Stand Up For Self Esteem

Stand Up For Self Esteem
by Noeline Levinson, a qualified Alexander Technique Teacher, talks about re-educating your body to improve your posture


Stand up for self esteem

A number of years ago I had a client who worked in the advertising industry. He had had about 30 lessons and one day when he came in he reported to me that his colleagues were treating him differently. They were more respectful of him and he thought they took him more seriously. All because his body had changed and his posture was much more upright. He felt better about himself, but had not realised that other people would respond to it. His self esteem had changed while his body was changing and he was surprised just how it had changed the interaction he had with others.

I so often see beautiful young girls, often tall, slim girls, slouching while standing in line at the movies or grocery store. It is such a pity that they don’t invest in their posture. However, it is their self esteem that is letting them down. One can change that with changing one’s thinking but one can also change it by working on the body with the Alexander technique. As we mature through the years it gets to be even more important to pay attention to those rounding backs and slumped shoulders I have seen women with excellent posture suddenly start to stoop as they get older. It adds years to your life. The body starts to contract and tighten, here is where the Alexander lessons are so important because they remind you to free up the body and take steps towards releasing, allowing the body to rebalance itself.
Another point I would like to make, is that we loose sensitivity in our feet as we get older and that means we look down at the floor more and more. It is important to remember to always look up, and if necessary to only cast the eyes down, but not to drop the whole head. Stand up for your self, defy gravity and grow tall like the trees.
Step lightly, be spritely.

Noeline's articles:
Flexibility + Mobility = Longevity
Are you exercising or just beating up your body?
Sit up and Listen
Does Education ruin your posture or can it fix it?

About Noeline:
Wisanow contributor, Noeline Levinson qualified as an Alexander Technique teacher in June 1990. She had studied in Israel, Tel Aviv for 4 years. Noeline taught Alexander technique to Opera students at the Cape Town College of Music and then taught at the Market Theatre Laboratory in Johannesburg, teaching aspiring actors and running workshops for professional actors. Noeline has been teaching privately for the past 21 years and has taught a variety of people from all types of performers, to people who work in companies and sit all day in front of computers. Noeline was asked to go to a number of companies to assess their staff in terms of their seating arrangements.  A number of staff suffered from headaches, neck problems and repetitive strain injury. All of which were assisted with The Alexander Technique. Noeline started out her career as a dancing teacher and then became interested in The Alexander technique and went overseas to study. Dance and exercise have always been a passion of hers. However, while she was teaching she noticed many people miss-using their body without really being aware of it. Noeline then devised a training programme for personal trainers called S.E.T. (Safe Exercise Training), which was accredited by a big gym group in SA at the time. Its aim was to exercise the body effectively and safely without the threat of injury.  Her husband is a personal trainer and used this technique with his clients and they had amazing results.

Back pain ranked very high on the list of reasons for employment absenteeism. It is a very real issue, from which many people suffer.

Noeline Levinson
email: noeline@family-focus.co.nz
09 522 8584
http://www.alextechnz.com/