Alexander Technique- Nora Nausbaum

Eliminates:
Neck and back pain
Headaches
Repetitive strain injury (RSI)
Poor coordination
Work-related injuries
Improves:
Walking
Balance
Bending and reaching
Lifting
Healing after injury
Public Speaking
Playing music
Why does Alexander Technique have such wide application?
We often tighten our muscles habitually. This gives us unwanted discomfort and pain. We especially tighten our neck muscles even when doing simple tasks. Tightening our neck is not only uncomfortable, but also leads to imbalance of the whole body; our innate poise and ease-of-movement suffers. Over time we compensate for the sensory misinformation conveyed by our habits. We sometimes accept tight muscles as normal, adding to our stiffness and stress.
Alexander technique addresses the problems of habitual tightening by showing us a new way to use the body. Almost everybody benefits from increased awareness of habits, muscular effort and balance. Office workers, musicians, nurses, carpenters, dentists, software engineers, housecleaners all have something in common. We all have habits that interfere with efficient use of the body. Whatever we do can become lighter and easier.
How does one learn the Alexander Technique?
Learning takes place in a private lesson. The teacher uses a combination of very gentle hands-on guidance, verbal instruction and repetition. There are no exercises. Rather, over time, the student incorporates freer ways of moving into his or her everyday life.
What is a lesson like?
An individual lesson in the Alexander Technique usually lasts 30-60 minutes during which the student's balance and coordination are explored. Sitting, standing, walking, reaching, bending, lifting, and using the hands are common starting places for improvement. A series of lessons (weekly or twice-weekly ) is usually needed to counteract many years of habits that interfere with activities.
Specific complaints and applications are also addressed, such as using the body well at a computer, playing a musical instrument with more freedom, driving a car feeling more relaxed, lifting a baby with a healthy back, working at a desk with a free neck. You may feel lighter and easier just walking down the street.
What kind of people study Alexander Technique?
Over the years, people of all ages and types have recognized the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique in improving physical and psychological well-being. Performing artists, computer users, athletes, teachers, doctors, and gardeners say their work is easier after a series of Alexander Technique lessons. Many well-known people have spoken of the Alexander Technique as an integral part of their growth: writer Aldous Huxley, philosopher John Dewey, Nobel prize-winning scientist Nikolaas Tinbergen, George Bernard Shaw, actors Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, and Kenneth Branaugh.
Who is F.M. Alexander?
Frederick Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania in 1869 and made his living as a Shakespearean recitalist. After losing his stage voice, he consulted doctors who found nothing wrong. His personal story is one of keen observation of his own habits and nearly decade-long experimentation, resulting in a discovery that has universal application. He demonstrated that once we learn to stop interfering with our reflexes, our balance improves, pain and stiffness decrease or disappear.
Background
Nora Nausbaum has been teaching the Alexander Technique since 1988, after having attended the 1600-hour, three-year teacher-training course in Menlo Park. Nora is also a professional flutist with a masters degree from New England Conservatory of Music. She teaches people from all walks of life including computer users, office workers, gardeners, musicians, public speakers, equestrian riders, caregivers, carpenters.......
Private Lessons
Individual lessons are the ideal way to learn about habits that cause tension, stiffness and pain. Weekly reinforcement is the best way to change ingrained ways, cultivated over many years. During an individual lesson, we look at how sitting, standing, reaching, walking, lifting, and bending can be easier and lighter. There are no exercises; rather the new, more balanced way becomes part of you as old habits are replaced by better ways of moving. Part of each lesson you lie down, fully clothed, on a padded table. You lay with your head supported and your knees bent. Lying down takes full advantage of gravity, the teacher's guidance, and is very relaxing.
Learning these new ways of thinking and moving vary greatly in length from a few weeks to several months, depending on the force and length of one's habits and other factors. Most people learn incrementally as they continue each week. They notice less pain and greater ease as the process continues. The student decides when to stop lessons, usually when the stiffness or pain abates.
Certification
Nora Nausbaum was certified to teach in 1988 by STAT (Society for Teachers of the Alexander Technique, London, England) and by AmSAT (American Society for the Alexander Technique, formerly NASTAT). AmSAT is the largest professional organization for teachers of the Alexander Technique in the US. All AmSAT certified teachers have satisfactorily completed 1600 hours of class instruction in at least three years with a student/teacher ratio of no more than 5 to 1.