Poise, Not Posture – Reclaiming Ease Through the Alexander Technique
- Brainz Magazine
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
Jamee Culbertson integrates Taoist practices, Alexander Technique, and spiritual healing for transformative experiences. She is a Senior Healing Tao Instructor teaching Tai Chi, Qigong, and Taoist Meditations with the Universal Tao Boston School of Taoist Practices. Jamee is a teacher trainer certifying teachers in both disciplines.
In a world where posture is often reduced to just the way we sit or stand, the Alexander Technique offers a deeper understanding of its true meaning. Far beyond physical alignment, posture reflects our body, mind, energy, and emotions. In this article, Jamee Culbertson explores how the Alexander Technique shifts our focus from correcting posture to embracing poise, a living quality that arises naturally when we release tension and return to balance. Discover how poise, rather than rigid posture, leads to ease and vitality.
What is posture, really?
We often think of posture as simply the way someone stands or sits. But posture is far more than physical shape; it reflects a deep interplay of body, mind, energy, and emotion.
Let’s explore the many dimensions of posture, from the anatomical to the spiritual, and how the Alexander Technique helps us understand it in a radically different way.
1. Functional/ Anatomical posture
In anatomical terms, posture refers to:
Alignment of the head, spine, pelvis, and limbs
Muscle tone and balance
Nervous system regulation
Habitual movement patterns
Here, posture is about the body’s organization in space and how efficiently or inefficiently we use ourselves in everyday movement.
2. Psychological and emotional posture
Posture also reveals our inner world. The body speaks to the mind.
A slumped posture might reflect fatigue, sadness, or resignation.
An upright, open posture may express confidence, receptivity, or dignity.
We read each other through posture, often unconsciously. It becomes a kind of body language signature of our psyche.
3. Figurative and social posture
Posture can also mean stance or attitude, our orientation toward life, others, or society.
Taking a “firm posture” on an issue
Adopting a “humble posture” in dialogue
This metaphorical use reveals how posture is embedded not only in the body but also in identity and intention.
4. Energetic or spiritual posture (Taoism and beyond)
In Taoist and other wisdom traditions, posture is not a shape but a state of being. It reflects:
Inner harmony
Openness to flow
Alignment with life energy (Qi)
Posture here is energetic presence, not something we hold, but something we are.
Posture in the Alexander technique
Many arrive at Alexander Technique lessons hoping to “fix their posture,” but this is a misconception.
The Alexander Technique is not about posture; it’s about you.
Posture is simply the mirror of how you use yourself, your habits, coordination, thinking, and breath.
Posture as a benefit, not the goal
Use vs. posture: The Technique teaches us to improve our use, how we coordinate body and mind with awareness and direction.
Posture follows coordination: Rather than trying to “sit up straight,” we release unnecessary tension and invite natural balance.
“The right thing does itself.” F.M. Alexander taught that when we stop interfering, the body finds its own ease and support.
Posture reveals use: Rigid or collapsed posture reflects miscoordination. Poised posture reflects natural, fluid coordination.
Length and width: The shape of ease
The Alexander Technique doesn’t aim to mold the body into a “correct” shape. Instead, it invites us to return to wholeness.
This expansion is not a stretch; it’s a return, a return to the natural openness we’re designed for.
The deeper discovery: Poise
Most people seek the Alexander Technique for better posture, but they often discover something more meaningful: poise.
Where posture is commonly seen as a static position, something to correct or maintain, poise is a living quality.
Poise is:
Responsive, not held
Expansive, not compressed
A state of readiness, not rigidity
It arises naturally when tension subsides and the body-mind system returns to balance.
“You can't do something you don't know if you keep on doing what you do know.” – F.M. Alexander
We don’t do poise, we uncover it by stepping out of the way.
Posture (common understanding):
A position to be held
Often rigid or effortful
Based on external standards
Encourages control and tension
Focused on appearance
Something you try to do
Poise (Alexander & Somatic traditions):
A quality of being, balanced and responsive
Dynamic, alive, and adaptive
Emerges from within
Suggests ease and lightness
Rooted in inner coordination
Something you allow to happen
A short poetic comparison:
Posture says: “Hold it together.”
Poise whispers: “Let it come together.”
Inhibition and direction: The heart of change
Rather than forcing posture into place, we pause to inhibit our habitual reactions and gently direct our awareness toward new possibilities.
This process restores not just how we stand or sit, but how we meet life.
The posture of consciousness
Beyond the physical, there is another kind of posture: the posture of consciousness.
It is an open, spacious presence, neither rigid nor collapsed, but balanced between grounding and expansion. This posture is not fixed in form but fluid in essence.
It carries:
Alert softness: Awake yet relaxed, like a calm lake reflecting the sky
Aligned awareness: Where body, mind, and spirit meet in harmony
Receptive clarity: Presence wide enough to welcome all experience
Rooted freedom: Grounded yet flowing
Breath as the thread: Consciousness rides on the rhythm of breath
Embodied stillness: Stillness that is alive, not frozen
In this posture, consciousness is like a clear sky, vast, unbounded, luminous, holding clouds of thought and feeling without attachment.
Tai Chi: Posture as embodied flow and energy alignment
In Tai Chi, posture becomes a channel for flow and awareness. Some key principles include:
Rooted and uplifted
Posture is both grounded and uplifted – the crown rises as the body settles. This creates strength without tension.
Song-release
True posture in Tai Chi is released, not held. Song is a state of deep relaxation, muscles ungrip, joints open, breath deepens.
Central axis
Posture aligns along a central vertical axis. Movement spirals around it, yet the axis remains poised. This is both physical and energetic.
The six harmonies of tai chi
The Six Harmonies cultivate whole-being integration, body, energy, and mind, moving as one.
Three external harmonies:
Shoulders harmonize with hips, and the upper and lower body move as one.
Elbows harmonize with knees, joints coordinate, and spiral.
Hands harmonize with feet, whole-body rhythm, and unity.
Three internal harmonies:
Heart (Xin) harmonizes with intent (Yi), and emotion aligns with purpose.
Intent (Yi) harmonizes with Qi (energy), where the mind goes, energy flows.
Qi harmonizes with power (Li), energy fuels movement effortlessly.
Stillness in motion
Even while moving, Tai Chi cultivates inner stillness. Each posture holds intention, presence, and energy direction, as the saying goes, “Yi leads Qi.”
The common thread
In both the Alexander Technique and Tai Chi:
Posture is not something you do
It’s something you allow,
Become aware of
And return to.
It is the physical reflection of consciousness,
The meeting place of gravity, breath, and soul.
You’re invited
Please visit my website for more information. I’ve also created a new Facebook group devoted to exploring conscious movement, presence, and embodied well-being. My expertise is in the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, Qigong, and Taoist Inner Alchemy.
You are invited to apply to be a part of this nourishing community. I’d love to welcome you:
Apply here.
Read more from Jamee Culbertson
Jamee Culbertson, Senior Instructor, Teacher Trainer
Jamee is a Senior Instructor at the Universal Tao Boston School, teaching Tai Chi, Qigong, and Taoist meditation. With nearly 40 years of experience, she integrates Taoist practices, the Alexander Technique, and spiritual healing. She is an internationally certified Alexander Technique Instructor and teacher-trainer at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Jamee has taught at Harvard University, Mass General’s Home Base program for veterans, and community wellness events like Rosie’s Place. Her work blends ancient wisdom and modern techniques to support healing, balance, and self-awareness.
