An analysis of swimming: in french

Alors, aujourd’hui, j’écris sur la natation. 

Je suis membre d’une salle de gym, Chelsea Piers, où il y a une grande belle piscine.  Elle est de taille olympique.  Je nageais à la piscine de notre maison de compagne, mais, nous avons vendu cette maison, alors, si je veux continuer de nager, il faut nager au gym.

Alors, je suis allée nager deux fois, et en fait, c’est vraiment formidable.  Ok, j’aime bien le sentiment de voler.   Quand je fais du ski, quand je danse quelquefois, j’ai le sentiment de voler.  Alors, il y a des nouvelles sort de palmes de bain qui sont faite en mousse (foam) très légere.  Quand on porte ces palmes, on vole vraiment dans l’eau.  Ma nage favorite, c’est la brasse papillon.   Sans les palmes, c’est assez difficile de maintenir la vitesse, et puis c’est difficile de respirer parce que la vitesse crée le momentum nécessaire pour se lever et respirer.  La brasse de papillon c’est vraiment la brasse d’une sirène.  Le pouvoir de cette brasse vient de la vague du corps entier.  C’est magique, et avec les palmes, c’est vraiment comme si un pouvait voler. 

Comme quelqu’un qui aime penser au mouvement et d’exprimer avec les changements subtils du moyen de bouger, l’eau c’est un moyen magique. D’une certaine façon, c’est le moyen le plus proche que nous avons de voler.  Nous pouvons bouger dans trois dimensions.  Quand je nage, j’exprime avec les motions haut et bas.  Si vous plongez un peu, la force de l’eau vous pousse, et il me semble que oui, la force est surtout en haut, mais il y a aussi, un sentiment d’une poussée horizontale. 

Alors, dans la brasse de papillon, on plonge, et la pouvoir de la flottbilité propulse un vers l’avant.  La brasse freestyle n’inclut pas beaucoup des movements haut et bas, mais quand je m’exprime avec un petit plongant dedans la brasse – c’est intéressant !

Introduction to the introduction of Science and the Alexander Technique

The cool thing about the AT is that it addresses the intersection of thinking and moving. There are other holistic modalities that address this as well, but not as directly.  This is the crux of what the AT is about.  We Alexander Technique teachers have manual techniques that feel relaxing – like massage - and we can guide people through exercises – like a PT - but behind everything we do is this idea that your thinking determines your movement and your posture.  This puts the AT in a unique position when it comes to studying the relationship between the mind and the body.  It also means that the AT helps us heal in a different way from other modalities.  We are harnessing the neuro-physical mechanisms which determine our posture and movement, and finding a way to use those mechanisms in a healthier way.

So, when FM Alexander “discovered” his method for harnessing the mechanisms of posture and coordination, science was in a very different place.  There wasn’t a lot of information about psycho physical unity.  The best explanation at the time was Rudolph Magnus’ theory of reflexes to describe why the relationship of the head to the neck seemed so important to our overall coordination.  This theory is now outdated.  In the exciting world of neuroscience and motor control today, there are lots of people studying the relationship of the brain and the body.  How do we know where our bodies are in space?  How is muscle tone regulated?  How does that Kohnstamm phenomenon work?  Check it out if you haven’t heard of it!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohnstamm%27s_phenomenon. 

Huge subject, check out https://www.alexandertechniquescience.com/ if you want to jump into the weeds.  Or stay tuned for my slow ruminations. 

What is the Alexander Technique, in 220 words?

So for those of you who are new to the Alexander Technique, let’s do a quick synopsis get to you up to speed.  The Alexander Technique is a method of neuromuscular re-education.  It allows us to change our habits of movement in order to function in a healthier way.  This manifests as nicer posture, prettier dancing, faster running, better singing, calmer, more grounded, etc.  Who studies the Alexander Technique?  Anyone who wants these things:  doctors, lawyers, singers, dancers, trumpet players, farmers.  Also, the Alexander Technique is very helpful for people with chronic back pain. 

 The man who invented the technique is named Frederick Mathias Alexander, born in Tasmania in 1869, died in London in 1955.  He invented the technique as a way of curing his own chronic hoarseness, which he experienced as a Shakespearean actor, and then found that it helped other people with myriad other ills.

 What was new and cool about it?  Well, psycho-physical unity.  The idea that in order to change our habits of moving, we must change our habits of thought.  We must interrupt the immediate chain of events that lead from a desire to do something to doing it.  The technique that grew from these ideas has stood the test of time, and can now be described with cutting edge neurobiology and motor control theories. 

First Blog Post

I am pleased to announce that I will be adding a blog to my website! I hope you’ll enjoy my ruminations on movement, neurobiology, dance, improvisation, and general philosophizing! Please feel free to comment or contact me via message. See you in the cloud!