Move with Ease
Less tension. Less effort. Everything you do can feel better, everyday.
Back into balance
Doing less to free up more
Most of us assume that moving better means doing more – more stretching, more strengthening, more exercise. The Alexander Technique starts from a different perspective – we need to ‘do’ less, turn down the noise, switch off the undercurrent of hidden muscle tension and free up energy for what we really want to do.
Addressing the imbalance in your everyday postural habits means you are looking after yourself all day, every day. Learning to listen to your body means you can hear and respond to its messages. You can stop before you hurt yourself. You can avoid compensatory behaviours developing after injuries and causing more problems further down the track.
Maybe your back or neck aches, your shoulders feel stiff, you have tension headaches, feel unstable or unsure in your body. This is not inevitable. Whatever your age you can learn to change things for the better.
All working together
Our bodies are made of many systems that work together to create us as a whole person. When all these systems work with each other, we function in a smooth, efficient way.
One of the underlying principles of the AT approach is the relationship between head, neck and back. When your head balances freely on your top vertebra, your whole spine lengthens, your back widens, your breathing deepens, your legs and arms integrate. This is what you then carry into every action, be it lifting weights, gardening or simply getting out of bed.
When you unlock your whole body coordination, the parts work better too.
Three things that change
Movement feels lighter
The most common observation from new students is that everything feels lighter – not just the activities that were problematic before. All sorts of everyday things start to feel different. Walking up the stairs. Carrying bags of groceries. Checking your phone. What’s changed is the unnecessary muscular effort you’ve been adding to every action. When you stop interfering with the body’s postural system, it does its job – and your day just became a little easier.
Pain quietens down
Contributing to our ‘ordinary’ pains are chronic patterns of tension that run under the radar for a long time. Some pain goes deeper, an oversensitised nervous system can set off alarm bells without an obvious cause. AT interrupts the loop, not by treating the symptoms but by prioritising the coordination and freedom of the whole body. Students often find that when the whole body is integrated, pain quietens down.
You can do more
When students free up their coordination, they do more with less. Athletes get into the zone. Musicians play with greater expression and consistency. Nurses find they can care for patients and still remember to look after themselves. Looking after your own body and mind, you are more available and more resilient. It’s part of why AT has been proven to improve performance and reduce pain.
The science behind the ease
What the research shows
Chronic back pain — The ATEAM trial (Little et al, British Medical Journal, 2008) followed 579 patients across 64 English GP practices. Alexander Technique lessons produced significant reductions in pain and disability at 12 months. [Read the study →]
Chronic neck pain — The ATLAS trial (MacPherson et al, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2015) found Alexander Technique lessons led to clinically significant reductions in neck pain at 12 months. [Read the study →]
Parkinson’s disease — A trial (Stallibrass et al, Clinical Rehabilitation, 2002) found people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s showed less disability after lessons than those receiving no intervention. [Read the study →]
Wherever you're starting from, there's a teacher and a path.
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Every teacher in the ATTSANZ directory is fully qualified, professionally bound, and dedicated to their students. Find one near you and see what changes.