I’m not wearing a winter coat anymore. I think I can boldly make that statement and follow through on it until September or October. I feel good about this and hope you do too!
I’ve begun the process of making a ‘little book’ on the Alexander Technique. Its intention is to give the student a 10 (or so) page pamphlet on the absolute basics that they need to remember. All too often students have lessons and then either forget what to do or are too busy to pour over all of the written material (understandable!). If you’re interested in getting a copy, leave a note in the comments or stay tuned for the announcement.
This week, I’m going to talk a bit about muscular cocontraction AKA stiffening a joint. This is a perfectly natural thing that we can do, but if we’re not careful we can hold this cocontraction when we don’t really want to. I’ll give you a little example*.
Simply grip up your arm as tightly as you can for a moment and prevent it from moving.
Got it? Ok stop!
That’s it. That’s the whole phenomenon of cocontraction in a nutshell.
So what happened? Well if I had to guess, you must have stiffened the biceps, triceps, and forearm muscles (there are a lot of little muscles that move that arm around). If you were paying attention to the joint, you would have felt pressure build around that. This is because the muscular cocontraction will ever so slightly pull the bones of the arm closer together and reduce the spongy “empty” space of the elbow (ok….it’s not like there’s a vacuum in your elbow…it’s just applying pressure to the joint cushioning).
The insidious thing that happens over the course of our lives is that this type of cocontration can build and we stop even feeling that it is happening. Cocontraction begins to feel normal!
AND WE CAN EVEN MOVE THE JOINT WHILE IT IS COCONTRACTING!!
If THAT continues, we will wear out the cartilage and begin to feel bone on bone grinding as they age.
This is why some folks need knee, hip, or shoulder replacements. If this begins to happen in the spine, you’ll get a herniated disc. In the extreme case, a doctor will perform a spinal fusion and stick rods on the vertebrae so that they can no longer move. It’s a rather inelegant band-aid but can provide temporary pain relief.
Pulling the Head Back and Down on the Neck
When cocontraction hits the neck, the head must be pulled back and down. To know the meaning of this phrase, check out this post. I want you to know this habit so that you can learn to prevent it. The neck does not need to stiffen during normal everyday activities. This includes weight training and general forms of exercise.
It will stiffen if you are pushing yourself beyond a healthy limit. If you feel the neck tensing up, that is your big clue that you need to do less. Treat neck tension like your canary in the coal mine.
Do Not Set In Stone
When I say ‘Don’t set in stone’, it does not mean never ever stiffen. If you’re playing tug of war you will need to stiffen those legs and then release those legs over and over again while you play the game. But the key ingredient is that you release tension when you go to move. That will keep your machine nicely oiled (to mix as many metaphors as I sloppily can).
Not setting in stone is a general thought. I apply it to as many of my joints as possible as a total general sensation. In particular, if I’m sitting to type for a while, my hips looove to stiffen up as a consequence of shoving my head into the screen. Every so often, I’ll check in with my overall tension and look to make sure that my head, neck, back, and hips are not locking up.
When We Practice
If we want to build poise and have that wondrous Fred Astaire like quality in ourselves, we’ll want to dissolve as much of this unnecessary cocontraction as we possible can. This does not mean that I want you to be ‘relaxed’. It means that I want you to have a quality of ‘sprung weight’. Sprung weight is strong, flexible, and available.
If I am warming up or practicing my instrument, I pay attention to the level of stiffening that I have and I use my Alexander Technique exercises to help see the stiffening and decrease it. Lately, I’ve been using the Model Walk, Hands like Feet, standing on a wedge, and sliding arms up and down a wall while seated to examine my habitual pulls. I do each of these for roughly 5 minutes. It adds up to a 20 minutes exercise program that opens everything up to a certain degree. Each of these exercises gives me a chance to check out various forms of movement and reduce cocontraction on a general basis.
But without knowing the purpose behind everything, cocontraction will persist.
When We Live
I cannot expect either you or myself to apply the same level of attention in practice and ‘real life’ situations. If you are typing that all important email, the best you can do - and should do - is to remind yourself that you can take your time and remember to stay ‘back and up’ and ‘don’t set in stone’ during the activity in question. Staying ‘Back and Up’ is yet more Alexander slang for how our energy organises. It is a consequences of Oppositions 1,2,3, and 4 all doing their thing.**
When In Doubt
Look Out
Stop
Dissolve
Expand
* I tend to demonstrate these examples in writing with the arms or legs because it’s very uncomfortable to stiffen your neck (it can even give you a head ache).
** Oppositions 1 and 2 being the absolute most important.
Would love to have your booklet!