New York (PRWEB) October 09, 2013
The American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) joins with affiliated societies of teachers worldwide to celebrate the 9th annual International Alexander Technique Awareness Week (IAAW): October 14-20, 2013. During this week AmSAT aims to increase visibility of this 100-year-old educational method and its benefits: improved posture, balance, flexibility and vitality.
Workshops, informational sessions and discounted lessons are being offered by AmSAT members nationwide as part of IAAW to encourage participation and ignite greater interest in this practice. This year’s IAAW highlights how the Alexander Technique can enable you to ‘Look, Feel and Grow Younger.’
People with rounded shoulders and poor posture tend to look older than they actually are. With graceful poise comes much more fluid movement and increased confidence that can take years off of your appearance so you look and feel younger. The Alexander Technique helps to improve your overall coordination and health by teaching how to restore balance and release muscular tension that is often the cause of a range of ailments including backaches, headaches, stress and fatigue.
The technique, developed in the 1890s by Frederick M. Alexander, teaches how to change faulty postural habits to enable improved mobility, posture, performance and alertness. The Alexander Technique restores the natural poise that people enjoyed as young children by improving body alignment and teaching a more effective and effortless way to move.
Among published research supporting the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique is a major clinical study reported in the British Medical Journal showing that lessons in the Alexander Technique lead to significant long-term benefit for people with chronic low back pain.
The Alexander Technique has also been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (UK) as the only therapy to help in the treatment of people with Parkinson’s by helping to ease day-to-day movements and decrease the speed at which symptoms worsen.
Through a series of lessons, individuals typically experience alleviation of tension, pain and stress as what’s learned becomes incorporated into their everyday lifestyle. Those interested in learning more about the Alexander Technique can find a teacher through the organization’s website: http://www.AmSATonline.org.
About AmSAT
The American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) is the largest professional association of certified teachers of the Alexander Technique in the United States. AmSAT's mission is to establish the Alexander Technique as a basic and recognized resource for health, productivity, and well being. AmSAT is an educational, non-sectarian, non-discriminatory 501(c)(3) organization that has been incorporated in New York as a general not-for-profit corporation. AmSAT maintains the nation's highest standards for teacher training, certification and membership and maintains affiliation with similar credentialing bodies worldwide. Since its formation in 1987, over 1000 teachers have completed the rigorous training process to earn AmSAT certification.
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Research:
1. Little P; Lewith G; Webley F; et al. Randomised controlled trial of Alexander Technique lessons; exercise and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain. British Medical Journal 2008;337:a884.
2. Stallibrass C., Sissons P., Chalmers C. (2002). Randomized controlled trial of the Alexander Technique for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Clinical Rehabilitation, 16, 695-708.
3. Stallibrass C., Frank C., Wentworth K. (2005). Retention of skills learnt in Alexander Technique lessons: 28 people with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 9, 150-157.
4. Cacciatore TW. Improvement in automatic postural coordination following Alexander Technique lessons in a person with low back pain. Physical Therapy 2005;85:565-78.
5. Dennis RJ. Functional reach improvement in normal older women after Alexander Technique instruction. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 1999;54:M8-M11.