This video was commissioned by the FM Alexander Trust from Sci Ani (Science Animated) to explain the scientific paper by Cacciatore, Johnson, and Cohen. The animation illustrates the paper’s central proposition, that changes to postural tone and body schema underlie many of the reported benefits of the Alexander Technique. It […]
Category: Biomechanics
アレクサンダー・テクニークの潜在的なメカニズム：包括的な神経生理学的モデルに向け て
This post offers links to a translation of the recent kinesiology review article on the mechanisms of Alexander technique.
The Beginning of Understanding: A New Scientific Model of the Alexander Technique
Japanese translation Editor’s note: This is a lay summary of the new paper, “Potential Mechanisms of the Alexander Technique: Toward a Comprehensive Neurophysiological Model.” See the original paper for a full listing of references. Many of the studies briefly discussed here are described in detail in other posts on this […]
Potential Mechanisms of the Alexander Technique: Toward a Comprehensive Neurophysiological Model
By Timothy W. Cacciatore, Patrick M. Johnson, and Rajal G. Cohen Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of a new scientific model of the Alexander Technique published in the Kinesiology Review. A pdf of the full paper can be read here. Read a summary of the paper here. Read the […]
Debunking Body Tensegrity (Video)
Alexander Technique teachers aren’t alone among somatics practitioners in thinking that tensegrity is a good model for the musculoskeletal system. In this 20-minute talk first given to Australian Alexander Technique teachers during their 2018 Science and the Alexander Technique Webinar, Patrick Johnson goes in-depth on tensegrity. He shows that the […]
The Physics of Sit-to-Stand
This essay by Tim Cacciatore and Patrick Johnson on the biomechanics of sit-to-stand was originally published in STAT News, Fall 2016. pdf version pdf version (Japanese) Sit-to-stand is one of the essential movements that Alexander Technique teachers use to teach. We generally leave the mechanical details of the movement aside […]
Study Summary: How Posture Interferes with Movement—Evidence from Standing Up Slowly from a Chair
This essay by Tim Cacciatore discusses his 2014 study, “Neuromechanical Interference of Posture on Movement: Evidence from Alexander Technique Teachers Rising from a Chair,” published in the Journal of Neurophysiology. The study documents the striking difference between healthy, untrained subjects and Alexander teachers in standing up unusually slowly and smoothly […]