by internal elastic strings. Push the button at its base and the skeleton collapses into a heap.

But there is also a third unexpected condition. You can push the button underneath just a little and the skeleton retains its default posture with less tension.

The following illustrates what can happen:

postural frame image

‘Same posture, less tension’

The push puppet skeleton mirrors what can happen in humans. For example, can you remain in your current posture right now, but with less tension? Why not test out the idea by closing your eyes, releasing your breath and slowly scanning down your body to see what you’re holding on to.

A person can hold the same position either freely or with tension. In fact, if someone’s postural system is working well, they’re not really holding a position at all. They are in tune with their innate ability to release and rebalance instead of hold positions chronically.

This principle is based on research into postural muscle tone, which is the continuous, low-level muscle activity required to keep us upright in relation to gravity. According to a recent article, postural tone provides

an “adaptive frame” that readies the nervous system and body for movement. If the frame is too stiff, we must overcome our own resistance to act in the world. If the frame is too loose, we act without the necessary stability and support. The concept of “tone as readiness” was first proposed by the pioneering motor control scientist Nikolai Bernstein in 1940.

Cacciatore, Cohen & McCann, ‘Mind the Gap: The Missing Science of Posture’

‘Doing good posture’: the elastic band problem

Scientists have suggested holding a simple posture takes only 3%-5% of the maximum muscle capacity (ibid.). What therefore seems to be going wrong for a lot of people?

Often, people try to ‘do’ good posture. For example, they’ll try to pull back their shoulders and sit up straight, only to find that they’ve returned to a slump minutes or even seconds later. It’s understandably really frustrating, and so they might latch onto the idea that they need to ‘strengthen their core’ to maintain a ‘correct’ posture.

And yet what is often not considered is that muscles can be chronically tense to begin with. This means that any effort to come out of a slump is destined to fail: the shortened, tense muscles ping us back to where we began, like a stretched elastic band. This sense of fighting ourselves is called co-contraction.

It therefore becomes clear that just ‘doing something’ doesn’t really cut it.

Change and the postural system

If you sense that chronic tension or poor posture is interfering in your life, the good news is that the postural system is open to change. The process of change, however, might be one that defies your expectations.

For example, there is evidence that applying the Alexander Technique helps postural muscle tone become more adaptable and better distributed through the body. It changes the underlying patterns that support and facilitate the movements we make.

But the Alexander Technique achieves its effects through a process called inhibition: that is, pausing to prevent unnecessary tension, ‘doing less’, or even ‘non-doing’. We are all the victim of habits, and often cannot see beyond them. But getting help to stop and ‘not do the pattern’ can open up new possibilities in unexpected ways.

Indirect changes in alignment

I began this blog by suggesting that we could maintain the same position, or posture, but with less tension. While that is true, you would probably also wish to widen out your postural repertoire. Freedom from tension gives you the option of releasing into length and width, more of the time.

For example, below is a student I worked with for the first time for only 15 minutes. You can see that he is enjoying being taller and more released, and he would be able to rediscover it more often with further work.

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releasing into length through the Alexander Technique

The changes in alignment such as the above are indirect: they are not the result of someone voluntarily holding a position, but rather the result of being guided beyond habits of tension.

Conclusion

So, indeed, our postural system is able to change but perhaps not in the way you might imagine. Reducing unnecessary tension, rather than introducing more tension into an already tense system, is a good starting point.

It’s counter-intuitive, but then so is the idea that a simple push puppet could release some of its tension and yet maintain the same posture.

Before and after photos after 15 minutes

In the summer of 2023 I introduced the Alexander Technique to around 20 classical musicians in Bucharest. None of them had experienced the Alexander Technique before, and as well as giving workshops, I made time to provide some hands-on work.

For their interest, I took ‘before and after’ photos. Pretty obviously, the ‘before’ condition was before they had experienced any hands-on work. The ‘after’ condition was after only around 15 minutes hands-on (I had limited time, though they had additional hands-on work on subsequent days).

I’ve included some of the ‘before and after’ photos below, with a little bit of commentary. Visible changes don’t by any means tell us everything. For example, a change in alignment doesn’t necessarily demonstrate a change in tension. However, the feel under the teacher’s hands is very different when someone has let go of tension, and the snapshots do indeed show a general direction of travel.

The snapshots are interesting, fun and intriguing and most definitely not scientific. Permission to use the images was given in all cases.

I’ve blogged about my previous work with musicians in Romania here (includes testimonials) and here (more snapshots).

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Big changes here: head not pulled back and down, weight further back on the heels, back released into length, shoulder blades released apart from each other. The impression? Alert, present and grounded!
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Neck less compressed, head released forward, shoulders and arms released. Palms facing back indicates a widening across the back.
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Subtle yet profound. More length in the torso and so much more presence.
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Most obvious here is the lengthened upper back and balance of the head. Compare the distance between the top of his collar and his hairline!
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This participant’s top is masking some of the changes, but there are big changes if you know what you’re looking for. Compare, for example, the vertical crease on her top, and her underarm.
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A different way to describe the difference: anxious and held vs. powerful and grounded. The change in hand position is dramatic.
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Standing to attention (breath held?) vs. inner attention. Palm turning back indicative of a widening back.
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No longer swaying forward, standing like a plumb-line is less effortful.

Two Alexander self-help tips

Two new eye-catching tips for learning the Alexander Technique have just been published. You can read them here:

Two Alexander Technique self help tips

They are part of a self-help guide for patients, published for Sustainable Healthcare Day which this year fell on April 6th 2023.

The guide was published by the Integrated Healthcare Collaborative (IHC), which is a collection of professional associations within complementary, traditional and natural healthcare. Other members of the collaborative include Chinese medicine and acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, shiatsu and herbal medicine.

The IHC works to increase access to these therapies and to promote greater integration with conventional Western medicine.

To access the full self-help guide visit the IHC website, and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Is this the best ever introduction to the Alexander Technique?

Earlier this year, I blogged about a new video by Laura Try which is probably the best 10-minute video for newcomers to the Alexander Technique. It’s astonishingly clear and authentic too because it shows her own first experience of the Technique.

I’m now asking whether an article I wrote last month is the best written introduction to the Alexander Technique.

I’m only slightly pulling your collective legs because it’s surprisingly difficult to write well about the Alexander Technique. The article I’ve written is for newcomers, but brings together information about the Technique which, thanks to the latest research, would not have been possible even five years ago.

It’s the best modern introduction to the Alexander Technique I’ve come across.

The article covers the following topics:-

⬗ Why might you try the Alexander Technique?
⬗ Challenging beliefs about posture
⬗ The Alexander Technique as a preventive solution
⬗ Emotional and Psychological benefits of the Alexander Technique
⬗ Origins of the Alexander Technique
⬗ What to expect in an Alexander Technique lesson
⬗ A modern scientific theory for the Alexander Technique
⬗ Further information and finding a teacher

It begins,

Those that have come across the Alexander Technique often say it’s ‘something to do with posture’. However, it’s actually something deeper: a pro-active way of dealing with the stresses and strains of everyday life.
So why might you try the Alexander Technique? Its effects can be both transformational and empowering. Studies show that it impacts on everything from back pain and muscle tension to freer movement, improved mood, confidence, performance and (yes) posture.

I wrote the article for the National Centre for Integrative Medicine (NCIM) and you can read it here:

Alexander Technique: ‘giving nature her opportunity’

Alexander Technique at Sparks, Bristol

Sparks is a new hub of ‘sustainability, creativity and education’ which has been set up in the old Marks & Spencer in Broadmead shopping centre, Bristol.

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to introduce the Alexander Technique to members of the public passing through this space, thanks to the brilliant support of Mila Plants.

The event was a real success. I gave around 10 minutes of free hands-on Alexander Technique work to 16 people of all ages and backgrounds. Some had musculoskeletal issues, and some didn’t, but all of them said it was a positive experience. Many of them looked quite different walking away, even after that short intervention.

From my perspective, it’s really exciting to be able to bring the Alexander Technique to a wider audience. Certain groups have often heard of it (musicians, actors and those with back pain) but many more haven’t.

Most of the people I worked with on Sunday had never come across the Alexander Technique. There’s a lot of work to do to make it better known.

‘How do I keep it going between lessons?’

The Alexander Technique is about becoming conscious of our habitual reactions to things, and seeing instead whether we can encourage a set of responses that is kinder to us. You could say that, at any moment in time, we can either orient ourselves towards greater ease or towards greater tension. The choice is ours.

Screenshot 2023 05 04 at 4.57.10 PM

What this means in practice can feel very obvious after a one-to-one session: clients tend to feel taller, lighter, more expansive, more energised, freer emotionally and (quite literally) as if a weight has been taken off their shoulders.

But how to keep it going outside lessons? Keeping it going is, after all, the point of the Alexander Technique: it is a self-management technique, and not a therapy (though undoubtedly a session can feel therapeutic).

Improving our ‘use’ through our environment

Let’s return to some basic Alexandrian Directions designed to encourage (in Alexander’s words) an ‘improved use of ourselves’. These are the kind of Directions which students often encounter in Alexander sessions, and we can employ them any time we wish:

Let the neck be free so that the head can go forward and up so that the back can lengthen and widen, all together, one after the other

Bruce Fertman has written inspiringly on how, with practice, we can associate a long set of directions such as these with a single word such as ‘One’ or even a sound such as ‘Paaaah’ (the Japanese sound for an arrow being released by a bow).

Bruce goes further, though. He suggests that we can also look outside of ourselves and begin to associate objects in our environment with these Directions too. He calls this ‘the Voice of the World’.

The simple example of a red traffic light comes to mind. We can play with its basic meaning so that whenever we’re waiting at a traffic light, we can allow it to signify both stopping in a conventional sense but also a profound psychophysical stop (Alexander’s Inhibition) and a release into expansiveness (Alexander’s Direction).

In summary, then, we can experiment with the following links in a chain:

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Choosing external triggers for better ‘use’

The example of a traffic light is a good one. Anyone living in an urban area will probably come across a red traffic light at least a few times a day. The traffic light is not so present to us as to become overwhelming or meaningless, but serves as a useful reminder a few times a day.

Another simple example is the presence of a tree. It is already well established that the sight of anything natural in our environment can improve wellbeing. It doesn’t take much to deepen this relationship a little; we can allow the upward expansiveness of a tree to trigger our own upward expansiveness.

The key is to experiment and be playful.

Three types of triggers

You may decide to begin this exploration by choosing relatively neutral aspects of your daily routine as your triggers. Examples such as waiting for the kettle to boil, brushing your teeth or getting into your car or on your bike spring to mind. Often not much else is going on at these times, and so it might be easier to find a little more headspace for our Alexander Directions.

The next level up might be to choose triggers where we know we are likely to significantly interfere with our ‘use’. One example for many people is driving a car. What if we could associate placing our hands on the steering wheel with our Alexandrian Directions? Another example in my case is going up a flight of stairs. Unless I pause for a fraction of a second and Direct, I know that I am likely to shorten my stature so that going upstairs will be more effortful and feel heavier than it needs to be. However, these days I am able to prevent my habitual reaction to going upstairs on most occasions. The stairs themselves have become the trigger.

The third set of triggers you might experiment with are situations, in particular those which you know from the outset are going to be stressful. A business presentation. Public speaking or performing. A difficult conversation. A claustrophobic journey on a crowded train. The question here becomes: can I get good at associating these situations with looking after myself instead? Both before and during the event? In other words, can I change the meaning of this situation (even slightly) to my benefit? Can this situation be saying something to me which is different to my normal associations?

Conclusion and exercise

You could say, we need stressors in our lives to help us develop the skilful resilience fostered through the Alexandrian principles of Inhibition and Direction. Although not exactly the same, I’m reminded of what the Dalai Lama has said about enemies and how we need them to help us practise patience.

As an exercise, then, write down five external triggers you’d like to experiment with over the coming week. You could start off small and choose five objects such as a traffic light, a kettle or a toothbrush. And then the following week, you might then choose a mixture of relatively neutral (brushing teeth), challenging (going up stairs) and stressful (a business presentation). For example:

  1. neutral
  2. neutral
  3. challenging
  4. challenging
  5. stressful

It’s of course up to you, but writing down the list and sticking it on the fridge (for example) is going to make the activity much more conscious.

And wait! A colourful list – enhanced perhaps with an Alexander aphorism or two – can become a trigger in itself. How about that!

Alexander Technique at Young Grittleton

In the summers of 2018 and 2019 I introduced the Alexander Technique to musicians on the Young Grittleton chamber music course at St Marys School, Calne.

A Testimonial

A brief overview of what I covered in the 2019 workshop is included below. But first, a testimonial from the course organiser:

We were privileged to have Henry visit us at the Young Grittleton Chamber Music Course for a session on the Alexander Technique with the members, aged between 11 and 18 years. The session was hugely beneficial to the young string players who had been working intensely on a wide variety of chamber music in the previous days. There was a calm, meditative mood in the hall during the session and the students came out relaxed and seemed just a little taller for it! It was noticeably impactful in their playing stance during the subsequent rehearsals and is a great tool for them to carry forward. Thank you, Henry!

Fiona Robertson, Young Grittleton course organiser

Workshop content

The workshop focused on the benefits of looking after your whole self in practice and performance. What are some of these benefits?

  • pain and injury free playing
  • your most comfortable playing
  • your full enjoyment
  • greater technical accuracy
  • less wasted energy
  • more efficient practice
  • less stress
  • less performance anxiety
  • ability to carry instruments easily
  • deal better with sitting in rehearsals for long periods of time
  • improved mental health: better mood, more balanced emotions, more self-confidence etc

But what does it mean to look after our whole selves? We played games to explore a number of principles such as:

  • The performance of the parts depends on the health of the whole.
  • We need to learn how to allow natural movement, and not interfere with it.
  • In its natural state, our muscle system is very springy.
  • There are no straight lines in movement.
  • Large parts move before small parts to create smooth beginnings and endings.

Finally, with more activities, the three main principles of the Alexander Technique were introduced: Inhibition, Primary Control and Direction.