Fibromyalgia, CFS, Musculoskeletal Balance And The Alexander Strategy: Part 1

In this article I do not want to repeat all the data obtainable on the internet about the background of FM Alexander and how he created his strategies.

All the tactics I detail have a way of dove-tailing into each and every other and symbi...

What I want to concentrate on is precisely how The Alexander Strategy can be utilized as part of an adjunctive approach along with other methods, with the objective of alleviating your Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome symptoms.

In this write-up I do not want to repeat all the details offered on the web about the background of FM Alexander and how he developed his methods.

All the methods I detail have a way of dove-tailing into every other and symbiotically deepening the effects of every other.

Basically, my angle on the Alexander Method is that I want to take what I need from the tactics and apply them straight to assist with the musculoskeletal difficulties that are sustaining patients Fibromyalgia and CFS signs and symptoms.

Bottom line: There is a way of moving that your body likes and a way that it doesn't.

When you have an injury or imbalance there is a way of moving that assists the physique heal and a way that prevents it from healing.

All musculoskeletal conditions have varying signs and symptoms and present in diverse ways, but all have 1 factor in typical, they can all be created better or worse by the way you align your head, neck and trunk as you go through the movements and postures of your every single day life.

The muscles which support your skeleton are usually asked to operate far as well difficult for the process or tasks that they are being employed, and over time this can lead to them becoming "stuck" in this state of excess tension aka Trigger points. These may possibly steadily worsen over a period of years.

When you are then attacked by the initial trigger for what you take into account to be the "recognized" start off of your life with Fibromyalgia/ CFS, then if your muscles had been currently habitually in this state of excess tension, then post infection, a single of your major signs and symptoms will then be this muscular discomfort.

When you go on to present at your chosen healthcare provider, you will much more probably be labeled "Fibromyalgia" as oppose to "CFS" and you will be tested through the trigger point methodology.

Let me make a single point clear that is an more than-riding theme by means of all the therapy that I outline: Your body has an innate capacity to heal itself, but as human beings in Western Society we are hell bent on destroying almost everything that nature has taught us, thereby switching to unnatural modes of action merely due to the fact its fashionable or that is the way absolutely everyone else does it, or that's the way issues are produced and manufactured etc.

Look at toddlers when they very first sit up and stand, look at the ideal alignment of the head, neck and torso, and appear at the ease and grace with which they move.

All humans are born with this grace and poise and we "decide on" to unlearn it as soon as possible by copying moody, slouching, ill postured teenagers and adults.

Take the straightforward act of sitting in a comfy chair that possibly 200 million Americans are carrying out appropriate now as you read this. The reality is that that chair is NOT COMFY just since it says so on the manufacturer's label!

The standard slouching position check this out that individuals are forced to assume on a everyday basis is totally against all the natural laws of appropriate posture and alignment of the spinal column, and results in several millions of folks holding their physique in a state of excess tension for hour after hour, while they actually think they are "relaxing".

In third globe nations exactly where natural posture is enforced in day-to-day lives due to the unavailability of "comfy" sofas, "poor backs" are relatively uncommon and unsurprisingly so is Fibromyalgia and CFS as defined by Western Society.

Fibromyalgia and CFS are largely illnesses of modern "civilized" society. We have evolved via the industrial age in a handful of hundred years. But by comparison, it took millions of years of evolution just for our bodies to become bipedal.

Take the "comfy" sofa instance again. What are manufacturer's criteria in designing and creating this item? The real design specifications are that it is far more fashionable than the competitors it can be produced more cheaply than the competitors so the mark-up and profit can be larger from each and every sale.

Do not for one minute believe they are sitting round their brain-storming coffee mornings saying "lets design a sofa so our purchasers can relax in a all-natural position, realign their faulty posture and keep away from muscular tension."

If this was the situation the comfy chair would not exist in its present form.

Yet another example of the misuse of our body forced upon us by tradition and the producers style specification is the W.C.

In terms of passing a motion comfortably this piece of furnishings is absolutely inept and causes a requirement for a massive quantity of pressure to be applied by way of the lumbar spine in order to expel a motion.

In a later article I will be diagramming the adjustments I advise for sitting posture and utilizing the W.C.

You may possibly not initially be overwhelmed by what I advocate, but your physique will.

I am not a qualified Alexander therapist To gain full report this qualification takes four years of coaching and so I advise that you seek a trained therapist in your place, but not until 6 months immediately after you have begun the core therapy.

What I advocate is that you employ the basic techniques I outline in my next report which will present quick wins in terms of your overall musculoskeletal anomalies.

I have talked about the musculoskeletal anomalies inherent in Fibromyalgia and CFS sufferers and how they are responsible for maintaining your illness.

You may possibly be suffering from recurring musculoskeletal pain but do not know exactly what brings on the attacks. Frequently it is years of poor postural habits which are causing your musculoskeletal imbalance, and we require to address how to alter these habits.

Examine the facts:

- Arthritic symptom severity can be decreased by postural habits, keeping the joints moving.

- Spinal surgery or a disc difficulty can be helped by understanding to use the abdominal and back muscles correctly.

- General Back pain can be helped by correct movement as oppose to just bed rest

- Pinched nerves in the neck or lower back are typically the result of compression due to faulty bonuses postural habits.

The 1st factor we need to have to understand is to decrease overall spinal compression as this will minimize the flare-ups of musculoskeletal pain which are contributing to your general experience of Fibromyalgia.

As you are no doubt aware, when you are in much more discomfort, your sleep is affected and for that reason so are your fatigue CFS symptoms.

Utilizing your physique properly results in much less pain, enhanced healing, better sleep, much less tension and for that reason much less fatigue. Sound very good?

If you doubt the effectiveness of the Alexander Strategy look at it from this angle.

Modern day medicine and contemporary science are in no doubt about the following sequence of events.

Stress causes anxiety. The emotion "anxiousness" produces an excess of the chemical substances cortisol and adrenaline which are a known trigger of ulcers, high blood pressure and tension headaches and that is just in the brief term.

Nobody doubts that the conscious mind can be utilized to interfere with these believed processes, and similarly with skeletal muscles, the mind can attain precise conscious manage more than the way they are utilised to restore and increase general wellness

That is all we are going to concentrate on by using the Alexander Strategy.

Alexander's approach to musculoskeletal pain:

- Alexander's method tries to address the totality of a body

This implies that in solving a certain issue, i.e. to resolve a difficulty that may present in a single place of the back, this issue can not be healed unless the entire back is used in a well integrated way.

- Getting conscious of, and able to control our supporting musculature

Alexander understood this and taught how to manage gravity and work with it rather than against it. This is essential for folks with recurring back discomfort

- Understanding to do much less with the physique overall

This is an crucial function of Alexander's perform with respect to back difficulties. This doesn't mean just getting lazier, but rather eliminating unnecessary muscle tension and undesirable postural habits at the root of back pain

I cannot express the importance of this to Fibromyalgia sufferers in so several Fibromyalgia patients the tension cycle is what exacerbates their trigger points.

Pain causes a lot more tension which in turn causes a lot more discomfort and so on. By mastering to short circuit the pain cycle they can avoid a flare-up of fibromyalgia without obtaining to resort to muscle relaxants and painkillers, also they do not waste the small power they have on unnecessary muscle tension.

In the subsequent article I will focus on Alexander's concepts of "very good use" and then the specifics of how they can be applied in daily life to help Fibromyalgia and CFS patients lessen their musculoskeletal pains.