A Bad Back and the Alexander Technique:
quick relief or lasting solution?

Does your bad back dominate your life?

Instead of your old pain-free existence, you’re now a person-with-a-bad-back. Life now revolves around avoiding pain (and pretending you’re ok). Perhaps all you hope for now is pain relief, or to avoid a return of old symptoms.

Then you probably want to know:–

“What’s happening to my back?” and
“Would the Alexander Technique help?”

Before I answer your questions, let me ask you something in return. If you find yourself tightening unnecessarily to do something, can you simply choose to stop the tightening?

If you think the answer is “yes”, here are a few things that Alexander Technique teachers know from their everyday experience, things that you need to know before I can help you:–

  1. Posture problems and muscle tension are almost always the result of habitual interference with ordinary movement. This interfered-with movement loses its ease and spontaneity.
  2. This habitual interference is never intentional. Usually you don’t even realise you are interfering with your natural movement.
  3. You may, though, notice the resulting bad posture. If you do notice the bad posture and try to correct it, you end up interfering with your movement even more.

Far from improving things, your attempt makes matters worse. The worst cases that come through my door are people who have made a determined effort to correct their bad posture. They are trying to use the very thing that spoiled their posture to put it right again.

Let’s examine how this comes about.

Why your efforts fail

Your sense of movement, known as kinaesthesia, is not reliable. (Some people are blessed with reliable kinaesthesia. For them, all goes well: their actions work the way they intended them to. You were probably like that once.)

Since your sense of movement is not reliable, what you do is not what you intended. You mean to do one thing and end up doing something a bit different.

But… you still think you are doing what you intended. Your feeling, your kinaesthetic sense, tells you you are. (It never occurs to you not to trust it).

This is what makes it so hard to understand why your old, well-worn movements no longer work as expected. You fail, and can’t understand why you have failed. You try harder. The harder you try, the more attention you are paying to what you feel you are doing — to your unreliable kinaesthetic sense.

The more attention you pay to your kinaesthetic sense, the further it leads you astray. You end up repeating the same mistakes, only worse. Tensing up in the effort to control your wayward movements, your posture becomes tighter, stiffer and more badly mis-aligned.

This is how back pain and muscle tension come about.


Read “Getting rid of lower back pain: How to loosen your back up” for practical ways to help yourself.

This article is included under the following categories:‒


Further Resources

Here are some ways I can help you further.

Wherever you live

  1. If you’re not already getting my free weekly article delivered to your inbox, then go here to get it.   Subscribe to “Back in Action”  (It’s free)
    When you subscribe you also get to download “The Hows & Whys of Semi-Supine”. This free e-booklet is indispensable to anyone serious about strengthening their bad back (or further strengthening an already-strong back).
  2. Repoise is our membership site for people who are serious about improving themselves (and getting out of pain as they do that). When you join, you will:–
    1. Have daily access to me. Together we will work out what’s going wrong for you and how to fix it
    2. Learn from reading other Repoise members’ questions and following their progress as they work with me
    Find out more about joining Repoise here.
  3. I’m writing a book about my work. It will come out on the 1st December 2010. If you’re getting the free weekly articles, I’ll send out more details about the up-coming book as soon as the information is available.

If you’re in Liverpool (or can get to Liverpool)

  1. I’m also running Friday lunchtime group lessons. Go here for details.
  2. There’s nothing better than individual lessons. Ring me on 0151 708 6172 to talk to me about booking individual lessons. (Leave your number so I can get back to you).

If you’re further away and can’t get to Liverpool

  1. There’s still nothing better than individual lessons. Here’s where you can find a teacher near you in the UK or elsewhere
  2. I suggest you also do the things I listed above for everyone:–
    1. Read my weekly articles
    2. Get direct day-to-day guidance from me by joining Repoise.
    If you’re having plain Alexander Technique lessons from someone else, you still need to learn the Smiling Back Method of the Alexander Technique. You’ll get a lot more out of your lessons when you do.


‘Back in Action’
New help for healing your bad back.

Dip into the library of already written articles

When you find them helpful, click subscribe to get the newest article every wednesday.

Subscribe to “Back in Action”

You also get “The Hows & Whys of Semi-Supine”

This free 23-page booklet is indispensable to anyone serious about strengthening their bad back

Book image. “The Hows & Whys of Semi-Supine” by Philip Pawley. Including: The little-understood real reason why Semi-Supine is so important - Detailed instructions on how and when to lie down - Persuade your boss to beg you to take rests at work.
Medical Proof

Medical Study proves lasting effectiveness of the Alexander Technique for low back pain.

Published in the prestigious British Medical Journal on 19 August 2008, this randomised controlled medical trial compares Alexander Technique lessons, exercise and massage for chronic and recurrent back pain.

British Medical Journal video on the Alexander TechniqueBritish Medical Journal video

Clients’ Stories
Jean kept falling over after a hip replacement
Lady with a Hip Replacement

“My teacher is Philip Pawley and I can thoroughly recommend him: he’s patient, kind and knows what he’s doing. He’s given me a new life.”

Rob is a yoga teacher
Yoga Teacher

“My interest in the Technique came from my interest in yoga. At the time when I heard about it, I thought that this would be a useful thing for me to learn — just a development of what I understood yoga to be.”

Margery was disabled by osteoporosis
Lady with Osteoporosis

“Since starting with the Alexander Technique, it has boosted my confidence tremendously. It does so much more besides just helping you with the osteoporosis.”

Caroline is an opera singer
Opera Singer

“I have got enormous benefit out of a series of thirty-minute sessions with Philip Pawley. My whole stance has improved and I’m singing better.”

Watch the full video

The above are short excerpts from a 7-minute video. See the whole video on YouTube
Read the transcript

What bugs you?

Is there anything on this website that bugs you?
Sure there is.

Just let me know what.
If I can fix it, I will.
Report a Bug!

Can you help?

I’d really appreciate your help making the Smiling Back Method better known.

If you’re not sure what you can do, please get in touch.

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter you could help there:–

1. Click to become a fan of the new Smiling Back Method page on Facebook.

Facebook badge The Smiling Back Method Page

2. Follow backmagician on Twitter.

Follow backmagician on Twitter