Alexander Technique - anyone tried it?

[cpendle]

I'm getting really depressed about my riding as I sit crooked and much as I try to be aware of it when I'm riding, I still sit crooked.

I've got a young horse now and I'm terrified that I'll damage him because of the way I sit. So I thought maybe the Alexander Technique might help.

I was wondering whether anyone had tried it and if so, did it help your riding?

Thanks in advance

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Some years back I attended an Alexander Technique 2-day course given by a VERY well known horse riding lady! You would know the name instantly. Books, videos, the lot. It was rubbish and a total waste of money. For the first half hour, she got us to write out everything about what we wanted to get from the course and what troubled us about our riding and then she never looked at this again! A few of us wrote that we were nervous riders and she said oh I have the instant solution for that! Yippee, I think. Her solution? Snort out hard through your nose a couple of times. Honestly! I also spent about 2 hours shuffling across the floor on my backside during day 1 and on day 2 we spent most of the day watching her apprentice ride and school one of the other attendee's horses. You'd do better joining a yoga class.

 

[Bert&Maud]

I attended a demo evening a few years ago and found it fascinating. I think that, like many things, it all depends on the teacher that you find. If there was someone local to me then I would love to find out more. I have also done yoga which is fantastic, along with Pilates. All of these things, plus chiropractic and regular lessons with a good instructor who will work on your position (I've had some brilliant trainers but not all seem able to really help with position issues) may help. You;ll never know until you try. If you can take away just a little benefit from everything you do you will improve.

 

[kerilli]

if you are crooked, you need to get it sorted by a McTimoney Chiro (or similar) first... Alexander technique will not sort you out if you have an unlevel pelvis, for example. this is really important.
i did a course of A.T. years ago with Sally Tottle, really enjoyed it. i had a few 1-on-1 lessons with her too.
i still use some of the exercises and images today, and have just bought her DVD, will report back when i've had time to watch it!

 

[Partoow]

A.T is areally useful tool to help develope an even use of your body and develoopes an uderstanding of where your 'center' is by devloping this you become much more aware of how and why you are 'lopsided' So yes i think this would be a really useful route to go down. I use it in my training all the time . the good thing about it is that you can do it off the horse so that you get you sorted before you then have the added balnce problems of the horse and its 'onesided' issues.
I find Yoga and Pilates also help develope suppleness and core strength. This will then help support your spine/ pelvis and get you to make adjustment through understanding what you are feeling.
Hope that makes sense!
There are more trainers out there than the' big names' who just because they write book does'nt always mean they are the best![re Box-of-frogs experience]its a pity as it really is helpful.

 

[Equetouch]

Alexander Technique like Pilates is very useful for retraining your body posture over time, but in order to treat your specific issue you need to first see a chiropractor to manipulate the skeletal problem, then see a sports massage therapist or physio to help release and then tone the muscles, as they will have compensated for any uneveness and the poor muscle memory will continue until resolved.