| In this article I do not want to repeat all the | | | | manufacturers design specification is the W.C. |
| information on the internet about the history of | | | | In terms of passing a motion comfortably this |
| FM Alexander and how he developed his | | | | piece of furniture is absolutely wrong and causes |
| techniques. | | | | a requirement for a huge amount of pressure to |
| What I do want to concentrate on is precisely | | | | be applied by the lumbar area in order to expel a |
| how The Alexander Technique can be used as | | | | motion. |
| part of an adjunctive strategy along with other | | | | In a later article I will be diagramming the changes |
| techniques, with respect to alleviating your | | | | I recommend for sitting posture and using the |
| Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | | | | W.C. |
| symptoms. | | | | You may not initially be overwhelmed by what I |
| All the techniques I detail have a way of | | | | recommend, but your body will. |
| dove-tailing into each other and symbiotically | | | | I am not a qualified Alexander therapist, this takes |
| deepening the effects of each other. | | | | four years of training and so I recommend that |
| Basically, my angle on the Alexander Technique is | | | | you seek a trained therapist in your area, but not |
| that I want to take what I need from the | | | | until 6 months after you have begun the core |
| techniques and apply them directly to assist with | | | | therapy. |
| the musculoskeletal problems that are maintaining | | | | What I recommend is that you employ the simple |
| patients Fibro and CFS symptoms. | | | | strategies I outline in my next article which will |
| Bottom line: There is a way of moving that your | | | | present quick wins in terms of your overall |
| body likes and a way that it doesn't. | | | | musculoskeletal anomalies. |
| When you have an injury or imbalance there is a | | | | I have talked about the musculoskeletal anomalies |
| way of moving that helps the body heal and a | | | | inherent in Fibromyalgia and CFS sufferers and |
| way that prevents it from healing. | | | | how they are responsible for maintaining your |
| All musculoskeletal conditions have varying | | | | illness. |
| symptoms and present in different ways, but all | | | | You may be suffering from recurring |
| have one thing in common, they can all be made | | | | musculoskeletal pain but do not know exactly |
| better or worse by the way you align your head, | | | | what brings on the attacks. Often it is years of |
| neck and trunk as you go through the | | | | poor postural habits which are causing your |
| movements and postures of your every day life. | | | | musculoskeletal imbalance, and we need to |
| The muscles which support your skeleton are | | | | address how to change these habits. |
| usually asked to work far too hard for the task | | | | Examine the facts |
| or tasks that they are being employed and over | | | | Arthritic symptom severity can be reduced by |
| time this can lead to them becoming "stuck" in | | | | postural habits, keeping the joints moving. |
| this state of excess tension aka Trigger points. | | | | Spinal surgery or a disc problem can be helped by |
| These may gradually worsen over a period of | | | | learning to use the abdominal and back muscles |
| years. | | | | correctly. |
| When you are then attacked by whatever initially | | | | General Back pain can be helped by correct |
| triggered what you consider to be the | | | | movement as oppose to just bed rest |
| "recognized" start of your life with Fibromyalgia/ | | | | Pinched nerves in the neck or lower back are |
| CFS, then if your muscles were already habitually | | | | usually the result of compression due to faulty |
| in this state of excess tension, then post | | | | postural habits. |
| infection, one of your main symptoms will then be | | | | The first thing we need to learn is to reduce |
| the muscular pain. | | | | overall spinal compression as this will reduce the |
| When you go on to present at your chosen | | | | flare-ups of musculoskeletal pain which are |
| healthcare provider, you will be labelled more | | | | contributing to your overall experience of |
| towards Fibromyalgia rather than CFS and you will | | | | Fibromyalgia. |
| be tested via the trigger point methodology. | | | | As you are no doubt aware, when you are in |
| Your primary diagnosis will be Fibromyalgia as | | | | more pain, your sleep is affected and therefore |
| oppose to CFS. | | | | so is your fatigue CFS. |
| Let me make one point clear that is an over-riding | | | | Using your body correctly results in less pain, |
| theme through all the therapy that I outline: Your | | | | improved healing, better sleep, less tension and |
| body has an innate capacity to heal itself, but as | | | | therefore less fatigue. Sound good? |
| human beings in Western Society we are hell bent | | | | If you doubt the effectiveness of the Alexander |
| on destroying everything that nature has taught | | | | Technique look at it from this angle. |
| us and switching to unnatural modes of action | | | | Modern medicine and modern science are in no |
| simply because its fashionable or that is the way | | | | doubt about the following sequence of events. |
| everyone else does it, or that's the way things | | | | Stress causes anxiety. The emotion anxiety |
| are made and manufactured etc. | | | | produces an excess of the chemicals cortisol and |
| Look at toddlers when they first sit up and stand, | | | | adrenaline which are known to cause ulcers, high |
| look at the perfect alignment of the head neck | | | | blood pressure and tension headaches and that's |
| and torso, and look at the ease and grace with | | | | just in the short term. |
| which they move. All humans are born with this | | | | Nobody doubts that the conscious mind can be |
| grace and poise and we "choose" to unlearn it as | | | | utilized to interfere with these thought processes, |
| soon as we can possibly start copying moody | | | | and similarly with skeletal muscles, the mind can |
| slouching, ill postured teenagers and adults. | | | | attain precise conscious control over the way |
| Take the simple act of sitting in a comfy chair | | | | they are used to restore and improve overall |
| that maybe 200 million Americans are doing right | | | | health |
| now as you read this. The reality is that that chair | | | | That is all we are going to focus on by using the |
| is NOT COMFY just because it says so on the | | | | Alexander Technique. |
| manufacturer's label! | | | | Alexander's approach to musculoskeletal pain |
| The typical slouching position that people are | | | | Alexander's approach tries to address the totality |
| forced to assume on a daily basis is absolutely | | | | of a body. This means that in solving a specific |
| against all the natural laws of correct posture and | | | | problem, i.e. a problem that may occur in one area |
| alignment of the spinal column and results in these | | | | of the back. This cannot be healed unless the |
| millions of people holding their body in a state of | | | | entire back is used in a well integrated way. |
| excess tension for all the time that they actually | | | | Being aware of, and able to control our supporting |
| believe they are "relaxing". | | | | musculature. Alexander understood this and |
| In third world countries where natural posture is | | | | teaches how to control gravity and work with it |
| forced in daily lives due to the unavailability of | | | | rather than against it. This is essential for people |
| "comfy" sofas, "bad backs" are relatively | | | | with recurring back pain |
| uncommon and unsurprisingly so is Fibromyalgia | | | | Learning to do less with the body overall. This is |
| and CFS as defined by Western Society. | | | | an important feature of Alexander's work with |
| Fibromyalgia and CFS are largely diseases of | | | | respect to back problems. This doesn't mean just |
| modern "civilized" society. We have evolved | | | | being lazier, but rather eliminating unnecessary |
| through the industrial age in a few hundred years. | | | | muscle tension and bad postural habits at the root |
| But by comparison, it took millions of years of | | | | of back pain |
| evolution just for our body to become bipedal. | | | | I cannot express the importance of this to |
| Take the "comfy" sofa example again. What are | | | | Fibromyalgia sufferers; in so many Fibromyalgia |
| manufacturer's criteria in designing and building this | | | | patients the tension cycle is what exacerbates |
| item? The real design specifications are that it is | | | | their trigger points. |
| more fashionable than the competition; it can be | | | | Pain causes more tension which in turn causes |
| made more cheaply than the competition so the | | | | more pain and so on. By learning to short circuit |
| mark-up and profit can be higher from each sale. | | | | the pain cycle they can prevent a flare-up of fibro |
| Do not for one minute believe they are sitting | | | | without having to resort to muscle relaxants and |
| round their brain-storming coffee mornings saying | | | | painkillers, also they don't waste the little energy |
| "lets design a sofa so our buyers can relax in a | | | | they have on unnecessary muscle tension. |
| natural position, realign their faulty posture and | | | | In the next article I will focus on Alexander's |
| avoid muscular tension." | | | | concepts of "good use" and then the specifics of |
| If this was the case the comfy chair would not | | | | how they can be applied in everyday life to help |
| exist in its current form. | | | | Fibromyalgia and CFS patients reduce their |
| Another example of the misuse of our body | | | | musculoskeletal pains. |
| forced upon us by tradition and the | | | | |