Teacher
Dear friends of the Alexander Technique, my name is Rainer Lehrhuber. I am a teacher of the Alexander Technique and would like to introduce myself.
With kind regards
Rainer Lehrhuber
My First Contact with the Alexander Technique
My first contact with the Alexander Technique was in a group with seven participants and a teacher. This is rather unusual, as Alexander Technique is traditionally held in private lessons.
The teacher made a great impression on me: He had a very calm, clear and open presence. I noticed his appearance particularly. I had never seen a man with such an "upright posture" before. His hands seemed expanded in a relaxed way. I had no idea, how he did it, and I wondered involuntarily whether the strong upright posture was somewhat exaggerated and exhausting. At the same time he moved, despite his 50 years, completely effortless, easy and simple.
A teacher-student ratio of 1:7 is very inconvenient and I could not understand much of what happened in the course. But the teacher dealt for 10 or 15 minutes only with me.
We practiced walking and in between standing. Almost all the while, his hands touched my body very easily - sometimes on the back, then the shoulders, and very often my neck. He also gave brief verbal instructions and explanations. The result of the procedure was extremely amazing. The teacher always seemed to work towards that I “do less”. The tension in my body fell off; my joints could move more easily, my whole body broadened and the standing and walking felt more effortless than I knew from everyday life. In between, the lightness wore off when I was walking. The teacher noticed this; we stopped, adjusted again and went on.
This experience intrigued me, but at the same time, I felt also somewhat anxious because the new felt very strange. Curiosity and fascination outweighed however clearly, and both have not left me to this day.
From the First Lessons to the Teacher Training
Then I took about a dozen of individual lessons in a period of about six months. The impressions described above confirmed and deepened. The lessons were all about only basic activities such as laying, sitting, standing or walking. The "working on the chair" appeared to be particularly important to the teacher: standing in front of the chair, sitting down, sitting and getting up again. What actually sounds monotonous became a great adventure. The outward simplicity allowed us to quickly penetrate to the core of things, namely the way I am turned physically and mentally to everyday tasks, and thus my life. The teacher invited me repeatedly to "do" new things, whereas the term "do" was not entirely accurate. It was more about stopping that too much of "doing". Surprisingly, the movements became easier, more quiet and natural as a result, body and concentration became less tense, and the perception broadened.
I quickly realized that there was much more potential in me than I had previously suspected, and that the Alexander Technique offered approaches to discover this part of my opportunities. An unbridled eagerness to experiment was in me, as I had not known it since my childhood.
Sometimes I felt strange with the easiest way of doing things, and at first I was sometimes impatient because the positive effects seemed to vanish again in the days after the sessions. After a few months, however, the sustained positive effects of the lessons could no longer be overlooked - the confidence in the path grew. About six months after my first private lesson, it was irrefutably clear to me that I wanted get into the Alexander Technique as far as possible, and another six months later I began the three-year education for an Alexander Technique teacher with Mary Holland, which I graduated according to the guidelines of ATVD (Alexander Technique Association Germany).
What does the Alexander Technique represent for me today?
As I write this, I practice the Alexander Technique. I can feel the pull of the screen and the keyboard drawing me forward and down. My body would thus become narrow and my perception and concentration as well. I know both these tendencies, but I also know the "antidote".
Part of my attention adjusts me in the background permanently mentally and physically. I make sure that my neck stays free, and to maintain the relation of head / neck / torso dynamic. I feel the contact of the feet with the floor and the sitting bones with the chair. I know I must not react to the pull forward and down by direct muscular action, i.e. I must not give myself the instruction to sit upright. Rather, the question arises how and where I can let go, so that the desired dynamic is updated repeatedly and by itself.
The organization of head / neck / torso is primary. If this is done, the perception shifts towards the arms and the hands. The arms flow from the back, and touching the buttons is not a gripping motion, but the fingers let go to the front at the stroke and lengthen. The constant view to the screen threatens to fix my attention. My body remembers that concentration is not an oppressive, but a broadening experience, and aligns itself accordingly...
While constantly bearing all this in mind, I write this text in parallel.
The Alexander Technique is not limited to exercise periods, and there are actually no exercises. Daily life and its operations are the exercise. There is no separation between the Alexander Technique and the life. The Alexander Technique is concerned with the essence of the way of life: What is relaxation and how does it work? What is concentration and how does it work? When can clear perception take place? What is the role of thoughts and feelings? What hinders my development? How can I control myself skilfully? These are the central questions handled by the Alexander Technique in theory and especially in practice. From the first individual lesson, these issues are the focus - not intellectually, but at the level of experience.
I have often quarrelled with the word "Technique" in Alexander Technique and many colleagues feel the same. The Alexander Technique is indeed very methodical, but the term "Technique" has for me a rather mechanical and harsh aftertaste. In contrast, I perceive the approach of F.M. Alexander as something very natural and soft. The idea is to let the whole human unfold organically in his physicality, his thinking, feeling and perception. The Alexander Technique does not offer a special technique (as opposed to other possible techniques) for standing, sitting or walking, but invites us to a form of movement, being there and life, which according to our biological and intellectual standard equipment lies naturally within us.
Before I turned to the Alexander Technique, I was an athlete and later I worked many years in the music industry. Also, I intensively deal with the Far Eastern art of movement.
As an Alexander Technique teacher, I now work with people suffering from stress-related ailments who want to bring more ease and balance in their everyday life and work. In addition, my special attention goes to people, who depend on the high coordination ability, such as musicians, actors, dancers and athletes. In my work, I consider it important to give space and suggestions for personal growth. I would like to invite the people who come to me to deal consciously with their body in a light, relaxed way and without pressure.
I look forward to meeting you and to find out in a personal conversation with you how I can support you with the Alexander Technique the best.
Alexander Technique in the Equilibrium Studio