"Alexander Technique - Go With The Flow"

(Runner's World - September 2003)

Some people make running look easy. Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie reel off world-beating performances while all but floating. And while floating may seem to come naturally to them, the rest of us can actually learn it – all it takes is a little thought.

"What you think is what you get", says Annie Kaszina, who – with her co-teacher Madelene Webb – runs Alexander Technique courses for runners in North London and Essex. "People move based on beliefs about how their body must work, without thinking about how it would work best. And there is a percentage – usually quite a high one – of ‘trying’, ‘working hard’ or ‘pushing’, which actually makes everything harder. For real results you have to observe what’s happening, correct it and relax without constantly forcing yourself to change or work harder."

Kaszina claims it’s easier than it sounds. The Alexander Technique works on the theory that observation and awareness of how we hold our bodies can help us to release tension – particularly in the neck and spine. And this release means less effort for the same effect, which means less energy used to maintain a given pace. Here are 10 Alexander-based tips from Kaszina and Webb to help you relax into your running.

1 Run in front of a mirror (either on the spot or on a treadmill). As you’re not going anywhere, you can concentrate on stopping any unnecessarily large movements (swinging arms, overstriding etc.) and noticing how you put your feet down (the lighter and quicker your footfall, the better).

2 Don’t ‘bounce’ Bouncing up and down and rocking from side to side wastes energy. Team up with a training partner and take turns watching each other from all angles. And try running in sunglasses. If they bob up and down, chances are the rest of you is bobbing too.

3 Run tall… Hunching forward will pull you off balance so you land more heavily and run less easily. Try to keep your head still and balanced over your spine without tensing your neck or shoulders.

4… But not too tall It’s not pumping your legs, lifting your chest, shoulders, arms or chin, or anything else in front of you that keeps you upright. It’s the fact that you have a good, strong back. You need to become aware that your back supports you without you needing to ‘do’ anything more than stay upright and relax.

5 Don’t clench anything Clenched muscles (fists, jaw, even toes) means that you aren’t relaxed, which has a knock-on effect throughout your body – wasting energy, restricting the flow of your running and interfering with your poise.

6 Relax your knees and ankles Stiff ankles and tight knees increase impact and jarring throughout the body, and also reduce fluidity of movement.

7 Don’t ‘go into yourself’ Concentrate on relaxing your body or focus on your surroundings. If you’re lost in your thoughts, you won’t be conscious of how you are running and you may revert to bad habits as you tire.

8 Look about 10 metres ahead of you, not down at the pavement You may well be worried about what you’re treading on (or in!), but if you drop your eyes, you will drop your head and strop running ‘tall’ as well as restricting your breathing.

9 For more power, move your elbows back and hands forward faster Don’t pound more with your feet – your legs will pick up in response to your arm movements.

10 Remind yourself you enjoy this And smile for instant muscle relaxation.

Alexander Technique teacher Annie Kaszina is keen to help people get the most out of their exercise regime, but in a safe and enjoyable way. Annie… has spent years helping people who wish to maximise performance, escape injury or recover from past injury…

The Alexander Technique is a method of releasing unwanted muscular tension, accumulated over many years of stressful living.

This tension often starts in childhood and, if left unchecked, can give rise in later life to common ailments such as arthritis, neck and back pain, migraines, hypertension, sciatica, insomnia and even depression….

Annie gave me a demonstration of the Technique which is very gentle and non-invasive, feeling almost like a "mapping" of the body.

'After the session I felt very relaxed and somehow lighter.'

Annie Kaszina wants us to become ‘switched on’ when we visit the gym, so that every bench press, every step routine and every stint on the rowing machine is invested with meaning and purpose – and performed with thought and application. ‘This means paying attention to how we are performing an exercise,’ explains Kaszina. ‘What it feels like to use a particular muscle group, how we are interacting with your environment…’

Alexander himself wrote about the dangers of cutting our minds off from what we are doing and simply repeat a movement we have learned mechanically over and over, without interest or curiosity. He believed that becoming preoccupied with the end result in this way is self-limiting whereas getting back in touch with the process puts us in the moment – each of which is a little different from the one before.

Even regular gym-goers need reminding to ‘pay attention’. If you’re in an exercise-to-music class that you’ve done a hundred times before, there’s an obvious danger of distancing yourself from what you’re doing. Not ‘distance’ as in a healthy detachment which allows you to consider what’s going on with clarity and control, but the semi-comatose, trance-like state which comes from over-familiarity.

‘If the fitness industry genuinely wants to address its huge drop-out rate’ adds Webb, ‘then it too needs to understand that telling people simply to "get it done" will not produce any change.’ Until those working in the business realise that working out is actually an ‘art’ rather than mere exercise science, eight out of every ten would-be participants are going to slip back into their old… ways.

Exercising – seen as the key to a healthy lifestyle – has its dangers and can do long-term damage to your body.

Help is at hand, however. Rather than push your body to beyond its physical limits and risk injury … Alexander Technique teachers Madelene Webb and Annie Kaszina aim to show gym users how to take the strain without the pain…

The pain, whose backgrounds are steeped in sports that put immense strain on the body – martial arts, football and racket sports – are now turning their skills to people who frequently pick up injuries…

Both Madelene and Annie have found that the Alexander Technique helped clients overcome long-term injuries, prompting the pair to establish a sports fitness clinic to get the most out of gym sessions without doing any damage.

Annie says: ‘Nobody wants to be forced to give up activities they enjoy. Learning how you can cut the risk of damage while you enjoy an active lifestyle pays dividends.’

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Since she completed her training, Annie has been helping others overcome their stress or injury problems, including dozens of sportsmen and women.

She says: ‘The Alexander Technique is a bit of a mystery in this area. People think it’s something to do just with your posture, but it is more about upgrading your body.

You can’t reverse problems with your body, but you can get it to work more effectively for you.

The Technique has a bit of a WD40 effect on your body, in that it lubricates your joints. It means that you can work more effectively with the body you have’…

The Alexander Technique will, it is said, benefit anyone. But Annie says it is particularly beneficial to people with injuries or debilitating illnesses.

As well as sufferers with back and neck pain, and those who have undergone operations, Annie also sees people with such ailments as repetitive stress injury, multiple sclerosis and ME.

Recently she has helped previously fit and active people get over sporting injuries.

"It has mainly been people who aren’t fully recovered or who are worried that there might be permanent damage," she said. "It’s about helping people discover strategies to enable them to do things differently’…

"The Alexander Technique can benefit anyone because there is usually room in people’s lives to function that bit better, by being less tense or using less energy in their daily lives.

I find it very satisfying that I am able to help people to function better and improve their quality of life."’