MASSAGE
THERAPY AND THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
by
Robert Rickover
Do you ever
experience pain or discomfort when you are giving a
massage? Are you sometimes exhausted at the end of a
day’s work? Do you worry about burn out?
If so, the
Alexander Technique could make a big difference in your
life. The Technique is a simple, and very practical
method you can use to convert unnecessary tension into
useful energy. It is probably best known because of the
many famous actors, musicians and dancers who use it to
improve their stamina and the quality of their
performance. But for over a century it has been used by
people of all ages and lifestyles to alleviate
stress-related conditions such as backache, neck pain,
migraine and the like.
The
Alexander Technique can enhance and prolong your career
as a massage therapist by helping you to become more
aware of how you’re using your body when working
with clients. Massage therapy is a very demanding
profession, both physically and mentally, and so it is
not at all surprising that therapists sometimes produce
unnecessary tension in themselves when giving a massage,
particularly in their neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and
hands. This excess tension wastes a lot of energy and
greatly increases the likelihood of pain or even injury.
Excess
tension also interferes with your ability to help your
clients. Tension in your hands or arms, for instance,
restricts the flow of kinesthetic information from your
client’s body, making it more difficult for you to
know where best to apply pressure, and how much to apply.
Worse yet,
excess tension in your body is immediately transferred to
your client. As Alice Pryor, Director of the Texas
Center for the Alexander Technique in Austin, and a Registered
Massage Therapist, says: “The state of your body is
communicated directly to your client the moment you touch
him or her. If you are tense, that tension will show up
in your client, often as unconscious resistance to your
work. If you are in a balanced, flexible and coordinated
state, those qualities will be picked up by your client
and he or she will respond much more quickly to your
touch.”
Teachers of
the Alexander Technique work with students individually
and in group classes. As part of the work, we use our
hands to gently guide you and show you how to recognize
and prevent habits of posture and movement that
needlessly drain your energy and interfere with your
ability to use your body in the most effective way
possible.
After having
some experience with the Technique, you’ll very
likely find that you don’t need to put as much
physical effort into your work as you’ve been
accustomed to. In other hands-on healing professions -
such as physical therapy and Rolfing, for example - the
trend today is towards using much less pressure when
working with clients. In the field of massage therapy
too, a comparatively light touch, delivered with clear
intention by a therapist who is using his or her own body
well, can often produce far better results than heavy
pressure - and with a lot less wear and tear on the
therapist!
Robert
Rickover is an Alexander teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska. He
also teaches regularly in Toronto, Canada. He often works
with massage therapists, physical therapists and
occupational therapists to help them do their work more
easily. He may be reached at (402) 475-4433 and at this Email Contact
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