Alexander Technique and Parkinson's - tangible relief and support from a debilitating illness

Ruth Rootberg's article powerfully describes the benefits of consciously changing neuro-muscular patterns, even with a debilitating illness like Parkinson's. I have done some editing here, just for space factor. The whole study can be found at www.amsatonline.org in the latest edition of AmSAT News.
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The Alexander Technique and Parkinson's Disease: A Case Study in Generating Hope for a Degenerative Condition
The entire Summer 2010 issue of AmSAT News is now available in our bookstore.
The Alexander Technique and Parkinson's Disease:
A Case Study in Generating Hope for a Degenerative Condition

by Ruth Rootberg

In the summer of 2008 a student of mine who is a physician urged me to see her patient, "Sabrina" (fictitious name), a senior citizen with Parkinson’s disease. The physician was concerned because Sabrina’s breathing was becoming compromised as her chest increasingly collapsed downward. I agreed to see Sabrina to discuss what the Alexander Technique might offer her and under what circumstances we could arrange lessons. I was both curious and terrified about teaching her to re-coordinate neuro-muscular patterning while her nervous system was progressively deteriorating. How could I help her, and for how long? Before meeting Sabrina, I did some research.

Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder with symptoms that may include trembling in the hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face (tremor), rigidity and stiffness, slowness of movement, difficulty in initiating movement, and postural instability (impaired balance).1 Parkinson’s patients typically develop a stooped, head-down, shoulders-drooped stance with a tendency to lean unnaturally forward or backward, and they tend to walk with a distinctive unsteady shuffling gait.2 Parkinson's is generally considered a disease of late middle age with the average age of onset at around 60 years of age.3 Idiopathic Parkinson's disease is the most common form; it is called idiopathic because the cause for the condition is unknown.4

There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease. Medical treatment involves powerful medications that act to reduce the symptoms and hopefully slow the pace at which the disease progresses. These powerful medications may produce unwanted side-effects, however, so care is taken in regulating and changing dosages as conditions warrant.

Some Parkinson’s patients undergo “deep brain stimulation.”5 In patients with Parkinson's disease, nerve cells in this region degenerate, causing tremors, stiffness, slowed movement, and loss of coordination. During this surgical procedure, electrodes are implanted that deliver electrical impulses to the region in the center of the brain that controls and coordinates movement. Physical therapy treatment stresses increasing patients’ comfort level and ability to manage daily life activities independently. This is where the Alexander Technique comes in.

.... Participants described improvements in walking, speech, improved posture or balance, greater energy, reduced tremor, and reduced rigidity or muscle tension. Some reported reduced stress or greater composure. Fewer changed their medications during the intervention or the six months following.


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Until next time...hope you're all having a sweet sort of day. It's your day after all. So why not take just a sec and notice where you are in space? Are you pulling up? Falling down? Squeezing, holding and making yourself tense all around?


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. ~
- Dr. Seuss


Happy days,
wendy

OPRAH Endorses Alexander Technique

Hey Folks. A little ditty from Oprah Magazine on alternative back pain treatments.

http://www.oprah.com/health/Alternative-Medicine-Pain-Treatments

In honor of Alexander Awareness Week, I'm offering a $13 trial free lesson.... Pay for the space, take a load off, spread yourself out LONG AND WIDE. Your back will thank you for a long time to come....

Until next time...hope you're all having a sweet sort of day. It's your day after all. So why not take just a sec and notice where you are in space? Are you pulling up? Falling down? Squeezing, holding and making yourself tense all around?


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. ~
- Dr. Seuss


Happy days,
wendy

The Alexander Technique Enhances Surgical Proficiency

Eureka...This is hot off the press! The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, a leading children's hospital in the country, presented this research about surgical proficiency and the Alexander Technique at the annual meeting of The American Academy of Pediatrics in San Francisco. YUMMY! We're hitting mainstream folks, read all about it. Okay...so we may not all become surgeons in this lifetime (blood, ew), but just remember, whether you're making a surgical incision at some poor dude's throat (God is in the details) or making your bed nice and neat (who doesn't want good orderly direction?), the Alexander Technique enhances your daily life big time.

Artistic Discipline Meets Modern Technology to Enhance Surgical Proficiency


Until next time...hope you're all having a sweet sort of day. It's your day after all. So why not take just a sec and notice where you are in space? Are you pulling up? Falling down? Squeezing, holding and making yourself tense all around?


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. ~
- Dr. Seuss


Happy days,
wendy

British Medical Journal Endorses Alexander Lessons

Hi Friends. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. OH...how IS that your neck of yours? Is it smooshed into your back? Is your lower back caving in? are your shoulders aching? lest you forget....Take a minute to notice where you are in space. Are you pulling up? Falling down? Squeezing, holding and making yourself tense all around?

Okay. I realize that nursery poems are the last thing you want to hear when your back is screaming at you and your Chiropractor is missing in action. But let me share this good news! The word is officially out. The British Medical Journal released a major study last year which revealed "One to one lessons in the Alexander technique from registered teachers have long term benefits for patients with chronic back pain."

If that weren't enough... take a look at this very cool video on the benefits of the work. Simple folk talking about a simple idea...feeling GOOD.

Experience Speaks for the Alexander Technique from Thomas Glen Cook on Vimeo.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. ~
- Dr. Seuss



Hugs, Wendy at
www.freeingup@blogger.com

A simple, ridiculously effective way to feel better.

Hi Everyone. Welcome! A moment to share, here's an anti-anxiety tip Du Jour!

Want a simple, ridiculously effective way to unwind and feel better? Go horizontal. I kid you not - hit the floor for a few minutes a day and you'll feel a lot better. Lie down in semi-supine position (see diagram) for about 7-10 minutes a day, once in the morning and then again at night, and you'll be doing a wonderful thing for your fabulous ol' neuro-psycho-physical Self. Promise. Literally known as Constructive Rest Position, the practice is a powerful way to destress, to quiet down our Whole (neuro-psycho-physical) Self and thus gain new insight into how inappropriate muscular tension might be causing harm. It's a great step to freeing yourself UP.

Question: If the world is making you tense, aren't you tense making your world? While lying down, start to SENSE in yourself where you hold tension, how you clutch yourself, even when lying still.

To all you lovely yogis out there, be advised that this practice differs from the fabulous death pose of your yoga practice, for we are not drifting off into Never Never Land but focusing instead on how outside stimulus produces habits of unnecessary muscular tension. A slightly different game, but quite a fun one.

Instructions for Constructive Rest in Semi Supine Position (follow the diagram)

A guided lie down. This is a distinctive way to lie still; it's not a full lie down. Stay TRUE to the pose for the most useful benefit.

1. Grab a few books to support your head when you lie down. You don't need too many, just enough so that your head is supported and resting slightly above your body. This is important because we want to set up a position that allows for freeing ourselves from tension. The head if allowed to fall naturally is quite heavy (10-12 pounds) and will cause your neck to crunch up unnecessarily. The books prevent the head falling back and down on your neck.

2. Lie on a hard surface, i.e. the floor. Very Important since you want to be comfortably supported and a hard firm surface is a great invitation to undo. Register the floor supporting your back, the books supporting your head. Tell your muscles it's okay to soften...give over to gravity. This might seem obvious point, but getting reorganized is a radical shift for most people so don't miss those beautiful moments of observing where you are in time and space. Undoing that hard wiring of unconscious habit is a tremendous moment of power. The power of now, people. The power of now.

Gently ask yourself to stop holding yourself up, consciously register that you are lying down and let gravity have you. Don't press or squeeze anywhere. Instead send a message throughout your system to undo, release, stop gripping or trying or doing. Nowhere to go...just recognize your patterns of working. Are you able to unwind? Has your back opened? Are your shoulders less tense? Are you a little quieter mentally?

3. Notice your spine running up the center of your entire torso from the base of your pelvis into your skull. As you lie for a few minutes and your back muscles undo, your spine literally lengthens to its full stature.


4. Keep your legs pointed towards the ceiling. Notice...as your back fully spreads onto the floor, your spine lengths through the center of your trunk, your neck is then free to release some of that extra tension stored from holding yourself up. As you free yourself up around your neck column, the head moves further away, leaving you with with a sensation of floating on top of your spine.

Direct yourself.
Keep envisioning yourself opening and expanding; allowing your back to open, your spine to lengthen, your neck muscles to free up and your head to float away/out...your limbs extending away from your center.

The vision I like is one of a Five Pointed Star. Head, Shoulders, and Knees all shining out in opposite directions....

After about 7-10 minutes, come up to standing and see what registers. Does your back feel wider? Are you less tight in your head/neck/shoulder area? Are you breathing a bit deeper? Do you feel a bit taller? What do you SENSE about yourself?


Keep me posted!!

Namaste....Wendy

Directed movement isn't a requirement for us two-footed folk; we don't need to think to move througout our daily lives...but life sure is sweeter when we are.


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. ~
- Dr. Seuss