Mind and body
Alexander referred to the connection of mind and body as psychophysical unity. In other words, our minds and bodies are one continuous process that cannot be separated. We cannot have a calm, happy mind inside a tightly knotted, collapsed body because mind and body are one continuous process. So, our physical tension isn't just a symptom of our stress; it can keep our stress alive. We don't just feel stress; we physically do it and this physical state can keep the mental stress loop active.
When we are stuck in a cycle of anxiety, worry or feeling low, being told to simply change our thoughts can feel impossible and rather irritating. But what if the secret to breaking that cycle isn't in our heads at all? What if it's hidden in our necks and shoulders and the way we’re holding ourselves?
Have you noticed what happens to you when a stressful email lands in your inbox or you receive an unwelcome message on your phone?
Our neck stiffens, pulling our head back and down (compressing our spine, organs, joints and limbs)
Our shoulders instantly hike up toward our ears.
Our breath becomes shallow and locked in our chest.
Even now … if you stop reading for a few moments. Just pause and observe: Notice where you’re holding tightness. Are your teeth clenched? Are your feet gripping the floor? Are your thighs tightly held? Are your eyes fixed? Are you holding your breath? Have you lost the world around you and peripheral vision and consequently feel rather rigid, fixed or collapsed?
Even if we’re not actively doing something stressful, we can all still be holding unconscious and habitual patterns of excessive muscular tension. Because of psycho-physical unity, when our muscles are highly tense, they send messages of stress, fatigue, and potential danger to our brain. This affects our mental state, and we can get caught in a loop.
We often try to change our mental state with more mental activity (e.g. positive thinking, affirmations, or awareness techniques like meditation) - rather than considering whether we can affect change via the physical manifestations of our mental state. The Alexander Technique can help us develop a heightened state of awareness whereby we can identify where we are holding unconscious muscular tension and do a bit less of it. By beginning to get into the habit of consciously noticing how we are in ourselves – bringing our physical self into the equation - we can learn to notice and undo some of this tension we are holding, unconsciously. And this can have a surprisingly positive effect on one’s mood.
In his book, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual, Alexander wrote about worry and anxiety alongside fear, "nerves," and discouragement.
Anxiety: Alexander stated that "you translate everything—whether physical, mental, or spiritual—into muscular tension." He observed that when someone feels anxious or worried, they unconsciously collapse their spine, tighten their neck, and restrict their breathing. Over time, this physical tensing acts as a loop, sending feedback to the brain that reinforces the feeling of anxiety - and it turns into a habit.
The "Worry Habit" Alexander considered that worry is an established habit where a person literally learns to "manufacture the stimulus to worry". He noticed that even if we completely remove the actual external problem, the person will continue to worry because their mind and body have memorized the physical state of tension and anxiety - and it turns into a habit.
To overcome anxiety and worry, Alexander taught that a person could refuse their habitual, anxious physical reaction. And that by learning to stop the physical collapse and tension, the cycle of mental anxiety can be broken.
Reducing our level of muscular tension is not something we know automatically (see the first blog entitled ‘The problem with trying’ and the bear trap of trying to release muscle tension). We have to learn it and experiment with it a bit. However, the good news is that it gets easier with practice - and with it can come feeling better within ourselves.
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