Alexander Technique Basic Steps
Welcome to more ease in six simple steps!
The Alexander Technique Basic Steps are a set of practical and easy-to-use tools for more ease in everyday life. They are designed to help you use yourself well in all activities. Ease and well-being are the main focus here – and above all: to have fun with them!
They consist of six short modules that can be applied in any situation. For each module, we provide a text description as well as spoken instructions, which you can even download and take with you.
If you practice the Alexander Technique Basic Steps regularly and consistently, you’ll experience less tension and pain, better posture, and fewer functional limitations. All activity will become easier, flow more elegantly, and will be more efficient over time.
The Alexander Technique Basic Steps have been created by Maleen Schultka and her ATworkcare initiative in collaboration with Andreas Dirscherl.
Contact us for any questions or to book an individual coaching session.
Maleen Schultka
info@alexandertechnik-schultka.de
+49 170 755 588 6 | ⇗ Call | ⇗ WhatsApp
Andreas Dirscherl | Alexander-Technik aus München
alexandertechnik@andreasdirscherl.de
+49 178 209 43 03 | ⇗ Call | ⇗ WhatsApp
Alexander Technique Basic Steps – the Modules
How to use | Tips
The AT Basic Steps are most efficient and powerful if practiced regularly and consistently. So try to think of them a few times every day. Two to three times a day would be ideal. It shouldn’t be significantly less in the long run, in order for the Basic Steps to have a lasting effect.
Choose simple, everyday tasks such as brushing your teeth, having a drink, or sitting down, during which you can apply and practice the Basic Steps without a lot of extra time and effort.
So start with a Basic Steps module of your choice and practice it in one of the simple situations you have selected before: in many cases this alone brings a noticeable change. Then add modules one by one as you please.
Note that you don’t have to follow a fixed sequence of Basic Steps elements. It is more important that you use those elements that really work for you individually. And the ones you can easily incorporate into your everyday life.
Remember – the Basic Steps are there for you, not the other way around!
Over time, you’ll gain fluency in all the modules of the Basic Steps, which will mutually reinforce each other.
As little as possible and as much as necessary
When practicing, primarily pay attention to the effects you perceive, in terms of balance, openness, and mobility. If you feel tight or less flexible and agile, take a break! It might be that you tried too hard or wanted to do it particularly “right”.
It is important not to practice “doggedly”, try to use as little force and effort as possible.
Remember: the Basic Steps are designed to help you use yourself well in your everyday life. Ease and well-being are the main focus – and above all: to have fun with them!
Find an Alexander Technique teacher
The Basic Steps are even more effective with the support of an experienced Alexander Technique teacher. A teacher can also guide you according to your individual needs and circumstances.
Contact us with any questions or to book an individual coaching session or group workshop.
Maleen Schultka
info@alexandertechnik-schultka.de
+49 170 755 588 6 | ⇗ Call | ⇗ WhatsApp
Andreas Dirscherl | Alexander-Technik aus München
alexandertechnik@andreasdirscherl.de
+49 178 209 43 03 | ⇗ Call | ⇗ WhatsApp
Whole Self and All of You
Consider yourself as a unit and feel each individual part as part of the whole.
Think about your…
Front and back. Your center.
Neck and head.
Chest. Pelvis. Abdomen.
Upper and lower back.
Shoulders, arms, hands.
Legs and feet.
Your spine: Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, sacrum, coccyx.
Think of yourself as a whole – inside and outside.
Everything is “present”, you are in balance, and you are connected, coordinated and mobile.
Having Space
Remember the volume you have.
Think of expanding in all three dimensions.
Imagine your body expanding openly in all directions.
Lengthening. Widening. Deepening.
Up. Down. Front. Back. Left. Right.
You are three-dimensional.
Have plenty of space inside you so that your organs can be “comfortable”.
Let your neck be free so that your head can go up, your shoulders open up and widen to both sides, and your front/abdominal side, as well as your back side, become equally long and spacious.
Your legs are released downwards to the ground, while your pelvis, spine, and head rise upwards.
You experience your full height in all three dimensions. You have space.
Neck Free
Allow your neck to be free so that the head can move freely and easily.
Let your neck be so free and fluid so that your head can also move easily and orient itself just a little bit upwards.
Your head sits centrally supported and balanced on top of the cervical spine and can easily rock back and forth.
Find a spot between front and back where the head feels the lightest, almost weightless, and the neck no longer needs to do any work.
Allow yourself length in front, between sternum and chin.
Breathing Moves You
Notice that breathing as a movement also moves you as a whole.
Take a moment and bring your awareness to your breathing.
Allow the breath to fall and rise comfortably without any extra effort. Let the breath flow as easily as possible, “just by itself”, without taking any extra deep breaths.
Breathe out calmly, breathe in calmly. Calmly out. Calmly in.
Do you notice a pause at the end of the exhalation?
Know that your breathing reaches each cell, and moves you as a whole. You are open and agile.
Being Carried
Allow yourself to be carried by your bones.
Let your skeleton carry you.
Notice how your feet are touching the ground. Distribute contact to balls and heels. Left and right foot. Inside and outside.
You are in balance.
The feet carry the legs. The legs carry the pelvis, your spine, and the chest, and thus the entire torso.
The spine carries the head. Neck and back support shoulders and arms.
Therefore, you are being carried by your skeleton.
Which means, being upright requires very little muscular effort.
Open Senses
Register what the senses are telling you.
Continue to perceive the world around you with all your senses. Let your senses be open and awake. Direct your attention outward, just as much as inward, to yourself.
There is a balance of inside and outside.
Let light reach your eyes and sound reach your ears.
Notice scents in your nose and tastes in your mouth.
And above all, let your skin feel.
Perceive everything that is touching your skin in this moment. The floor or the chair, objects, even your clothes and shoes.