AlexanderTechnique: A Report

An accident with consequences 

An accident led to a woman learning to understand her body better. By improving her body awareness, coordination and quality of movement, she was able to significantly reduce her pain and significantly improve her quality of life. This is a beautiful and proven treatment success for the Alexander Technique.

A buckling during a pointe dance really threw my client's life into turmoil: she could no longer move her right leg for a moment and could barely bend it. This was followed by constant pain, which severely limited her quality of life. As an ambitious athlete, she was forced to do less sport, and in some cases no sport at all. The worst thing was that she was not pain-free even at rest.

Her primary care physician referred her to an orthopedist and later to a rheumatologist. An MRI was done and she received physical therapy sessions. However, the physiotherapy exercises increased the pain, so she didn't like doing them and often didn't do them at all.

One year later

After a painful year, the client decided to have the knee surgery that was recommended to her. However, the pain relief was short-lived and after a month the pain increased daily. An infection was ruled out.

For the second time, an MRI was done and it could be seen that a meniscus tear was healing. The doctors told her that it could take another four years to heal completely.

Another pain-ridden 10 months passed until she couldn't take it anymore and sought help again, agreeing to an infiltration with cortisone to provide pain relief. Shortly after the procedure, however, the pain returned more severe than before. The doctors were at a loss.

Open for new things: AlexanderTechnique

After almost two years of limited quality of life, the client heard about Wise Medicine and the Alexander Technique method. She wanted to rediscover her original ability for holistic coordination, become as pain-free as possible and finally be able to enjoy a sporty and carefree life again!

She was curious and ready for a change, because it couldn't go on like this!

Already during the assessment she realized that the Alexander Technique method was not simply a treatment, but rather a process and a path of experience. She was involved from the beginning and was able to use, expand and develop her existing knowledge. By observing and questioning the current situation together and the resulting movement and posture patterns, she was able to recognize, among other things, that she had developed a protective posture. Since it was clear that the meniscus tear was healing and there were no other acute problems, it seemed only logical to let go of this protective posture. But: easier said than done...

The journey begins

And so began an intensive but exciting process journey for the client.

The client learned that due to her protective posture, the knee joint "rusts", which is not conducive to healing. Joints need fine movements to be nourished and to remain mobile. This knowledge helped her to allow herself more movement despite the initially very strong and automatic protective reflex.

The fine touches and movements as well as the mental instructions of the Alexander Technique therapist helped her to engage in new movement experiences.

Encouraging experiences

Already after the first session the client noticed an improvement. She understood how important allowing movement is for her body and paid more attention to staying mobile in her everyday life.

Step by step, in collaboration with the therapist, she acquired more knowledge about the functioning of her body. Her movements became softer, more supple and less "held". The client also used her acquired knowledge beneficially in everyday life and practiced again and again how to relieve herself and cultivate mindful movements.

By observing and evaluating concrete movement sequences, after five sessions she was able to consciously stop her protective reflex and initiate and allow holistically coordinated movements to happen. A new way of moving, with much less pain, was able to establish itself.

Regression enables further progress

During the subsequent 7-week holiday break without AlexanderTechnique sessions, the client had hardly any pain. Full of joy she wanted to start again and was not deterred by the upcoming lifeguard competition.

Disappointed, however, she had to realize that the pain returned immediately and violently. However, since she had already built up a considerable Alexander Technique base knowledge, she was able to more quickly find her way back into the new movement she had learned and freedom from pain. Overcoming the setback also increased her confidence in her ability to influence her own healing.

Another insight from this setback was that performance pressure has a strong influence on her well-being and she tends to unconsciously tense up a lot and lose her looseness. In addition, the long holiday break without any sporting activity was not optimal preparation for a competition.

Keeping at it pays off

Already five sessions later, the client no longer had permanent pain, after sports only very slight pain that did not last long. Her perception had improved so much that she was able to perceive and consciously influence her long-standing and unconscious tendency to let her knees fall towards each other.

During the now four-week vacation, she regularly did her AlexanderTechnique mindfulness and muscle-building exercises. She cultivated the new coordination and muscle connections so that the realignment of the leg axis could be strengthened.

The client constantly refined her self-awareness and noticed more and more quickly when her body was sending disturbing signals and how she could react to them. Since the mindful muscle building exercises did not cause any pain, she decided to take another step.

Interprofessional collaboration at Wise Medicine

Together with the physiotherapist from Wise Medicine, the client built up her muscle building exercises. Regaining stability, safety and bounce was the goal for all of us.

This was successful, because after only three more AlexanderTechnik sessions and immediately following physiotherapy sessions, she told us that she no longer had any pain during and after gymnastics and swimming. The therapy was completed.

Feedback from the client

For four months now, my client has stopped taking AlexanderTechnique sessions. She writes: 

"I am doing well. I've recovered so well that I can go back to ballet and lifeguarding.

I have learned very well in therapy to listen to my body. I also use the regeneration exercises again and again after strenuous workouts - with good success. 

I do not always succeed in applying the method directly during the activity. However, what I have learned from the Alexander Technique is present and this helps me to implement it more often.

I'm happy to be almost pain free and back to full training."

Conclusion

An accident forced my client to look more closely and take an interest in her body and its anatomical functioning. By improving her body awareness, coordination and quality of movement, it was possible to identify the cause that contributed to the accident.

The tendency to let the knees fall slightly towards each other, which existed long before the accident, had weakened her leg axis. The pressure on the knees increased and especially in pointe dancing the incorrect load had a negative effect. The buckling was therefore only the result of an unfavourable weight distribution and weakened leg axis.

I am very pleased that my client has chosen the body- and process-centered way with the Alexander Technique and now has an effective tool in her hand to make her life easier, more flexible and health-promoting in the future.

Here you can find more information about the AlexanderTechnique and about me as an AlexanderTechnique therapist.