The way we use ourselves in everyday activities may seem harmless. What possible danger could there be in a little excess tension as you brush your teeth or answer your phone? The answer is the Power of Habit.
Habit
We are all creatures of habit and repeat the same patterns of tension every time we open a door, click a mouse or turn our heads. We repeat each simple movement countless times throughout our lives, constantly reinforcing the degree of effort, haste and compression that goes with it. This embeds habitual patterns a little deeper each time.
Over years of repetition the accumulated tension and compression will make you look and feel old, can impair your health and mobility and you will find you no longer have energy to waste.
As modern life gets more pressured, sedentary and disembodied, it seems even more crucial to be aware of our habits of mind and body.
The Alexander Technique teaches you how to use yourself with more skill and awareness, so you are not constantly creating excess force and strain, and you spare yourself years of unnecessary damage. You can learn to change the way you use yourself at any moment in the day to improve the quality of your every movement.
Choice
The Technique gives you a choice about how you perform any daily activity. Applying Alexander skills will reduce the amount of wasted effort, simplify every task and clarify your thinking about how you perform every little thing. And you have the rest of your life to practice and get better!