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Tension, Pain
and Musculoskeletal Injury
Optimize healing by resting
constructively, moving in balance, and reducing emotional
reaction
 Have you ever suffered from
back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, hip pain,
tension headache, joint stiffness or immobility, frozen
shoulder, tendonitis, muscle pain, herniated or ruptured disc,
temporo-mandibular joint pain, shin splints, carpal tunnel
syndrome, repetitive strain injury, sleep apnea, snoring,
difficulty sitting or standing for long periods, vocal
problems, muscle spasms, or simply excess tension? Such
complaints appear to have reached near epidemic proportions.
But what is causing them?
The basic skills of everyday
living are learned when we are young: We don’t remember
learning to speak, walk, or hold a fork. We seldom consider
how we think. A brief thought sets us on a course of action
and behaviors follow. This seems desirable. We don’t have to
think about our actions, they have become habits. Take a
moment to observe those around you. Does everyone walk the
same? Hold their pen the same way? Respond to stress the same?
You’ll probably notice some who walk with hunched shoulders,
others with an odd tilt in their stride. Some whose voices
seem made by angels, others’ by frogs. Some who are calm,
others who are plagued by anxiety.
 How are we to account for
such differences? It isn’t only fate, bad genes, or disease.
We all use our locomotor system—our muscles, bones, nerves,
and joints to do almost everything we do. But often we have
learned to use this system badly. Since this learning is
unconscious, it often goes awry or is incomplete. Is it any
wonder? Did anyone teach you how to sit, balanced and
effortlessly upright to prevent undue strain on vertebrae,
discs, and muscles? Did anyone teach you to notice when
tension is marring your movement coordination causing pain and
injury? Did anyone teach you to understand how you do what you
do? In this age of satellites, supersonic jets and the
Internet, the thing you use the most—yourself, may be largely
overlooked.
When muscles, tendons, nerves, and joints
are in pain, or your body just isn’t performing as well as
you would like, you might assume you should see the doctor,
go to a chiropractor, get physical therapy, or exercise. In
some cases these are appropriate choices. But often the
cause of such symptoms is unconscious, psychophysical habits
of misuse that impede the functioning of your locomotor
system. This misuse--like driving your car with the
emergency brake on--can wear down the system. In that case,
recovery isn’t as simple as getting a new brake job.
Anti-inflammatory and pain medications, for example, can
relieve some symptoms. Chiropractic can readjust spinal
misalignment. Physical therapy and exercise can get you
moving and strengthen muscles that may be weak.
But only the Alexander
Technique can teach you to prevent the habits of misuse that
are causing the problem and restore your locomotor system to
function optimally.
The Alexander Technique enables you to
play a constructive and fully conscious role in changing
behaviors that cause injury and develop lifelong skills for
prevention.
We can throw away the
habit of a lifetime in a few minutes if we use our brains.
F. M. Alexander
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