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Robert Rickover - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Robert Rickover is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique in Lincoln, Nebraska. He also teaches regularly in Toronto, Canada. He graduated from the School of Alexander Studies in London, England in 1981 where he also served on the faculty. He studied for over fifteen years with master Alexander teacher Marjorie Barstow in Lincoln and frequently assisted her in teaching her Alexander Technique workshops. He maintained a teaching practice in Toronto, Canada before moving ... [More]
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Robert Rickover Email Alerts
- Backpacks and School Furniture - Threats to Our Children's Wellbeing
[Kids-and-Teens] The backpacks your kids carry to school, and the chairs and desks they use there, can be extremely harmful to their health and well-being. This article explores this issue, and provides some practical suggestions for concerned parents.
- Children's Posture
[Home-and-Family:Parenting] Children often develop harmful posture and movement patterns right under the noses of their parents and teachers. This article explores the problem and suggests that the traditional ways of solving it may make matters worse.
- The Strengths and Weaknesses of Pilates' and Alexander's Approach to Self-Improvement
[Health-and-Fitness:Exercise] The Pilates Method and the Alexander Technique can be very complementary ways of learning to improve physical functioning. Moreover, even a little experience with one can make learning the other far more efficient and effective.
- Pilates, Alexander and the Health of the Human Race
[Health-and-Fitness] Joseph Pilates and F. Matthias Alexander were important pioneers in thinking about how the human body functions, and how to improve that functioning. Their ideas, carried on today as the Pilates Method and the Alexander Technique, have had a profound influence on many other fitness training and somatic education programs.
- The Differences in Pilates' and Alexander's Approaches to Self-Improvement
[Health-and-Fitness:Exercise] Joseph Pilates, the developer of the Pilates Method, and F. Matthias Alexander, the originator of the Alexander Technique, had similar views of what had gone wrong with the overall health of modern man and, generally, what needed to be done to improve it. Both men strongly and sincerely believed that if their ideas were universally adopted, many of the problems they had identified would be solved.
- The Alexander Technique and the Pilates Method Today
[Health-and-Fitness] Anyone familiar with the original writings of Joseph Pilates and F. Matthias Alexander will be struck by the many parallels between their analyses of why the physical functioning of most adults has become compromised. Perhaps the most important is this: Pilates developed a series of very specific exercises designed to correct posture and movement limitations while Alexander emphasized above all else learning how to change one's thinking in order to re-direct posture and movement patterns.
- Animals, Fitness and Us
[Health-and-Fitness] "Do you ever hear of animals gratifying their desire or need for artificial exercising at a gymnasium?" asks Joseph H. Pilates, developer of the Pilates Method, in his book "Your Health." F. Matthias Alexander, another pioneer in the field of somatic education whose ideas and procedures are today known as the Alexander Technique, was also influenced by his close observations of animals.
- Pilates and Me
[Health-and-Fitness:Exercise] F. Matthias Alexander, the developer of the Alexander Technique is considered by many to be the "grandfather" of somatic education and as such has had a profound influence on how we think about mind, body and movement. Pilates' work has, in the past few years, had a huge impact on our thinking about fitness. It is my belief that exploring those parallels and differences in their thinking is a wonderful way to help clarify the ideas developed by these two men.
- Tomatis Method and the Alexander Technique
[Health-and-Fitness:Alternative] Tone, pitch, rhythm, harmony - these are among the many terms that can describe the condition of our bodies as well as the quality of sounds we make and hear. Our language is permeated with words and expressions that suggest a deep primal connection between sound and body. This article explores this connection in the context of the Tomatis Method and the Alexander Technique
- Technology and Us
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Philosophy] "What is the best use of technology?" This is a question that has been asked more and more in recent years. But an even more important question is: "How do we make the best use ourselves as we live our lives employing these new technologies?"
- Taking a Stand with Awareness
[Health-and-Fitness] Our perceptions of how we stand, sit and move may be very different from what's really going on. This article provides a couple of striking examples - and some suggestions for finding out the truth about your posture.
- A "Stiffnecked People"
[Health-and-Fitness] The Lord said to Moses, "I see this is a stiffnecked people. Now let Me be, that my anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them..." (Exodus, 32: 9, 10)
- Skill and Success - The Careers of Nellie Bly and F. Matthias Alexander
[Self-Improvement:Success] This article explores the careers of thse two innovators. There are some surprising parallels.
- Posture Miseducation in Our Schools
[Home-and-Family:Parenting] A great deal of harm is inflicted on our kids' posture at school. This article explores the issue, and makes some practical suggestions.
- Posture Commands: Why They Don't Work
[Health-and-Fitness] Many of us would like to improve our posture. The problem is how to do it. This article explores some of the issues involved and points to a time-tested, effective approach to better posture.
- Narcissus and Alexander: Reflections on the Origins of the Alexander Technique
[Health-and-Fitness:Alternative] Unlike Narcissus, who wanted to merge with his reflection, Alexander used his mirror as a means of distancing himself from his faulty sensory awareness. As far as we know, Alexander was the very first person in history to use a mirror in that way.
- Mind-Body Unity - A Practical Approach
[Health-and-Fitness:Alternative] There is a great deal of talk and writing these days about mind-body unity. This article explores a practical method for achieving this that's been around for over a hundred years.
- Asthma - A Breath of Fresh Air
[Health-and-Fitness:Asthma] Research at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center casts serious doubts about the prevailing medical view of the cause of asthma and suggests an entirely new way of thinking about a disease that affects a growing number of people today, particularly children.
- Know Thyself - Habits, Self-Knowledge and the Future of the Human Race
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Philosophy] We humans can command energies and resources undreamed of by earlier generations. But our inability to control ourselves - our own bodies and minds - can have terrible consequences.
- IT and Us - The Segway and Human Balance
[Health-and-Fitness] We've all seen photos of the Segway self-balancing "human transporter". This article explores what the Segway tells us about human balance.
- Habits: Friends or Foes?
[Self-Improvement] Habits - like fire - are excellent servants but dangerous masters. An essestial part of any self-improvement program is the ability to tell the difference between good and bad habits.
- Dewey and Me
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humanities] No, not Dewey of the TV show "Malcolm and Me". Not Melvil Dewey, the originator of the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Not even Thomas E. Dewey, who ran unsuccessfully against Harry Truman in the close presidential election 1948 and now best remembered for the photograph of Truman gleefully holding up a newspaper with the premature headline "Dewey Defeats Truman." No, I'm talking about Professor John Dewey, hardly a household name for most people - but a continual presence in my life.
- Children's Fitness
[Home-and-Family:Parenting] Remember your physical education (PE) classes in school? If your experience was anything like mine, it was a class you truly hated. And if, like me, you were not a natural athlete, your painful memories may have actually discouraged you from exercising later in life. This article explores some new PE trends - their pluses and their negatives.
- Chairs, Posture and the Alexander Technique
[Health-and-Fitness] From an Alexander Technique perspective, looking for the "perfect chair" is an exercise in futility. It is our body that sits in a chair, and if we want to improve our comfort and health, our primary attention must be directed at improving our own functioning - that is, what we do with our own body when we sit.
- Avoiding Repetitive Strain Injuries - What We Can Learn From Musicians
[Health-and-Fitness] The demanding physical challenges faced by musicians helps explain why they so often suffer from Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs). We can all learn a lot by looking at one of the primary ways they use to address this problem.
- Learning How to Stop
[Self-Improvement] These days we're bombarded with messages telling us: "buy this", "fix this", "do this" - the list goes on and on. Learning how to STOP and consider just what we want to do, and how to do it, has for many of us become a lost art as this article explains.
- The Pitfalls of High Heels
[Health-and-Fitness:Womens-Issues] Wearing high heels poses a serious threat to posture and general health. This article explains why this is so, and examines healthy alternatives to high heels.
- The Alexander Technique - Taking the Presssure off your Body
[Health-and-Fitness:Alternative] The Alexander Technique is a time-tested method of learning how to release harmful tension from your body. This article provides an introduction to this method.
- Operating Instructions for Human Beings
[Health-and-Fitness] The most complicated piece of "machinery" we'll ever have to operate is our own body. Yet it comes without any sort of owner’s manual! This article suggests some ways to remedy that situation.
- Nirvana in Your Neck
[Health-and-Fitness:Alternative] Exodus 32, verses 9, 10: The Lord said to Moses, "I see this is a stiff necked people. Now let Me be, that my anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them..." What is so important about our neck? This article explores this important question.
- Learning from Tiger Woods
[Recreation-and-Sports:Golf] How can we learn to do something better? That was precisely the question Tiger Woods asked himself and the method he came up with parallels that of F. Matthias Alexander, the developer of the Alexander Technique.
- Here and Now
[Arts-and-Entertainment] The importance of being in the moment is emphasized by many spiritual traditions. Aldous Huxley created a whimsical mechanism to accomplish this in his final novel, "Island".
- Flexibility in Five Minutes a Day
[Health-and-Fitness:Exercise] While imprisioned during Mao's Cultural Revolution in China, Nien Cheng developed a simple and effective method of enhancing her physical flexibility. This article shows how you can use her method for yourself.
- The Dark Side of Fitness
[Health-and-Fitness:Exercise] Fitness programs often take a heavy toll on their users, particularly children. This article examines the problem and suggests a different approach to fitness.
- Backpacks, Kids, and Us
[Home-and-Family:Parenting] As backpacks get heavier and heavier, their harmful effects on our childrens' posture is starting to be recognized. This article examines the problem and suggests so practical steps parents can take to protect their kids' health.
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