The Alexander Technique for

                      SPORTS and FITNESS

 

Professional and amateur athletes alike can learn to move their bodies appropriately for each action involved in their sport when they study The Alexander Technique (AT).  Increasing physical awareness. reducing tension, improving balance, centering, grounding, movement articulation, quality of movement, accuracy, speed, and breath control can all be addressed with AT.

 

You can achieve your athletic goals by including paying attention to how you are moving and increasing your efficiency and ease.  It can be more fun!

                                                                               photos by Rachel Winslow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Sport Example: Horseback Riding

 

Jano can work with you on or off the horse although special insurance is required in Pennsylvania for working on horseback.  In the studio, a wooden saddle horse is available to use with or without a saddle.  Table work is terrific for chronic pain and alignment issues.

 

Common habits riders have include tensing their bodies up out of their seats from fear of falling off the horse, tightening their legs up into their pelvis to grip the horse to stay on, or tightening their hands and arms to control the horse with the reins.  All of these habits interfere with the easy movement of the horse and the actual balance of the rider.

 

AT can help you experience relief from tension and pain from misuse of your body during riding and handling horse gear and avoid future injuries.  You can heighten your experience of your horse's movement and the ground.

 

Sally A. Tottle, from BodySense:

      "When we see a horse and rider performing really well together, it can be a totally captivating and inspiring experience.  The horse moves easily and freely, the rider sits effortlessly poised while the application of her aids is almost imperceptible.  Horse and rider blend together so completely that it becomes impossible to distinguish which one is guiding the other.

       Before a rider can fully learn the skill of riding a horse, she needs to foundation in good balance and body control.  The Alexander Technique can help riders to find the elegance and pose they have admired in others that allow horse and rider to move as one.  Once learned this will help to develop the suppleness, coordination, correct muscle tone, stability, and sensitivity that are the foundations for good riding."