Yoga and Alexander Technique 12/12/12

December 12, 2012

I have been practicing Yoga daily for the last 15-20 years. Before going to bed, I do several yoga poses for stretching and relaxing, and do some floor exercises when I don’t go to gym. I started to practice yoga when I was doing a doctoral degree in music (DMA) at Rice University. I was under so much stress and worry. When I attended Aspen Music Festival, I was introduced to practice “Yoga for musicians”. I liked the concept from the beginning, and I started. Fortunately, I earned DMA degree.

Besides yoga, I know some accu-pressure points so I combine yoga and Tsubo (accu-pressure). Recently with my curiosity, I read some books on Alexander Technique. One book was exclusively for musicians. Alexander Technique seems too intellectual for me. I should not judge it at this point! I probably need to meet a professional Alexander Technique instructor. Musicians study and practice hard to prepare for the performance, but at the actual performance, we don’t think intellectually. We just play. We analyze J. S. Bach’s fugue in details, but again, when we play his music, we won’t think too much. We play with a beautiful musical flow. It seems Mr. Alexander treats mind/body in an anti nature way. He tries to put the meaning forth-fully to the acts which we usually do naturally without thinking. His thinking may be related to the medicines in Western world. It is still very surprising to me that people in the U. S. rely on medicines so easily instead of straighten the body’ immune system and intake of good food. The medicine can be poisonous. Born and raised in Japan, I believe food is our daily medicine as well as an enjoyment, and we adjust what we eat and drink according to our body’s needs (Yaku-zen). I may need to take individual lessons and lectures of Alexander Technique to understand deeply. But for now, I stick with my routine exercises of Yoga!