Alexander Technique Practice - Stephanie Smith's Research Blog

Stretchy Finger and Why You Can't Tickle Yourself

2011-05-21T14:32:00.000+01:00

Nottingham University’s research team stumbled on these findings completely by chance during the University’s Community Open Day in April last year.

As part of the event they invited members of the public to experience some of the body distortion illusions they use as part of their everyday research using Nottingham’s unique MIRAGE technology that takes a real-time video capture image of a hand and uses computer manipulations combined with physically pulling or pushing on the hand to fool the brain into believing the hand is stretching or shrinking.

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2011/april/stretchyfinger.aspx

In this case, while you are ‘seeing the finger being stretched’ the brain is being tricked into thinking that the finger is lengthening, releasing tension and arthritic pain due to tightly held joint surfaces. We are not told whether the finger becomes more mobile as a result.

However, just the thought of an action will generate a physical response.

We traditionally think of the brain as a hierarchical system receiving information through an assembly line type system but in fact, it is more a feed-forward/feedback type of loop system.

Your brain, enclosed in a completely dark box, needs information from sensory nerves to modify your brain’s internal representation of you. As a movement command is given, the brain forward projects this representation to predict the outcome of the movement. As the movement takes place, the unconscious regions of the brain compares sensory information to the predicted, projected outcome.

What we think we are doing isn’t always what we are actually doing. Sometimes, from injury and pain or poor postural habits, this internal representation becomes inaccurate.


We get so used to doing things our way, we can no longer tell what we're up to. Our picture of ourselves doesn't match reality

Alexander Technique gives your brain a conscious, reliable and accurate internal representation we call Primary Control. This internal representation is projected forward ahead of movement taking place. All physical responses to the movement command are directed through the filter of this internal model. So, Primary Control is the first or primary function of the brain before a movement command is given and it is also primary in importance. As the brain compares the resulting sensory feedback from the movement to the predicted outcome, we are able to consciously notice and adjust if something different occurs. In this way, the brain’s internal dialogue is not about the ‘rightness’ of all actions but ‘wrong’ actions are highlighted against the predicted outcome.

Whether our predictions are accurate or not, this feed-forward prediction of outcome is why you can’t tickle yourself—you can’t creep up on yourself while you’re not looking.

It's a Good Idea to Breathe!

2011-04-10T13:01:00.000+01:00

It is said that we can survive 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food but little more than 3 minutes without breathing. Normally, the function of breathing takes place without any direct help from us – it is continuous and we do not think about it, assuming there is no underlying, pathological problem. Most people, when they take part in sports, exercise or even a brisk walk, become aware that they are not breathing well and that they are in oxygen deficit. Sometimes, to correct this problem, they may try breathing exercises. These exercises usually involve ‘pushing out’ either the chest or the abdomen – requiring a lot of effort for very little air.

Upper Chest Breathing

Abdominal Breathing

Generally, the reason why we are unable to take a full breath is that our muscles are holding the ribs stiffly instead of allowing them to move.Breathing exercises do not seem to address the problem of why the ribs are so fixed and held. Because our poor postural habits have interfered with the reflexes that support us, abdominal and chest muscles contract to assist the stability of the trunk. Breathing is then restricted and becomes shallower and more rapid.

What is Breathing?

We breathe in to gain oxygen (which we use to make energy) we breathe out to lose the waste products of energy production (carbon dioxide). Poor breathing can lead to feeling tired and lacking energy because the cells of your body may not be getting enough oxygen and there is insufficient elimination of carbon dioxide. Due to its intrinsic elasticity, the rib cage, if it is not held down by muscular tension, tends to lift and widen itself. To breathe in all we need do is allow the rib cage to expand which, in turn, increases the volume of the lungs. A system of breathing reflexes uses, as much as possible, the intrinsic elasticity of the rib cage. These reflexes use appropriate muscles to expand the space of the rib cage even further to make room for the volume of air your lungs are demanding. Air pushes into the lungs by air pressure. Air pressure is approximately 15lbs per square inch or 1kg per square centimetre, therefore, we do not have to 'pull’ air in. All we need take care of is that we are not holding the ribs down or blocking the airways.

Rectus Abdominis

This connects the pubis bone to the ribs at the level of the heart. When it contracts, it pulls the ribs down. Allowing rectus abdominis to release from pubis to the ribs releases the abdomen, ribs float and become less fixed so that there is greater freedom of breath. This is why sit-ups are harmful. The function of rectus abdominis is to allow the intrinsic upward release of the rib cage. They should not be trained to hold the ribs down.

Allowing rectus abdominis to release from pubis to the ribs releases the abdomen, ribs float and become less fixed so that there is
greater freedom of breath.

The Oblique Muscles

Internal and external oblique muscles produce the curve of the waist. They play a role in the spiral/twisting movements of the body such as swimming, walking and running. They affect breathing by pulling down on the ribs when they contract. Combined with the interferences of rectus abdominis, etc. they tend to hold the ribs in a depressed position, like a corset, making breathing more effortful. We tend to compensate subconsciously by trying to breathe harder or use ‘abdominal breathing’ i.e. instead of the ribs moving, the abdomen pushes out. Your lungs are not in your abdomen.

Internal Oblique

External Oblique

Diaphragm

The diaphragm is a large sheet of domed muscle with a stalk that attaches to the spine so that it looks like a lop-sided mushroom. It attaches to the lower end of the breastbone, the spine and the floating ribs. The diaphragm rises to achieve maximum exhale so that air pressure inside the chest cavity decreases. Air pushes into the lungs by the force of the surrounding air pressure at 15lbs per square inch so that internal and external air pressure become equalised.

Maximumum exhale front view

Maximum exhale side view

The only part of the breathing cycle over which we constructively exercise any element of control is on the out-breath to talk, sing and play a musical instrument. Provided there is not a collapse during the out-breath and the natural lengthening tendency of the spine has been maintained, the in-flow of breath will freely match the expenditure of the out-flow of breath.

Maximum inhale front view

Maximum inhale side view

Breathing then has very little to do with raising and lowering the shoulders or pushing the abdomen in and out. The torso remains lengthened and there is a smooth in-flow and out-flow of breath.

From school we are told to ‘take a deep breath and…’ what we need to do is breathe out.

Proprioception

2011-04-05T19:58:00.000+01:00

‘The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something because it is always before one’s eyes). The real foundations of his enquiry do not strike a man at all.’

Wittgenstein

It is important to remember that human evolution has taken at least 5 million years; we are only able to describe the last few thousand as ‘civilised’, implying that our biology is the product or result of the slowly changing demands of nature. "We live in a time of rapid change" is a phrase in constant use these days usually referring to technological advances, scientific breakthroughs and so on. It also applies to us as a society – ideas change, different political parties come and go and social norms shift. Obviously, as individuals we are affected too.

Before modern times, this slow rate of change allowed humans to adapt the body gradually and unconsciously to new conditions. Now, however, we are able to change the environment around us and we do it more and more rapidly. Think for a moment of your day, from when you wake up in the morning, and contrast it with what living in the wild must have been like. We react to the events we cannot hear or see directly via telephone, radio and TV. What do such upheavals do to our bodies, not to mention our minds and relationships? Is it any wonder many of us become over-tense and collapse in a heap at the end of such a day? We become so preoccupied with signals from the outside world that signals from within the body become supressed, resulting in poor muscle function.

The changes mentioned above are only a few of those that occur constantly in our everyday lives. In total, they are more dramatic and wide-ranging than we imagine. Because of this tension in our bodies, the information our brains receive about where parts of the body are and what they are doing relative to each other, whether they are moving or still, is less reliable than when we lived in the wild. This information concerning the state of the body, called ‘proprioception’ by Charles Sherrington in the 1890s, comes mainly from the joints, tendons, and muscles. In addition to the five senses that we traditionally know, proprioception has been called our ‘sixth sense’.

The importance of proprioception cannot be exaggerated: it is so automatic, so familiar that we never give it a moment’s thought. It is the basis for balance, posture and movement. Even more fundamental, it is the basis for our sense of self. The neurologist Oliver Sacks’ in his book, ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’, wrote a case study entitled, ‘The Disembodied Lady’, about a woman who lost almost all proprioception. It vividly illustrates this aspect of proprioception and her accompanying loss of her sense of self, and her emotional, as well as physical difficulties, make harrowing reading.

We do not notice the general deterioration in the way we use our bodies due to our loss of proprioceptive acuity. We do not consider the possible effect of the general misuse of our bodies on our ability to carry out ordinary as well as skilled actions, on our health and even on our underlying psychological state. Instead, we only notice specific symptoms and then try to treat them in isolation. We do not see the connection of a headache, for example, to the way we are using our body.

Exercise Facts and Fallacies

2011-04-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

Alexander Technique is not an exercise but is a detailed study of the fundamental principles of human co-ordination and movement that underlies all activity. A unique form of neuro-muscular rebalancing, it is concerned with how you direct your Primary Control. Primary Control is a fundamental concept of The Alexander Technique that describes a certain relationship between the head, neck and back and how this relationship affects poised, co-ordinated action. Alexander teachers call this ‘use’, i.e. how you use your head, neck, back relationship so that you maintain a central co-ordination of the trunk as a core structure. The technique ensures that, in using your limbs, breathing, voice, etc. the central co-ordination of the head, neck and back is not disturbed.

drawings taken from 'The Alexander Principle', Wilfred Barlow

Why exercise is not always the solution

Core stability exercises were devised in response to the perceived problem of poor support. The exercises encourage concentration on individual muscle activation during activity to stabilise ‘the core’ in order to support an area known to have weakness. The problem with this action is that it is contrary to the function of the nervous system. If our innate balance mechanisms are allowed to perform their function unimpeded, there is no need to consciously engage muscle or strengthen the middle of the structure independently. In the absence of interference, the reflexes responding to gravity will help to ensure optimum balance and movement.

However, exercise cannot ensure ‘good use’ of the body. We have probably "exercised" ourselves into bad posture by just doing a normal daily routine for years and years. Now we are proposing to exercise our way back out of it. If we have learned misuse or poor postural habits, when we exercise, we will exercise with misuse unless we deal with our misuse and learn to eliminate it. It is also worth noting that we cannot exercise these deep stabilising, supporting muscles to produce strength; these muscles are reflexive and not subject to our direct control.

A few more exercise fallacies

Sadly, doing sit-ups will not flatten your tummy. There is a layer of fat between the muscle and the skin and if this layer of fat is excessive, the only way to flatten your stomach is to lose fat – harsh but true.

The muscle that we call the ‘six-pack’ that shows its definition so strongly is Rectus Abdominis. It runs from the pubic bone to the lower end of the breastbone (sternum).

Sit-ups will over-tighten

Rectus Abdominis and when it is over-tightened it pulls down the rib cage, rounds the shoulders and pulls the neck forward.

Drawing of 'muscle man' reproduced by kind permission of Christopher Stevens

And while we are on the subject of facts and fallacies...how about relaxation?
It is tempting to think that the solution to many of our problems is to ‘just relax’ but what do we mean by relaxation? We would like to think that by relaxing we are letting go of excessive tension in our muscles. Most people when they relax, however, over-slacken their muscles and the result is collapse. What is actually needed is appropriate tension in the muscles: collapse is not relaxed.

See Professor Lederman's research 'Myth of Core Stability'

Arms or Front Legs?

2011-03-28T14:06:00.000+01:00

We think our arms hang from our shoulders but in fact, we have reflexes in our arms that support the body. When we interfere with the supporting reflexes in the arms, the arms do not support themselves easily and feel as though they hang heavily from the shoulders. Our arms support us not only when we are on all fours but also when our hands are not in contact with the ground. As discussed in my previous blog 'A Look At Gravity', the skeleton conducts support to parts of the body that are not in contact with the ground. Conscious awareness of this possibility activates the supporting reflexes. The supporting reflexes are then available for use and our hands have the potential to support our arms.

The brain and the nervous system are vital factors of all movement. The brain executes a command for movement; the nerves send the command to the muscles. The collective action of muscle and nerve maintains muscular tone. When this is consciously realised and the reflexes of support are dynamically organised, we can allow our shoulders to float. When our shoulders float, it takes the drag of our arms, scapulae and clavicle off the ribs and ultimately off the spine. In this way, our reflexes of support indicate a four-legged structure that comes from vertical climbing. When the reflexes are active, our hands and our arms have the capacity to support our shoulders. Not only do our feet and legs support the spine but our hands and arms also support the spine.

In 1932 F. M. Alexander (The Use of the Self, Gollancz,1990, p.21) discusses the problems of conscious awareness and the separation of the mental and physical:

“I must admit that when I began my investigation, I, in common with most people, conceived of ‘body’ and ‘mind’ as separate parts of the same organism, and consequently believed that human ills, difficulties and shortcomings could be classified as either ‘mental’ or ‘physical’ and dealt with on specifically ‘mental’ or specifically ‘physical’ lines. My practical experiences, however, led me to abandon this point of view and readers of my books will be aware that the technique described in them is based on the opposite conception, namely, that it is impossible to separate ‘mental’ and ‘physical’ processes in any form of human activity.”

He goes on to say (p.22):

“…it is possible during a course of lessons to demonstrate to the pupil how the mental and physical work together in the use of the self in all activity.”

He adds as a footnote (p.22):

“I wish to make it clear that when I employ the word ‘use’, it is not in that limited sense of the use of any specific part, as, for instance, when we speak of the use of an arm or the use of a leg, but in a much wider and more comprehensive sense applying to the working of the organism in general. For I recognize that the use of any specific part such as the arm or leg involves of necessity bringing into action the different psycho-physical mechanisms of the organism, this concerted activity bringing about the use of the specific part.”

He asks the question (p.35):

“This led me to a long consideration of the whole question of the direction of the use of myself. ‘What is this direction,’ I asked myself, ‘upon which I have been depending?”

Concluding with the footnote (p.35):

“When I employ the words ‘direction’ and ‘directed’ with ‘use’ in such phrases as ‘direction of my use’ and ‘I directed the use’, etc. I wish to indicate the process involved in projecting messages from the brain to the mechanisms and in conducting the energy necessary to the use of these mechanisms.”

Therefore, we can say that when we allow the feet to be in a fully supporting reaction with the floor, the head, neck and back can be in an appropriate dynamic relationship, everything else works in a more co-ordinated, efficient way. The neck is be allowed to be free so that the head can be supported in a balance forward and upward in such a way that allows the spine to lengthen and the torso is able to release and widen.

A Look At Gravity

2011-03-23T17:16:00.000Z

Let us begin at the beginning with Newton who said that action and reaction are equal and opposite. This means that every push must be matched and balanced by an equal and opposite push. It does not matter how the push arises. It may be a ‘dead’ load for instance: that is to say a stationary weight of some kind. If I weigh 200 pounds and stand on the floor, then the soles of my feet push downwards on the floor with a push or thrust of 200 pounds: that is the business of feet. At the same time the floor must push upwards on my feet with a thrust of 200 pounds: that is the business of floors. If the floor is rotten and cannot furnish a thrust of 200 pounds then I shall fall through the floor. If, however, by some miracle, the floor produced a larger thrust than my feet have called upon it to produce, say 201 pounds, then the result would be still more surprising because, of course, I should become airborne.

(J. E. Gordon 1991, p.28)

Newton’s third law of motion is that action and reaction are always equal and always opposite in direction. In other words if your feet push down on the floor then the floor must push up on your feet with equal force of support. See Khan Academy for a more entertaining description of Newton’s third law of motion.

The point at which a body’s weight balances equally in all directions is the centre of gravity. The total weight of an object is concentrated at this point. Our total weight from the centre of gravity does not travel downwards through the skeleton, i.e. it does not spread down and across structures. Gravity pulls our weight downwards in a straight line directly to the centre of the earth. The line of gravity at the earth’s surface is more or less 90° to the surface.

Our weight is due to gravity. Without gravity we would have no weight, i.e. we would be weightless. Gravity is a field force: it doesn’t change; the pull of gravity remains the same whether you have your feet on the ground or not. Newton described gravity as ‘The Universal Constant’ and it has an effect on our bones and joints and activates our upwards supporting reaction in response.

Ground Reaction Force (no, not a gardening programme)

The supporting reaction force of the earth is equal and opposite of our weight. The difference between the supporting force and the force due to gravity is that the supporting force is a contact force; there has to be physical contact in order for a supporting reaction to take place. Gravity, on the other hand, is a field force and is unchanging; it remains the same whether there is contact or not. It is necessary that our body’s structure (skeleton) have actual physical contacts, such as that between the feet and the ground, in order for the reaction of support to happen.

This supporting force transfers from the earth’s surface and supports our weight. It transmits through the bones of the feet to the bones that are not in direct contact with the support of the ground. Ground reaction force travels through the bones of the feet through the bones of the ankle joint to the bones of the lower leg. In the lower leg, this force is conducted upward principally through the tibia to the knee joint and through to the femur. At the top of the femur, it travels inwards through the hip joints at roughly 70° to the vertical, around the inner rim of the pelvis to the sacroiliac joint. The support force continues from the sacroiliac joint through the ‘front ledge’ of the sacrum to the front of the lumbar spine. The bodies of the vertebrae conduct the force upward at the front of the spine – more or less in the middle of the torso. It continues to travel through the curves of the spine, upwards through the thoracic vertebrae and the cervical vertebrae to support the skull at the atlanto occipital joint. The head is supported from underneath by the cervical spine in a balance that Alexander Teachers describe as forward and upward.

The joints of the body connect the bones together and allow them to move. Ligaments and muscles keep the joints stable. The supporting force travels through joints so that each skeletal section fully supports the part of the skeleton that is directly above it and in contact with it.

Supporting Reflexes or Why Elephants Can't Jump

2011-03-21T16:30:00.000Z

T. D. M. Roberts has defined the essential characteristic of a reflex response (1967, p.9) as:

…a characterizable pattern of involuntary response which can be elicited with some regularity from an organism on presentation of the appropriate specific stimulus, provided that the connections to the central nervous system are intact.

Scientific studies tell us that a number and a variety of reflexes support the body and they are all are concerned with gravity. These reflexes are usually active simultaneously and we unconsciously co-ordinate their reactions. Professor Rudolph Magnus (1873 – 1927) classified one of these postural reactions as the ‘antigravity mechanism’, which enables the skeleton to support the body against gravity. All standard textbooks describe the effect produced by this mechanism. When one limb supports the body, the muscles of that limb automatically contract so that the joints brace in the extended position and the limb becomes, as Magnus describes it, a pillar. However, Magnus was referring to quadrupeds whose limbs are partially bent and so need muscular activity to maintain this partial flexion. The exception seems to be the elephant whose limbs serve as static columns to maintain its enormous weight. The elephants’ weight-bearing limbs are so specialised that the elephant cannot jump, even for small distances. When comparing the muscles of the limb of an elephant to those of a human, the muscles of elephants are quite puny. Unlike the elephant with internal organs suspended from a horizontal spine, humans are constantly challenging gravity and we need antigravity muscles for powerful changes in posture from lying to sitting and standing.

When Basmajian (1978, p.178) tested this in humans using EMG (electromyogram – a recording of the electrical activity in skeletal muscle) he was able to show that, in standing, only a few of the leg muscles are active. The phenomenon is called ‘positive supporting reaction’ and is described in more detail by T. D. M. Roberts (1967, p.123). Basmajian shows that, for humans, supporting our vertical body over straight legs needs very little muscular activity with our ligaments passively stabilising the joints. If we need more stability, the reflexes can then add muscular force to that stabilisation. When in quiet standing on both feet, nearly all our muscles stay relaxed. When we start to walk, one leg has to bear nearly all our load. The ligaments and reflex muscles then work as a net force to make the joints of the foot and leg more stable. This allows a greater force to travel upwards through the bones of the leg and foot without them buckling.

Muscles intended for movement are usually nearer the surface of the body and their action is to move the skeleton at the joints. If there is an interruption to the supporting reflexes, we have to contract movement muscles in order to support ourselves. However, muscles intended for movement fatigue if continuously contracted and we become aware of their tension. When we no longer trigger movement muscles inappropriately, there is less sense of effort and heaviness in the body. When we become conscious of this reality, it enables the supporting reflexes to be more effective and therefore to give the body better support.

‘All evidence suggests that poise is not the natural outgrowth of a process that begins in distraction, preoccupation and insensitivity.’

David Appelbaum

The Stop