teach his technique. Training courses on the
Alexander Technique exist in many countries,
and more than 2000 teachers are practicing
throughout the world, according to Noel Kings-
ley, who offers more information by E-mail:
noel@ale tech.co.uk. Other sources include
http://www.alexandertechnique.com/at/ and Joan
Arnold, a certified teacher of the Alexander Tech-
nique in New York City (E-mail: [email protected]).
Arnold wrote, “We all have unconscious move-
ment habits. Without realizing it, we put undue
pressure on ourselves. We use more force than we
need to lift a coffee pot or a weight bar. We slouch
as we sit, unaware that our way of doing things
gives out bodies a certain look. We blame body
problems on activities—carpal tunnel syndrome on
computer work, tennis elbow on tennis. But often it
is how we do something that creates the problem,
not the activity itself. An Alexander Technique
teacher helps you see what in your movement style
contributes to your recurring difficulties—whether
it’s a bad back, neck and shoulder pain, restricted
breathing, perpetual exhaustion, or limitations in
performing a task or sport. Analyzing your whole
movement pattern—not just your symptom—the
teacher alerts you to habits of compression in your
characteristic way of sitting, standing and walking.
He or she then guides you... to move in a freer,
more integrated way.” See Appendix I.
allopathy From the Greek words allos, meaning
“other,” and pathos, meaning “disease or suffering,”
methods for treatment of disease that attempt to
counteract the disease or cause of the disease
directly. According to Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dic-
tionary, allopathyor allopathic medicineis an incorrect
term used to differentiate the traditional practice of
Western medicine from alternative therapies, such
as homeopathy. Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., defines
allopathic medicinein Radical Healing: Integrating the
World’s Great Therapeutic Traditions to Create a New
Transformative Medicine (Harmony Books, New
York, 1999) as “operating according to the Law of
Contraries or opposites, in contradistinction to
those approaches that are based on the Law of Sim-
ilars, which are referred to as homeopathic. Treating
a fever with cold, for example, is allopathic.”
alteratives Substances or agents that promote a
gradual change in nutrition or in the body without
creating a specific effect of their own.
See also AYURVEDA.alternative medicine Any method, technique, or
practice that promotes the restoration of health
and well-being that is not included in conven-
tional, or traditional, Western medicine. Alterna-
tive medicine as an entire field maintains there is a
mind-body connection that has an important
impact on one’s ability to prevent illness, regain
health, and create a biopsychosocial balance.
Homeopathy, chiropractic, Ayurveda, herbal medi-
cine, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and reflexology
are among the numerous choices of alternative
medicines available. A trend has begun to combine
traditional Western medical modalities with one or
more alternative treatments, depending upon the
condition and needs of individual patients and the
effectiveness of the treatments.ama Ayurvedic term for toxins that affect weak-
ened areas of the body.
See also AYURVEDA.American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
See Appendix I.American Alliance of Aromatherapy See
Appendix I.American Apitherapy Society See APITHERAPY;
Appendix I.American Aromatherapy Association See
Appendix I.American Association of Acupuncture and Orien-
tal Medicine See Appendix I.American Center for the Alexander Technique
See Appendix I.American College of Acupuncture & Oriental
Medicine See Appendix I.6 allopathy