Climbing the Pleasure Scale

Four Tips for Reducing Chronic Pain with the Alexander Technique

by

Leland Vall
Certified Alexander Technique Instructor
New York, NY
www.freeyourneck.com

Climbing the Pleasure Scale

Many people find relief from chronic pain through the Alexander Technique. If that is why you
are reading this, you may have seen a medical professional who asked you to rate your pain
on a scale of 0 to 10—the pain scale. The Alexander Technique is different because it
doesn’t involve measuring you by your pain. Instead, by improving your posture, movement
and breathing, the Alexander Technique helps you rediscover your body as a source of
pleasure. I like to think that the Alexander Technique helps you forget the pain scale and
shows you how to climb the pleasure scale.

How the Alexander Technique Works

An Alexander Technique teacher uses a gentle guiding touch and verbal instructions to help
you rediscover your natural posture and movement. People are often surprised at the sudden
comfort in their bodies, as well as the ease they experience doing familiar activities like
bending, standing or walking.

Alexander Technique Tips for Reducing Chronic Pain

Because it involves experiencing your body in a new way, learning the Alexander Technique
usually requires an instructor’s guidance. However, you can get started on your own by trying
out the following tips and other resources available at my website, www.freeyourneck.com.
One important thing to remember is that the Alexander Technique reduces pain by helping
you feel better generally. As you explore these tips, try not to link them directly to curing your
pain. Like any enjoyable activity, it’s better when you don’t think so much about what is
bothering you.

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1 Allow for openness in your body.
Pain often makes people pull inward toward the pain. This habit tends to increase tension,
making pain worse. Sometimes giving pain a little extra room can cause it to dissipate. Try
thinking of your body as expansive and avoid responding to pain by pulling inward or drawing
yourself toward the pain. Take some time every day to lie down as shown with your head
resting on a soft-cover book and imagine your body as expanding from the extremities
inward. Without stretching or pulling, imagine your body as internally spacious. During an
Alexander lesson, I use my hands to gently encourage a feeling of openness. You can also
find a more detailed description of lying down in my manual, The Secret to Using Your Body.

2 Try to think of your body as light in weight.

There is a general perception about the relentless pull of gravity making us feel heavy and
dragging us down. But look around and you can see the most delicate flower reaching
skyward. You can also see lightness in a large animal like a horse, or even an elephant.
Thinking of your body as light in weight can help you stand taller and improve your posture.
Standing taller better aligns your bones so that they can support you instead of your
musculature. Standing taller also makes movement easier and more efficient. A feeling of
lightness is a hallmark of the Alexander Technique.

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3 Allow for softness in the back of your neck.
Learning how to release your head from the top of your spine is a unique and primary
concern of the Alexander Technique. Excess neck tension is not only uncomfortable, it pulls
the head downward, decreasing the length of the spine, and restricting easy movement and
breathing. As you are reading this, (and without doing any special movements), try simply
allowing for a softness in the back of your neck and see what happens.

4 Learn to improve the coordination of your breathing.

Breathing is a significant activity for the body. Not only does the action of breathing provide
the oxygen that keeps you alive, the movement that occurs with each breath also gently
moves and massages the internal organs and the muscles of the back and entire torso.
Properly coordinated breathing is more efficient (easier) and it better supplies that gentle
internal stimulation. Poorly coordinated breathing is less efficient (more of a burden on the
body) and can be a contributor to excess tension. To improve your breathing coordination on
you own, visit www.freeyourneck.com/html/breathing.html.

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Conclusion
How you perceive your body is fundamental to how you experience and use it. You might
think of your body as something that you have to lug around or that causes pain. I like to think
of the body as an event that creates itself every moment with its countless processes. I hope
you find these Alexander Technique tips helpful in your effort to rediscover your body as a
source of pleasure and that you can begin to climb the pleasure scale.

Leland Vall, M.AmSAT is a certified Alexander Technique instructor based in New York. He
is the author of The Secret to Using Your Body and he teaches individuals and groups how to
improve posture and to breathe, move, sit and stand with greater ease and strength. Find out
how to feel better every day and for the rest of your life at www.freeyourneck.com.

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