Improve Your Walking6 Tips and an Exercise Based on the Alexander Technique

Leland Vall

Certified Alexander Technique Instructor New York, NYwww.freeyourneck.comMost people think they know how to walk without considering the possibility that they can improve this vitalskill. Maybe you would like to walk more as part of a health program, but you find walking uncomfortable. Or maybe you would like to look better and feel more comfortable in high heels. Improving your ability to walk is possible, and can improve the way you look, as well as make every step easier, more enjoyable, and even safer.The tips and exercise in this article, based on the Alexander Technique, can get you started on improving theway you walk beginning today.

The Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique is often described as a method for recognizing and breaking habits of excess tensionin everyday activities. People take lessons in the Alexander Technique from a certified Alexander teacher to,among other things, improve posture, movement, and breathing. Walking might seem like a simple activity, but people often develop unconscious habits in their walking that make this skill more difficult. You can't learn thewhole Alexander Technique just from one article, but trying out the tips and exercise here can help you gain anew perspective on this seemingly familiar activity.

A Note on Walking in High Heels

There is always a lot of controversy about high heels. The tips and exercise contained here work the same for heels and flats. Walking in high heels is similar to walking down an incline, and although it can be moredifficult, all the same rules apply as when walking on flat ground. One common complaint about heels is thatthey cause the pelvis to tip forward. This is actually a common postural problem with or without heels and it isaddressed here. It will be more challenging, but you can practice the tips and exercise while wearing heels.

Six Tips for Improved WalkingInstructions

Walk around the room to experiment with these tips. Try them one at a time and then all together. Use the tipswith some subtlety and without exaggerating the instructions. None of these tips should cause you to walk in astrange of uncomfortable way. But if you want to improve, you will have to practice and experiment.

Alwaysremember to look where you are going. Self-discovery is fun, but don't get too caught up in it.1. Walk with a lighter step.

This doesn't mean walking in a funny way, just put each foot down a little lighter as you walk. It may help totake a shorter stride. Most missteps happen when too much weight is placed on the new step too quickly.Walking with a lighter step gives you slightly more time to evaluate what you are stepping on, reducing the risk of falling. Dancers always have a light step and it is also less jarring and easier on your joints.©2009 Leland Vall1www.freeyourneck.com

2. Let your waist stay mostly over your standing leg.

Avoid pushing your hips forward along with the moving leg. When you walk,the knee goes forward, the hips should stay a bit behind.

3. Let the movement of your knee peel your foot off the floor.

It may seem strange, but don’t pick up you feet. Instead, let the forwardmovement of your knee peel your foot from the floor. When walking, your footneeds to move both forward and up. Picking up the foot only makes the foot goup. Letting the foot follow the knee causes the foot to go up and forward at thesame time. Besides possibly reducing the time the foot is in the air, it may alsoleave a portion of your foot on the ground longer as it rises. Both of these resultswill improve stability because you will have both feet on the ground longer witheach step.

4. Minimize side-to-side shifting.

Side to side movement can wear on the joints of your spine and also wastesenergy. You are not going sideways—you are going forward. There will always be some sideways shifting as you walk, but with a little thought, you might beable to minimize it. This will also be addressed more clearly in the exercise.

5. Imagine you are floating above your moving legs.

Find the joints from where your legs move and imagine that you are floatingabove those joints. Avoid sinking into your legs because it makes you feelheavier and it causes binding in the hip joints, making movement more difficult.You can find your hip joint by lifting one knee and putting your thumb in the joint.

Avoid tightening the back of your neck.

When walking quickly, have you ever noticed a tightening in the back of your neck?This tightening in the neck probably happens every time you walk, but it is usuallymore prominent when you walk quickly. As you walk now, see if you can allow the back of your neck to be softer. Most people think this is more comfortable.

Using the Tips

Improve Your Walking – A 10 Part Exercise Based on the Alexander Technique

This is mostly a thinking exercise. It is similar to the Six Tips above, but it asks you to apply the instructionswhile marching in place.

Instructions

Try this exercise after you try the tips. The exercise isn't meant to be a way to walk, but a way to examinewalking. Like the tips, it is a cumulative exercise—you begin with the first part and you end with all ten partstogether. Take your time with it, probably at least 20 minutes, and march in place at leastten times for each part of the exercise. If you are concerned about balance, hold on to awall or poll.

1. March in place.

Do this as you would normally and compare how it changes as you go through the exercise.

2. Place Each Foot Down Softly.

This should be just a subtle change that only involves the moving leg. Avoid bending thestanding kneed in order to place the new foot.

3. Think about the Standing Leg

In addition to the previous instructions, be more concerned with the standing leg than themoving leg. It might seem obvious to think about the leg you are lifting, but it is the standingleg that is holding you up. You should find that it is easier to stand on one leg when you think about the leg you are standing on, rather than the moving leg.

4. Point toward ceiling.

In addition to the previous instructions, try pointing toward the ceiling with one finger.Thinking about the standing leg while also pointing toward the ceiling also helps balance.

5. Move your knee forward, not up.

In addition to the previous instructions, instead of lifting your knee with each step, think of putting your knee forward in space. Your knee will go up automatically when you put itforward.©2009 Leland Vall3www.freeyourneck.com