Uprighting

In 1980, at age 30, Michael Protzel's body was on the brink. Having experienced a lifetime of injuries -- starting with a severely swollen knee at age 10 -- he now found himself unable to get through a day of simple office work without neck and back pain. It was time to do something or risk permanent disability.

For help, he turned to lessons in the Alexander Technique — an educational discipline that teaches how to become aware of, and change, chronic maladaptive motor patterns. This proved very beneficial and he decided to commit to it fully. After two years of private lessons, he entered a four year Alexander Technique teacher-training program. He was certified to teach in 1986 by the London-based Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT) and in 1987 by the just-formed North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (NASTAT), which has since been renamed the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). Michael was NASTAT News Editor from 1989 to 1995. From 2001 to 2009 he was Chair of AmSAT's Professional Conduct Committee. In 1995, he was the recipient of NASTAT's first Distinguished Service Award.

In 1993, Michael had a life-changing moment in a Tai Chi class. Noticing he was leaning on one leg and unable to transfer his weight properly to the other, he had the insight that he was "mis-committing" his body weight, something he had never noticed himself doing before (as this awareness was not part of the Alexander Technique).

Instantly, his lifetime of injuries flashed before his eyes. He felt sure he was witnessing the source of his chronic body problems. He was experiencing for the first time that his own body weight was causing him harm ... and likely had been doing so his whole life. As he was standing, he was sending his body weight down to earth on a backwards and lateral trajectory. Fortunately, he immediately saw the possibility of changing this habit, of learning to consciously commit his body weight straight down, where gravity was taking it. He was confident that doing this would be of great benefit.

At age 43, Michael had no words for what he was experiencing. There were no words for it in the English language. That's because all of us in modern society lose sensitivity to our body weight very early in life. The ubiquity of sitting back in chairs, sofas, car seats, etc. has us all accepting without question that this is a perfectly appropriate activity for human beings to be doing. Being young and supple, we don't feel its impact. Absent a felt experience, there can be no language. Quickly, sitting-back becomes habit — trapping all of us — beyond the reach of discussion, analysis, and possible course-correction.

Despite the prevalence of chronic low back pain, we are never taught about our powerful ilio-psoas muscles which connect the top of the thigh bone to lumbar vertebrae. These muscles must work hard — both to lower us gradually to a chair-support, and to yank us off of it — tasks for which they have not evolved, weakening the lower back in the process. Nor are we taught that as we sit back, the head and neck must come forward to maintain our desired sight line. As a society, we are ignorant of the fact that sitting back as we do, with staggering repetition, places enormous strain on these body parts being held in place against gravity’s pull.

Michael was no different. Indeed, he was an extreme case. The consequences for him were severe. But, as they say, "necessity is the mother of invention." Through decades of dedicated study, Michael was able to break out of the kinesthetic black hole we all get lost in.

Michael teaches the recovery of innate uprighting to individuals and small groups in New York City and northern New Jersey. In addition to teaching, Michael is President of Gann Law Books, Inc., one of the few remaining independent law publishers in the United States. Gann is the preeminent publisher of New Jersey law - online and in print - featuring comprehensive treatises on a wide variety of NJ-law topics, presenting incisive legal analysis frequently cited as authority by NJ Courts.