ATechniqueDenver

01/22/2021

Restoring a healthy posture is not only a physical process but a mental one as well. When a postural imbalance occurs, two things seem to happen.
Some muscles begin to overstrain, while others don't do enough.
Over time, your brain takes this new information and starts to process it as normal.
What's worse, it begins to factor this new framework into all of its actions.
The Alexander Technique teaches a thinking process that sneaks past the mind's faulty body schema to gradually improve posture and performance in all activities.
The Alexander Technique has been scientifically tested to significantly improve postural tone, relieve back pain and disability, manage Parkinson's symptoms and so much more.
Get back into the Game with the Alexander Technique!

Discover a 120 Year-Old Method that can provide substantial Back Pain Relief and improve your Posture. Try the Alexander Technique, Transform your Life!

01/06/2021

The Alexander Technique teaches you how to bypass habits of tension that keep you in pain and away from the activities that you love.
Here's what people are saying about their lessons.

"As a former gymnast and current violinist, I have been struggling with neck and back pain and headaches for the past few years. Thankfully, I was directed to the Alexander Technique as a way to address my pain and luckily, to Travis Chastain.

Since learning the basics of the Alexander Technique from Travis, I have greatly reduced the number of tension headaches I get, and have found more comfortable and efficient ways to use my body, whether for everyday activities or violin playing.

Travis has wonderful qualities making him an excellent guide in the Alexander Technique. He is knowledgeable, kind, patient, encouraging and creative. The instructive resources he offered were very helpful to me. Our sessions were not only full of insight but fun as well. Now that I have been initiated I am convinced this awareness of how our bodies work should be a part of everyone’s education."
Ann Connell
Accepting students in the Denver-Metro and Colorado Springs area.

10/06/2020

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working with a violinist who has been dealing with chronic back issues, which made playing the violin impossible.
As we worked together on the violin, she reported a feeling of tension and lack of control when playing the low G string in the left hand.
Two things became obvious the minute she started to play. She wanted to tilt and compress her torso and floating ribs towards her left hand and she wanted to squeeze her chin down onto the shoulder rest.
I asked her to take a moment to give up the thought of playing the violin and to recognize the space from her hands to her head and the space between her right and left elbows, and just give permission to do less in that space.
Immediately there was a shift in her left arm as the upper arm became noticeably less tense and connect more fluently into the back.
She reported feeling a greater sense of control with a richer and fuller tone.
She also reported that while it felt more in control, it also brought a sense of unease, moving in such a foreign and radical way.
And perhaps that's the tradeoff when journeying toward a new, more efficient, and healthier form of movement. You get to experience greater freedom and ease in your whole body, which translates to better performance, but you don't get to necessarily be comfortable working in this unknown territory.
This mental thought of giving up direct control of an action to make room for the thought of doing less in space we call Inhibition and Direction in the Alexander Technique. It is the bedrock for creating s positive change in yourself in action.
If you want to improve your performance, come and get your trial Alexander consultation at ATechniqueDenver!

09/11/2020

ATechniqueDenver's website has been updated with a new student resources page. For anyone wanting to learn more about the technique and gain insight on it's 3 main principles and how it can help you in your day to day life! These guided rests can be practiced anywhere you are! Enjoy
https://www.atechniquedenver.com/student-resources

Discover a 120 Year-Old Method that can provide substantial Back Pain Relief and improve your Posture. Try the Alexander Technique, Transform your Life!

03/08/2020

Today I had the privilege of giving my twentieth lesson to this student who has been struggling with knee and ankle pain due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition which creates excessive laxity in connective tissue. When we first started working, he would report level 4 or 5 knee pain as a normal day when lying down and level 6 or 7 as a bad day.
Today he was happy to report zero pain in his knee or ankle joints!
He has been doing a great job stopping his habitual tendency to twist his pelvis to the left and collapse the arches of his feet.
By noticing the whole length of his spine and directing the top vertebrae and the sacral spine to ease towards the table, he was able to realize the pelvis can also release towards the table, giving the knee joint more freedom.
It never ceases to amaze me the power of the mind. By choosing a new perspective and simply asking the question, “what in my mind and body can do less in this moment” The tidal wave of potential change that can come from that over time.

If you struggle with back pain, knee pain, co-ordination difficulty, Parkinson’s symptoms, repetitive stress injuries, or anxiety, come try out this 120 year old tested method with a complimentary trial lesson.

www.ATechniqueDenver.com

* this photo has been used with students permission.

10/07/2019

A Randomized Trial published in 2014 by the American Psychological Association found that participants who carried a slumped posture during a stressor test, indicated far higher levels of negative emotion (fear, anxiety, anger, sluggishness etc.) compared to participants who carried an upright posture.
The slumped posture also seemed to negatively impact cognitive function compared to the upright group. ( Slumped group spoke fewer words in total than the upright group.)
Multiple medical trials indicate that Alexander Technique lessons significantly improve postural tone and muscle function.
Sign up today for your trial lesson.

09/03/2019

Nice mention of the Alexander Technique at the end. How it can help Batwoman move with greater ease and precision when kicking butt!

The actor endured plenty of criticism when she was picked to star in CW’s “Batwoman,” but she has made the role her own. “That’s my legacy and I’m going to own that,” she said.

07/18/2019

Today I had the privilege of promoting the Alexander Technique to the choral directors workshop and met and worked with the most fantastic people!! One lady I worked with has real difficulty with her back. She showed me an X-Ray of her spinal fusion she had for four of her lumbar spine and told me she was in constant pain. We worked together on the table with inhibition and direction and working with the concept of just asking the back to let go in length and width.
She texted me the most wonderful message today and has given me permission to share it with you.
“Thank you for your help. It feels like a miraculous healing. I had no idea I could change that much by just lying there.”
She also told me that she didn’t have to take her Advil for the rest of the day, which was a first for her in a long time.
It’s amazing to me how much she improved in 20 minutes of table work and I can’t wait to see how much better things will get for her with future AT lessons! I am so humbled that I get to present this technique to the world. Today was life changing!
If you are suffering from back pain, please consider the Alexander Technique and read up on the medical trials conducted on its effectiveness in reducing pain and disability for chronic back problems.

Objective To determine the effectiveness of lessons in the Alexander technique, massage therapy, and advice from a doctor to take exercise (exercise prescription) along with nurse delivered behavioural counselling for patients with chronic or recurrent back pain. Design Factorial randomised trial. S...

07/11/2019

Today’s Alexander student came to me to help alleviate her anxiety and to learn more about what was causing it. She was able to make the most amazing connections when lying on the table.
I was asking her to think about doing less in her head, neck and back and to think about how everything interconnects while I worked on helping her lower back let go. She noticed right away her legs release away from her pelvis and her back widen.
I noticed her ribs moving much more freely and I asked her what she thought about that?
She said she hadn’t felt that relaxed and at peace in years!
She was instantly able to make the connection between the holding pattern in her back that was constricting her rib movement and her anxiety pattern.
It never ceases to amaze me how working on improving the head, neck, and back relationship can improve so many seemingly unrelated issues.
What a great day!!

06/23/2019

Today’s adventure’s with the Alexander Technique involved helping a lady struggling with a frozen shoulder. By thinking of the connection of the whole body and how our thinking influences how we are moving it took just the slightest of shifts to get her off to the races! She learned that you don’t have to strain with your shoulder muscles to move your arm, you just have to stop doing what your doing with your back. I’m so proud of this very sharp student and how much she’s changed already!!😀

06/21/2019

Today I had the privilege to teach my third Alexander lesson to a student with Parkinson’s disease. The amount of change I have witnessed in his movements in just 3 lessons is so incredibly humbling. He walked into his lesson so upright and proud of how much more in control he was of his walking! The power of inhibition never ceases to amaze me in its miraculousness! As a teacher, I still have to pinch myself in wonder how just stopping for a moment and thinking NO to reacting can just open up a whole world of possibility and change. And when a student and teacher work together in unison with inhibition and direction, both together saying NO to their reactions, mountains can be moved. That one moment of saying No made both of us better in the present than in the moments past, and perhaps even made the whole world better.
I cannot overstate it enough how blessed we are as Alexander Teachers to give this gift to others, to ourselves, and to the entire world every day.

05/29/2019

Just got the keys to my new Alexander Technique studio space! Right on time for a busy weekend of teaching!!!😀. Come get your complimentary trial lesson guys. What are you waiting for? Your head, neck, and back will thank you!!
www.ATechniqueDenver.com