Applying Alexander principles to injury and recovery

The Alexander Technique refines specific skills of intention and attention as applied to all activities.  These skills apply, and are even more crucial to, the process of recovery from injury.

I fractured my left patella in a fall.  The fracture required emergency surgery to wire the patella back together.  I left the hospital with a huge splint that immobilizes my leg from ankle to upper thigh. Although I could bear weight, crutches were initially a necessity to pain management.

Of course, applying Alexander direction to all my movements became paramount.  Thinking "on the ground springing up" seemed almost humorous in my non-elastic condition of self, but helped tremendously in using crutches, transitioning to sitting or to lying down, and to the simplest of activities, all of which had become challenging.  Although my left leg was stiffened by a splint, the remainder of myself could remain elastic.  I could still have a balance of tone with what was available to me.

The most important inhibition was in my thinking and self concept.  I came home from surgery in a state of stunned depression, sourced in thinking of myself as a damaged person.  Without denying my injury, I changed my thinking and self concept to that of a person recovering with intelligence and skill.  Depression faded, and I began to see this experience as an opportunity.  This is a process, not an end point, just as chair work in an Alexander lesson is a structure for attending to the means-where-by, not a project for sitting and standing.  Challenge replaced defeat.

The pain meds (Oxycodone) presented another opportunity for attention and intention.  Instead of viewing the meds as a necessity, I began to see them as a tool for continued mobility and needed rest. And since, as am Alexander Teacher, I am accustomed to observing my mind chatter, I noticed when the drugs began to take too much precedence.  This was evidenced by disconnected thinking, a surreal sense of self, and disturbing dreams.  I immediately started tapering dosage and frequency so that I was using the drugs rather than the drugs dominating me.