Ramblings, part two

Out of interest too, I weighed my rucksack in school yesterday (the only time I’ll be found near a scale). The sum of running stuff, books, and teaching materials weighed 13% of my body weight. I hate to think about what this might have done to my back on those occasions I sprinted a mile with it for the train after work. This brings me to mention about “Alexander Technique”, which is about misuse prevention. Discovered by Franz Matthias Alexander, the technique believes that we misuse ourselves in daily life to achieve our wants, and the stresses of life keep us from returning to a “balanced resting state”. As we age our misuse accumulates, our nerves become increasingly tightened, and our reflexes assimilate our misuse to the point where it becomes natural … ever seen old people with “the hump” around their neck region, or necks pressed too far forward, or over-arched backs? We ascribe these to unavoidable symptoms of old age, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Anyway, it’s far too complex for me to ever hope to summarize here, and one of the places you can find out more is from the Society of Teachers for the Alexander Technique, or STAT. One of the things the technique recommends is lying on the floor in a semi-supine position, with your head supported by a few books. (As if you’re about to do crunches, but with hands on hips.) This allows the spinal fluid to return to the vertebrae, and the spine – which is compressed all day by the weight of the head and body – to lengthen to its natural state. You are also encouraged to think about freeing the neck and induce the motor neuron fibres to lengthen.

I don’t necessarily agree with all of the Alexander Technique, and I know some of it must sound quite new-agey and airy-fairy. But I agree with the idea of having a good head-neck-back relationship, and allowing the spine to lengthen. Think of it this way: When you want to do something, the brain sends electrical impulses down the spine which then activate the various motor nerves. (Consequently, someone who has received a heavy blow to the back of the neck can be paralysed and cannot send impulses to move the lower half of their body.) Taking care of your head-neck-back relationship sounds like a good thing to do.

The “before/after” pictures I’ve seen in books (these were before the days of Photoshop and image-doctoring) are also hard to deny.

I’ve probably established myself in your eyes as a “looney” at this point, but trust me, lying down in the semi-supine position, 15-20 minutes a day does help. Try it for a week and see.

I’d better get my student reports and schemes of work done, and hope the doorbell rings.