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The Alexander Technique
A Tool for Pregnancy and Beyond
By Kelly Burgess
Colette Nelken of Berkeley, Calif., says while she was pregnant she never had a backache, never waddled and always had a lot of energy. She credits her easy pregnancy and her ability to manage her pain and discomfort in labor to her training in the Alexander Technique, which is a process that teaches how to properly coordinate body and mind to release harmful tension. In other words: how to relax.
"[When I went into labor] I noticed that my immediate reaction to the contractions was tightening the whole body, but in my case more specifically the jaw and the lips," Nelken says. "By doing so the contraction would become painful. So I applied the concept of 'inhibition' that is the base of the Alexander Technique, and was able not to react to the contraction, but to let them be. Even though I could still feel their intensity, they weren't painful anymore."
Virtually all childbirth methods intended to relieve pain are based upon relaxation. With the Alexander Technique, pain is controlled through breathing and a targeted focus on the reaction to the contractions.
Dana Ben-Yehuda, the spokesperson for the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), says the two main principles of the Alexander Technique as they relate to childbirth are the principles of inhibition and direction.
To explain inhibition, she says to think about what happens when the phone rings and you jump. When a muscle tightens, as it does in a contraction, you may tighten up in other places, such as your jaw, in reaction to the contraction. Instead, the idea is to inhibit that reaction, and replace it with a targeted response. This is what is meant by direction.
"Tighten your fist and then relax it without opening your hand," Ben-Yehuda says. "Your hand is still in the same position, but you have controlled its tension. Humans are psycho-physical beings, and if you can learn to become more aware of your reaction to stimulus, you have more control."
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