The Alexander Technique addresses stress and tension from a mental and a physical approach.
On the mental level, students learn to identify their unique stress triggers, and how to slow down the rate at which they react to those situations. For example, when facing an unpleasant event (dental visit, presentation at work, loaded family interactions), learning to recognize the anticipatory anxiety, in the form of self-talk, can allow the student to then notice the physical responses. This can include tightening the neck, tensing shoulder or jaw, and perhaps subtle breath-holding.
Observing inner dialogue, some of my students realize they are feeding their anxiety by expecting negative experiences, or recalling past events over and over. They are able to re-direct where they put their attention, and find they can minimize the affect of their worry.
On the physical level, students can learn to release degrees of tension and contraction in the neck, shoulders, jaw and elsewhere. Even when their thoughts wander to triggers, they can still release muscle tension, minimizing the impact of the stress.
