Excerpt – An Alexander Technique Approach to Focal Dystonia (Musicians)(Posture)(Pain)(Strain)(Injuries)(Albuquerque)

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Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

What would have to happen for a performing musician with focal dystonia to be free of focal dystonia? I’m writing this ebook from the perspective that focal dystonia is usually not a pathology. I’m not saying that there aren’t cases where there are neurological problems, but what if focal dystonia is a collection of bad postural, tension, and technique habits that cause the fingers to go out of control, and what if there was a way to release the effects of focal dystonia.

A few years ago I was working with a couple of teen age boys who came to me with dysgraphia. Dysgraphia is a loss of your ability to write, to control a pencil. My sense is that dysgraphia and focal dystonia are two very similar things that happen to the hands, that make you feel you have no control over your hand. I discovered with these two boys that they held onto the pencil with incredible tension.

When I got them to learn to do the minimum muscularly to hold onto the pencil and sit with balanced posture, both of them very quickly stopped experiencing dysgraphia and were able to write. They were both very intense kids. I have a strong feeling that most of the performing musicians experiencing focal dystonia practice a great deal, are very intense performers, and probably many are perfectionists.

As an Alexander Technique teacher I’ve had success with helping performing musicians become free of focal dystonia, but all of the performers I helped were willing to let go of postural, technical, and attitudinal habits that created intense pressure and pain and strain to their bodies and minds. The whole body contributes to focal dystonia, and it takes the whole body to be free of it. What follows is what I have to offer.

The Alexander Technique makes it possible for performers to perform without pain and wear and tear to their bodies, and to release the involuntary movements of focal dystonia. An Alexander Technique teacher shows the performer how to play his or her instrument with a sense of power, poise, and ease. What is it exactly that an Alexander Technique teacher does for the performing musician that makes it unique? We teach the performer to find the most effortless way to play his or her instrument. We teach the performer that his or her whole body plays the instrument.

If the whole body is balanced, and the technique makes personal sense, the player will play without sacrificing her body and cause focal dystonia. In the Alexander Technique the performer’s well-being is paramount, and if he or she takes care of him or herself, the performer will be able to do what he or she wants and create a wonderful performance.

Alexander Technique teachers believe the means will take care of the ends. This means if the performer puts his awareness on his posture and technique and chooses to find the easiest way to play the instrument with the least amount of work and with high energy, he will not wear his body out. He will not create compression in his joints trying to maintain poor posture and simultaneously use too much muscle to play his instrument.

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An Alexander Technique Approach to Focal Dystonia

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Ethan Kind

AUTHOR, TRAINER "When you change old habitual movement patterns with the Alexander Technique, whether in playing a musical instrument, running, weightlifting, walking, or typing at a computer, you create an ease of body use that moves you consistently into the zone." - Ethan Kind Ethan Kind writes and is published extensively on all of the above activities. He teaches musicians, athletes, and computer operators how to stop hurting themselves, by showing them how to use their bodies with ease and coordination. He brings a unique perspective to his work, having been a musician and athlete all of his life. After training for three years at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (New York, NY), Ethan received Professional Certification credentials.

2 Comments

  1. Antonius jamil on August 23, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    After 5 years of studying guitar I switched to the bass guitar in 1999, but lately (two years ago) I began to give lessons in classical guitar. For the first 4 courses I started to face a problem with my right hand, especially using the ring finger in a fast arpeggio and tremolo. My ring finger is tensing to form a semi circle toward my palm, or it moves unnecessarily with the middle finger, with a high amount of tension. The question is is it focal dystonia? I’m a perfectionist, and the pieces I’m working on were ok before.
    Thank you.



    • ethankind on August 23, 2014 at 2:19 pm

      This could be classified as focal dystonia, but I’m very careful about labeling muscular tension and an inability to control a finger as something physically wrong, as damage. There may be something wrong, but what if this is a physical habit and not a neurological problem in your case? One of the most difficult things for a trained musician to do is to SLOW DOWN enough to gain conscious control over his or her technique, especially since the performer has been playing for years. It’s hard to be a beginner again!
      So, play with the middle finger repeatedly and very slowly, and place all of your awareness on not tensing and twitching the ring finger. Don’t HOLD the ring finger still, instead focus on controlling the ring finger by having it be free and released, as you repeatedly and very slowly play the same string with the middle finger. Eventually begin playing arpeggios, but play so slowly you can gently play with a ring finger that is always released, when it is not playing. In the Alexander Technique this is called Inhibition, inhibiting an old habit. You probably always moved these two fingers together, but now this tension has increased to the point where it interferes with your playing.