Page 87 - Total War on PTSD

prevents you from sensing yourself in your environment. One Veteran expressed his experience in a lesson, stating, “I feel more connected to the ground with my feet.”
How we move is more complex than the mechanics our joints allow. Our entire being, the combination of mind and body, are responsible for the patterns of movement each of us uniquely displays. The discovery of why we move the way we do becomes a large part of the work to be done when studying the Alexander Technique. It occurs when the different movement experiences you have in a lesson awakens something about yourself. Our movement patterns and our emotional state are closely tied together. For example, a person who feels pressured to get as many things done as possible in their day might move in a rushed fashion. Their breath might become shallow, their footsteps and hand movements quick, their musculature tight or held, and their vision narrowed. A depressed or sad person may move slowly; they may carry themselves in a collapsed posture, sigh frequently and not want to make eye contact with their environment. Someone fearful might be hesitant in their interaction with others, hold their musculature rigidly, strain their eyes to see, and function in a constant state of caution. An overexcited individual might have quick, short movements, a high- pitched voice, and rapid speech. Another Veteran told me that the things he learned about himself in his lessons helped him become more aware of himself and then everything started to change. Are you aware of unnecessary tensions that you hold in your body?
Most of us are unaware of how we move. Fredrick Matthias Alexander, the founder of the Alexander Technique, tells us that our sensory perception is “debauched,” or faulty. This was one of Alexander’s first discoveries. Alexander was born in Australia in 1869. His passion was acting, yet he frequently struggled with the loss of his voice while on
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