The Alexander Way…learning is a joyous adventure…

Somewhere in the early eighties, I started having back pain.  It was usually in my upper back between my shoulder blades on the left side of my spine.  It felt like a pencil was somehow wedged between the vertebrae.  When the pain started initially,  I went to see a chiropractor for many weeks.  Each adjustment would bring some relief, but the pain always returned in a few days.

A couple of years later,  I went to see my physician who found nothing peculiar in the x-ray images of my spine.  He started me on stretching and strengthening exercises which helped a little bit but never removed the pain.  After about 10 years of trying to find relief, I gave up and just accepted the pain for another 10 years.  Most days I would be slightly uncomfortable.  But once or twice a year the pain was really bad and I’d miss work, lie on my back to relieve the pressure, and take ibuprofen.

In August 2008, I read a study that found the Alexander Technique provided long lasting relief.  I had never heard of the Alexander Technique and became very interested.  I searched around on the web and found Jamee Culbertson and called her immediately.

After my first lesson, I had a lot of things to think about.  Jamee helped me become aware of my body’s alignment and muscle usage by using visualizations and body positioning.  I found myself constantly fighting with myself to relax.  That was very odd to me because I’ve always thought of myself as a very relaxed and laid back person.  Jamee was able to read unbelievably subtle clues to identify which muscles I was holding tight and which ones were relaxed.  She taught me to read some of the same clues and make adjustments to how I used my muscles and positioned my body.

During the first lesson, I was following Jamee’s visualizations and relaxing my muscles when my neck popped as if it had been adjusted by a chiropractor, bringing a little bit of relief. After the end of my second lesson, my back pain started to go away but returned quickly.  After the end of my third lesson, I could actively make my back pain go away in a couple of minutes and it would stay that way for hours.  Frequently my neck and back would pop and crack as I would change the way I was standing and holding my muscles.

After about five or six lessons, my pain was gone. Maybe once or twice a week I would notice it trying to resurrect itself, and I was able to dispatch it within minutes.  I was 99% sure I had some physical deformity or injury to my back before I started the Alexander Technique.  Now I would say that I was unconsciously and incorrectly using my muscles which caused that pain for over 20 years.

Now, regardless of the cause, I no longer have the pain.   Thank you Jamee.

Mark Lundberg, Software Engineer

Tags: Add new tag, alexander technique, boston, boston MA, Concord MA, musician, piano, posture, programmer

George was a man of 41 when we first met. His acupuncturist referred him to me for the pain in his neck. He had been looking for relief for nearly 3 years for the pain that he was experiencing all over his body. He had to stop working, go on disability and he could no longer play guitar which he really loved to do. He couldn’t even scratch his nose without wincing.

Some doctors told him he had rheumatoid arthritis , others said it was fibromyalgia. No one knew for sure.

I told him that I didn’t know if I could help him but that we could surely try. If his pain had something to do with how he was using himself to move and interact with the world around him, we had a good chance of being able to make a difference.

We worked together for a good hour and although George remarked that he did not feel any difference in his level of pain he thought that what we talked about made a lot of sense. He didn’t expect a miracle seeing me just this once so he asked to make another appointment to see me again the following week.

When George came in again I asked him how he felt after the first lesson. He said that something very interesting occurred that he thought had something to do with the lesson. Last week when he left he walked a couple blocks to the bus stop. While he was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus to arrive it all of a sudden occurred to him that he wasn’t worrying. He noted that it was the first time since he was a child that he could remember not worrying. He said it lasted a good ten minutes albeit a pleasurable ten minutes, and he attributed it to the Alexander Technique lesson he’d just had.

Although George’s first experience was more psychological than a direct relief from the physical pain he was experiencing it was a good beginning. George decided to come twice a week for awhile. He revealed to me that he was also in the very beginning stages of recovery from years of alcohol consumption. He had lots of support in a 12 Step program and was working with a Sponsor there.

Within just a few weeks George started to experience an absence of the pain, first in his upper body and eventually to include his legs. Before long he reported that he had a new girlfriend and was starting to play his guitar again. I asked him to bring his guitar into the next lesson so I could see how he was using himself to play. No wonder he missed playing so much, it turns out he is a very fine blues guitar player. We both were really encouraged to see and hear him play his guitar again!

Tags: alexander technique, arthritis, boston, fibromyalgia, musician, rheumatoid arthritis