Page 73 - Total War on PTSD

With movement and the Alexander Technique, you are creating new “neurological” pathways and allowing old ones to fade. The former pathway is still in your memory; however, you can make a choice to use and reinforce the new one, thus allowing the old pathway to fade. You learn to bring intention to your movement in the same way a baby is motivated by their environment to roll over and crawl. Babies become curious about something they see and want to touch, which motivates them to move in that direction. Their desire to move has a purpose and a motivation.
Even without purposeful practice, research tells us the experience from lessons will find their way into your thinking, and you are likely to experience change. “After one year the results of this work remain effective. Six lessons followed by exercise prescription were as effective as 24 lessons.” You may think of the process of learning the Alexander Technique as noticing how you think in your body. If you think, “I'm in a rush, hurry up," you will move differently than if you invite in the thought of “ease,” “connectivity,” “fluidity,” and, “I have all the time in the world.” The change in your thinking may slow you down slightly, and it will increase your efficiency and reduce your tension. You will find you achieve more with less effort. The Alexander Technique allows you to respond to your environment without the baggage of old muscular memories. You see, hear and respond to the situation as it is happening in real time, without the judgmental thoughts that are a result of past experience. Is there a person in your life you do not care for? Are you on your guard when you see them? Will you respond to their requests with caution because of your past experience when dealing with them? Are you able to hear what they are saying or are you anticipating that they will annoy you as they have in the past? What if you could interact with them without having to be on-guard, without judgment? Your response and how you feel when interacting with them may change. This is what the practice of the Alexander Technique provides. A Veteran expressed his discomfort with being touched prior to coming to Alexander lessons. “If someone bumped into me I would get angry and want to yell at them. Now, I just let it go. It’s no big deal.”
How one teaches the Alexander Technique may vary, although the principals of what we teach remain the same. Barbara and William Conable developed “Body Mapping.” It is
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