For many people relaxing comes with collapsing, meaning that the body tends to fall downwards as it relaxes from the tension that keeps us up.  If we could produce the right amount of tension, in the right places, in the right timing, for the right length of time – we wouldn’t feel it as tension.

With the Alexander Technique guidelines we learn to release the unnecessary, harmful tension, while orienting ourselves in an upward direction, instead of relaxing downwards.

An old student of mine once commented that she always felt very relaxed at the end of  each class, even though she never heard me use the word “relax” even once during classes.