Alexander Technique helps pregnant people recover from birthing. In addition, it helps parents avoid or heal from the strain of carrying their newborn. It can also help parents support their child’s development.
We often hear people talk about losing pregnancy weight, but the body is also going through many other adjustments. Heather shared, “For a few weeks after Ben was born, I had this crazy experience where all of my organs were reorganizing themselves because they had been pushed aside for so long. It made me want to curl up so that I wouldn’t feel the re-positioning. I knew this would take me out of my alignment, so with the Alexander Technique I was able to keep reminding myself to maintain the length in my torso and allow my skeleton to be the structure in which the organs find their home. This was something I was completely unprepared for, so I was glad to have the Alexander Technique as a lens to deal with it.”
As a parent, there is a lot of repetitive lifting, holding, and carrying your baby, as well as pushing a stroller, lugging around an infant car seat, and picking up toys from the floor. It’s common for parents to develop pain, which can be extremely frustrating at such a special time in your child’s development. Heather explained that the Alexander Technique enabled her and her partner to approach the everyday tasks of parenthood with an eye towards their own posture and Ben’s natural coordination. It is also common to strain the head, neck and back while breastfeeding, but Heather found the Alexander Technique helped her find comfortable ways to breastfeed.
“The Alexander Technique has had a huge impact on how I touch, hold and guide Ben,” Heather continued, “A big thing I have to do every day with Ben is go up and down the stairs. Even though the stairs are too big for Ben, he now likes to walk down them with help. I noticed that my first tendency was to pull his arm up as he goes down. Then I realized I could actually do less and support him better by letting him take the lead. He then pulls or leans just the amount he needs. I don’t have to give him the extra amount which pulls his arm. I’ve taught my mom how to do this, too.” Want to see what the right support could look like? Check out this photo and read about stair climbing, which is an important milestone for children’s strength and motor development.
