The benefits for the rider, of learning the Alexander Technique
Hi, my name is Jill Ray and I am a dressage trainer and also teacher of the Alexander Technique. In this article I am going to explain more about the Alexander Technique and how it can improve your riding.
Firstly, the Alexander Technique is not just for riders. In my Alexander Technique practice, although I specialise in working with riders, I also teach musicians, singers, golfers, sports people and business people. I also work with people who are in pain – varying from headaches to neck, back or joint pain – or suffering from stress.
The Alexander Technique helps such a range of people because it teaches us to use our bodies in a coordinated and balanced way, naturally and usually with a lot less tension. This allows each individual to reach their optimum performance in whatever their chosen sport or activity. The Alexander Technique creates more self-awareness allowing us to confront physical or mental habits that are either limiting our performance or creating wear and tear and pain. It then gives us the tools to change.
As riders we are responsible for the way we sit on our horses. Horses are sensitive self-aware animals. We can’t expect them to develop in their training if we are an unbalanced, stiff and probably crooked, inconsistent burden sitting on their backs.
It makes sense therefore to work on our own improvement; initially off the horse and this is where I can help with Alexander Technique Lessons and Ride in Balance specialist rider skills.
Riders come to me for help for many different reasons. Sometimes, to make some fine adjustments to their position and balance. Sometimes, to help them feel more secure and confident in their riding. Often riders come because they feel frustrated and stuck in a rut. Their horses are not improving. They realise that change needs to start with their selves but they don’t know how to initialise that change. I explain to them that conventional riding teaching often creates a rider who is trying harder and harder whilst becoming more and more tense, tight and frustrated. In this state it is impossible for the rider to feel and communicate sensitively with their horse. The horse becomes muddled and confused as he receives conflicting body language. Both horse and rider become exhausted as they trot endless 20metre circles and all the time they are practising their bad habits, which are becoming more and more confirmed.
The way out of this downhill spiral is to work on yourself, off your horse to start with, to improve your “way of going” your “use” as we call it.
When a rider comes for an Alexander Technique lesson I will begin by working with them whilst standing and then sitting. In the beginning I work with the pupil to make them more aware of their natural support – their skeletal framework – and teach them that if we can improve the connection between their head, neck and back they will find a natural up support along their spine and they wont and they wont feel the need either to sit up tall which creates stiffness and fixing or to collapse.
In other words, learning the Alexander Technique is like having a dressage lesson yourself. I will be teaching you to find a “correct outline” which allows your back to function correctly, which allows your pelvis to become upright (so important when you are riding), which allows your hips, knees and ankles to release and become more supple. The correct working of your back also means that it can support your shoulders and arms easily without tension.
The result of this work will be that you will become more self-aware. You will notice your bad habits and begin to change them. This is important because obviously if you, for example, sit in a chair with more weight on the left sitting bone, a collapsed back, so that your pelvis is tipping backwards, your head and neck poking forward and your head tipped slightly to one side you will also do this when you stand up and when you RIDE – your horse will then have to compensate. A result of the changes you will make will be letting go of muscles that you hold with too much tension and an increase in whole body muscle tone – enabling you to stand and sit and RIDE in self-carriage – in balance.
The sitting and standing work then leads us on to working in the saddle on a wooden horse. Again we will be working on self-carriage without excess tension in the saddle and the correct stacking up of the spine through the back and neck to the balance of head above equal sitting bones. Releasing the legs out of the hip joints and finding the correct support of the arms from the back allows the rider to feel how finding a good riding position is about natural support and releasing muscles not tensing and tightening them. They usually give a sigh of relief!
And then we go on to the matter of breathing…………
And working on a big ball which teaches you about weight aids and allowing movement through your hips, knees and ankles…………..
And then we take your new “Good Use” back to your horse and I think you will find that he will start to sigh with relief!