Two angles on Repetitive Strain Injury

I did most of my reading on this stuff about a decade ago.

One guy I didn't mention was Frank Pierce Jones, who did experimental studies on the Alexander Technique.

Looks like there has actually been a fair amount of study of the Alexander Technique in the last 15 years. See La Wik, and

http://www.amsatonline.org/research

Like I said, I haven't read this stuff in a while, so please update us on what you find.

The Alexander Technique is incredible valuable in working with RSI; I'm a violinist & AT teacher in NYC and have seen people who couldn't turn a page in a book or press an elevator button without pain learn how rid themselves of RSI by improving their "use" as Mr. Alexander called it.

Here's a little essay that explains some of the ideas behind the work; but it must be learned by hands on experiences to be truly understood.

http://connectingupthedots.com/2014/03/20/understanding-the-primary-directions-which-way-is-up/

That's interesting. The usual Feldenkrais take is not knowing what you need to do, but sensing what you are doing, and being aware of alternatives to it.

In your meditation, what are you focusing your awareness on?

I've corrected it. Thanks.

Cool.

One gave a day's worth of significant right arm pain relief, now repeating it each day.

A mental model I've found useful: think of your trigger point as a bank balance that's in a deficit state. If you only treat it when it's painful, and only enough so that it stops being painful, then it may remain in a deficit state indefinitely. If you continue treating it even after it seems better, and you cut down on or stop activities that seem to make it worse for a good while, then you have a chance of eliminating it entirely (or at least bringing it to a much nicer equilibrium state).

It may be good to periodically test activities out on your trigger points to see if you're making progress though. Another thing about trigger point is they really can be hard to identify, so in addition to finding good habitual massage patterns, you also want to be searching for novel ways to massage under, around, etc. your muscles and in nooks and crannies near your joints and whatnot to see what you discover. You might also find it interesting to massage a muscle while it's not being flexed and someone else slowly moves it through its range of motion.

I have a lot to say about trigger points if people want to read it.

Interesting. The laptops I've used all get hot at the bottom left rear corner, near the power supply, not where my hands touch them.