The Alexander Technique, which was created by Frederick Matthias Alexander in the late 1800s, is a method for improving posture and movement through self-awareness, with the aim of decreasing pain and increasing mindfulness. “The way I usually describe it is that it helps you learn to do things that you do every day, but with less tension, less pain, less fatigue,” explains Angeline LeLeux, who recently opened Skagit Alexander Technique in Mount Vernon.
Photograph by Jessamyn Tuttle
LeLeux, a pianist, learned about the Alexander Technique in 1997 while researching performance anxiety, and used it to recover from a wrist issue that kept her from playing piano. She began training as an instructor in 1998, completing the 1600-hour training program in 2001. For many years she was primarily a piano teacher with “a little Alexander on the side,” but she is currently focusing on her Alexander Technique teaching.
“It’s important to distinguish that it’s a lesson, not a treatment. We have students, not clients,” says LeLeux. “We’re not doing a series of postures, like in yoga…we’re looking at sitting and standing and walking in some very basic fundamental movements, and then applying it to, say, sitting in front of a computer, sitting in front of an instrument or holding your instrument, sitting in a car, or walking in various situations…it’s looking at habits and saying, ‘let’s see if we can make new habits that are going to be better for you.’”
“Frequently people come to us because they’re in pain because of something they’ve been doing for a long time, and saying they don’t want to be in pain any more,” she says. She also works with actors, musicians, or other people in the performing arts who have been encouraged by a teacher to try Alexander Technique.
Photograph courtesy of Angeline LeLeux
LeLeux’s studio has a massage table, a chair, and a saddle for working with different basic movements. A class might start with a conversation about what issues the student is dealing with, then some gentle hands-on guidance from the teacher. The effect can be subtle, but as LeLeux mentions, “people that have observed lessons usually say something like, I don’t know what you did, but I can see the difference.”
She can work with one or two people at once in her studio, and can also do larger classes if another space is available (she recently taught a couple of courses at the Anacortes Senior College).
LeLeux emphasizes that students need to practice what they learn in class. “You can treat it like a treatment, but it’s like coming into your piano lesson every week and that’s your practice time,” she says. “We are really trying to teach how to take some of this information and keep applying it to yourself on an ongoing basis.”
“I can’t fix anybody,” she says. “I can give you some ideas. I try to make it really clear that it’s not a cure…but you can take four lessons and come away with some ideas that are going to make your life better.”
1202 S. 2nd St., Ste. G, Mount Vernon, 408.799.0314, skagitalexandertechnique.com
