|
The Alexander technique, named after Frederick Matthias Alexander, teaches people how to avoid unnecessary muscular and mental tension during their everyday activities. It is an educational process rather than a relaxation technique or form of exercise. Most other methods take it for granted that 'one's awareness of oneself' is accurate, whereas Alexander realized that people who had been using their bodies wrongly for a long time could not trust their feelings (sensory appreciation) in carrying out any activity. Practitioners say that such problems are often caused by repeated misuse of the body over a long period of time, for example, by standing or sitting with one's weight unevenly distributed, holding one's head incorrectly, or walking or running inefficiently. The purpose of the Alexander technique is to help people unlearn maladaptive physical habits and return to a balanced state of rest and poise in which the body is well-aligned. Alexander developed the technique's principles in the 1890s as a personal tool to alleviate breathing problems and hoarseness during public speaking. He credited the technique with allowing him to pursue his passion for Shakespearean acting. ==History== Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Shakespearean orator who developed voice loss during his performances. After doctors found no physical cause, Alexander reasoned that he was doing something to himself while speaking to cause his problem. His self-observation in multiple mirrors revealed that he was contracting his whole body prior to phonation in preparation for all verbal response. He developed the hypothesis that this habitual pattern of pulling the head backwards and downwards needlessly disrupted the normal working of the total postural, breathing and vocal mechanisms. After experimenting to develop his ability to stop the unnecessary and habitual contracting in his neck, he found that his problem with recurrent voice loss was resolved. While on a recital tour in New Zealand (1895) he began to realise the wider significance of head carriage for overall physical functioning. Further, Alexander observed that many individuals commonly tightened the musculature of the upper torso as he had done, in anticipation of many other activities besides speech. Alexander believed his work could be applied to improve individual health and well being. He further refined his technique of self-observation and re-training to teach his discoveries to others. He explained his reasoning in four books published in 1918, 1923, 1931 (1932 in the UK) and 1942. He also trained teachers to teach his work from 1930 until his death in 1955. Teacher training was interrupted during World War II between 1941 and 1943, when Alexander accompanied children and teachers of the Little School to Stow, Massachusetts to join his brother, A. R. Alexander, who also taught his brother's technique. In the 1960s, there was enough interest to start the first dedicated school, called The American Center for the Alexander Technique, in New York City.〔 In 1987, The North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique was established to maintain high teaching standards.〕 Famous people who have studied the Alexander Technique include actors Michael Caine, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Judi Dench, Suzanna Hamilton, William Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Jackman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Kevin Kline, Patti Lupone, Paul Newman, Mary Steenburgen, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams; musicians Madonna, Paul McCartney, Yehudi Menuhin and Sting; playwright George Bernard Shaw; writers Roald Dahl, Robertson Davies, and Aldous Huxley; and Nobel Prize winner for medicine and physiology Nikolaas Tinbergen.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.alex-technique.com/Famous_Testimonials.htm )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.naturaltherapypages.co.uk/therapist/alexander_technique/14488 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alexander technique」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|