According to Erika Whittaker, when one of his students or pupils would complain to FM Alexander about something or other that was going on in their lives, his response was often to say:
“But it’s you! It’s you who’s doing it.” So Alexander’s concept of “use” was total. It is not just about what you do or don’t do; or whether you do it with a free neck. It is about who you are: not “use of the body” but “use of the self”. © 2013 John S Hunter
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How will the Alexander Technique help me with respiration?
In two ways:
Briefly, the brain receives information about carbon dioxide levels in the blood. When they are too high it responds by sending a message directly to the diaphragm which in turn contracts downwards and outwards from its dome-shaped resting position while the ribs move side-ways and upwards. This brings about a considerable increase in the volume of the thorax. The internal air pressure is thereby reduced and atmospheric pressure pushes air into the lungs. The diaphragm then begins to relax and come back up inside the rib-cage, which closes around it, into a dome-shape, aided by the internal organs and abdominal wall which – having been pushed respectively down and out during inspiration – are exerting pressure. The resultant decrease in the volume of the thorax puts the air in the lungs under increased pressure (higher than atmospheric pressure) and it therefore passes out through the wind-pipe (i.e. is exhaled). The most important aspect of this from the point of view of respiratory re-education is that the movement of air in and out of the lungs, when not interfered with, is a passive consequence of work done primarily by the diaphragm – not under voluntary control. It is when we either interfere with the voluntary muscles (either consciously or unconsciously), or are more or less permanently in a state of rigidity or collapse that things go wrong. Therefore any effort made to make air come in or out of the lungs is counter-productive. To learn to breathe well is to learn how to get out of the way. Alexander work is a very effective way to bring this about. How will the Alexander Technique help me with voice? Natural breathing, as described above, is the foundation for any work with voice. In order to produce sound, the vocal chords squeeze together and provide a resistance to the air being pushed out of the lungs by the increase in air pressure caused by the diaphragm and rib-cage. When this is done without any unnecessary interference from voluntary muscles, the voice has a particular resonance which can be recognised. The most common faults in voice production (or playing a wind-instrument) are:
© 1994 John S Hunter |
AuthorJohn Hunter blogs as UpwardThought on Wordpress. Some posts will be reproduced on this site periodically. Archives
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