Posture and the Alexander Technique

Yes it’s the P word.  It’s almost a dirty word to some Alexander Technique teachers, but why?  It’s the word that resonates most effectively with the general public, and improved posture is certainly a lovely side effect of learning the Alexander Technique. One problem is that when people think of “good posture” they see someone stiff and upright, and stiffness is precisely what we are trying to UNdo when we’re taking lessons in the Alexander Technique. Perhaps it’s also the problem of implying that there is a “right way” to stand and sit and move. Searching for perfection will just create stiffness. FM Alexander said there’s no such thing as the right position, only a right direction. I have no real problem with the word posture myself, or with friends admiring my posture. It should be good. And I look around in London and see plenty of examples of what people quite reasonably could refer to as bad posture, like slumping in a chair in front of a PC all day and hyper-extending the lumbar spine until the discs have no option but to start slipping. There’s no avoiding the word, so why not embrace it? And then when you do have the opportunity to actually teach someone the Alexander Technique, there is your chance to get them used to all the language we use. But until such time, posture is just fine.

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