Category Archives: Alexander Technique

Alexander Technique Student Graduates as a Teacher

Tim Giles, award-winning Composer and Jazz Drummer – and now Alexander Teacher.

Tim Giles has just graduated (July 2011) from LCATT, the local Alexander Technique Teacher Training School where I am a visiting teacher. He is seen here playing at LCATT’s end of term party.Tim was one of my Alexander pupils before he joined the STAT recognised Training Course and it is great to see him qualify as an AT teacher.

I am pleased to say that Tim will be assisting me with the upcoming Short Intro Course in September – which means that participants will be able to have hands-on work both from myself and from Tim.

This introductory course is for a small group, so if you are interested in attending, please note that it is essential to enrol in advance.

Earlybird Reduced Fee is available if you pay before 30th August

Further info about AT Teacher Training can be found here.

Long Work Hours Increase Heart Attack Risk

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Research shows that long working hours increases the risk of having a heart attack by a staggering 67%!

Now this is something that seems obvious to me as an Alexander Technique teacher but it is good to have some formal research published on the topic. There have been many occasions, unfortunately, when I have seen people overworking for long periods of time until they get really ill – in a variety of different ways it has to be said. At this point, they often have to stop work altogether for a while. But the good news is that they usually find that the Alexander Technique can be a very helpful tool to use to aid their recovery.

The lead researcher in this study of using information about working hours as a method of predicting heart attacks, Professor Kivimäki of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health, reports that people who worked more than 7-8 hours a day were 5% more likely to have a heart attack than people with a similar health background and heart risk level. Those that regularly worked 11 hours or more, increased that risk to a dramatic 67%.

Is working overtime really worth that level of risk?

The research suggests that Doctors need to include questions about work hours and lifestyle when assessing heart risk factors. It also encourages workers to look after themselves and to keep their working hours to around 7-8 hours a day.

Alexander Technique lessons can help people become more aware so they can modify the impact of overwork on their general health and wellbeing. Importantly, the Technique can help people avoid their own habits of overuse and misuse of their bodies, which can help the nervous and cardiovascular systems to calm down. As one consultant cardiologist put it:

‘The Alexander Technique is a realistic alternative to beta blockers in the control of stress-induced high blood pressure’.
Dr Bent Ostergaard – Consultant Cardiologist

Do You Slouch?

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Slouching and poor posture is the topic of an article in today’s Mail Online (24 Jan 2011) in which Bella Blissett urges women not to copy the stars on the catwalk, who can be seen in various distorted postures wearing a series of excruciatingly high heels (which in themselves can cause back problems – see my article on wearing high heels).

Research linking poor posture to depression and the fact that 1 in 5 people in the UK see their GPs for back pain is sited in the article. Various cures are suggested – but unfortunately the Alexander Technique is not mentioned, despite the fact that Blissett states that ‘many of them could be cured if they learned to improve their dynamic posture so that they ‘ stand and sit properly’, which is a big part of what people learn when they come for AT lessons.

As the ATEAM Research Trial showed, the Alexander Technique really can help people to reduce chronic back pain and to improve the quality of their life.

Introductory Lessons and a Workshop just for Women

Of course, back pain and slouching are not only found in women, for many men have similar problems. If you would like to try out the Technique, introductory lessons of one hour are available at the same price as regular 3/4 hour lessons -at the moment.

You might prefer to try out the Technique in a workshop just for women. If so, ask for an Application Form online for the upcoming Introductory Workshop for Women on 6 March at 2.30pm. This is linked to International Women’s Day.

Please book in advance, as the workshop is for a small group.

You may also phone Hilary for more information: 020 7254 9206

Graduation of an Alexander Technique Student

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James Allsopp’s Graduation

In July 2010, the composer and multi-instrumentalist James Allsopp, James Allsopp's Graduation July 2010.jpg seen here at the end of term party, graduated as an Alexander Technique teacher from the London Centre for Alexander Teaching and Training, LCATT, where I am one of the visiting teachers.

James was one of my Alexander pupils before he joined LCATT on the STAT recognised 3 year Teacher Training Course. It has been a great pleasure to follow him right through to his graduation and I wish him well in the future.

GPs asked to refer patients to CNHC Practitioners

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The Department of Health has requested all GPs and Chief Nursing Officers to refer patients who are seeking to use a complementary therapy such as the Alexander Technique, to practitioners who are Registered with the CNHC, The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.

The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, STAT, has worked hard with the CNHC in order to bring about the voluntary regulation of AT teachers. The CNHC Register has been set up so that GPs and the public can see which practitioners, including myself, ‘have been assessed as meeting national standards of competence and practice’.

Hopefully, this will benefit everyone and prospective pupils can be reassured, if they need to be, that an external professional body, plus STAT, are monitoring our standards as AT teachers.

When you sit, sit; When you stand, stand

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I believe this is a Zen saying and it is very pertinent to what we think about in Alexander lessons.

Many people come to me for lessons, for whom these words can bring about quite a profound realisation, as they notice the way they exist in their bodies a lot of the time.

This is particularly true for people who are very hard workers or are perhaps very stressed. They often seem to sit on the edge of the chair, ready to leap out of it at a moment’s notice, or stand with their weight mostly on the balls of their feet, as if they are about to rush away somewhere. There’s a sense that they don’t really think they should be ‘here, right now’ but ought to be doing the next thing, whatever that is.

This over-active way of being pulls us off balance, both literally and metaphorically and can contribute to aches, pains, exhaustion and a sense of being ungrounded.

However, when a pupil allows herself to ‘sit when sitting’ and to ‘stand when standing’ her weight spreads through her sitting bones or her feet in a way that allows her to feel grounded and more balanced with an easy poise, even if she is only in this position for a few seconds.

See if you can notice how you stand, try it for yourself and see if you allow yourself to be balanced easily on your feet, or do you find that there is an urgency in you that makes you want to move on all the time? This exploration would probably be easier to do in an Alexander Technique lesson, where you can have some help with becoming aware of the way you use your body. If you want to explore more, you can contact me here to set up an intro lesson.

Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council Registration

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Hilary King is on the CNHC Register.

The Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council, CNHC has been set up with the help of the Prince’s Foundation, to develop a structure of self-regulation for professional disciplines such as the Alexander Technique.

CNHC will work with the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, STAT, to maintain and monitor high standards of Alexander Technique teaching and of professional Codes of Conduct. The CNHC is developing and expanding the number of disciplines that are eligible to join the register.

Further information:

http://www.cnhc.org.uk/pages/index.cfm?page_id=3

Widen Your Understanding of the Alexander Technique

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If you are already having Alexander Technique lessons, you might like to join AT Friends and go to some of their talks and Workshops, which take place at various venues around the country. These talks are an excellent way for you to extend your understanding of AT work and to meet other people who have some experience of the Alexander Technique.

Joining costs very little and the talks cost even less.

The next talk for London AT Friends is:

Thinking in Activity – How Space Shapes Attention ~ by Glenna Batson

Date: Tuesday 20 April

Time: 6.30 – 8.30

Fee: £5 (£3 Concession)

For further info visit:

AT Friends

Alexander Technique and RSI

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RSI Conference 2010

RSI Action – The Repetitive Strain Injury Charity will be holding its Annual Conference in the Friends’ Meeting House on Euston Road on 20 March.

The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, STAT, will have a stall at the conference. Mini-sessions will be available, so that people can begin to get a sense of how the Alexander Technique can help them change the way they ‘Use’ themselves so that they can begin to reduce and control RSI.

I shall be there on the STAT stall in the afternoon, after the end of my morning’s Introductory Alexander Technique Workshop in aid of the UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Appeal as below.

If you would like to read more about the application of the Technique in relation to RSI, there is an article on my Website here.

Date: 20 March

Venue: Large Friends Meeting House, 173 Euston Road, NW1

Time: 9.15am – 4.45 pm

Backpain patients find the Alexander Technique ‘effective’

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New Research Paper

A new paper has been published in the OUP Family Practice (23 December 2009) which reports the findings of research into patients’ views and attitudes towards learning the Alexander Technique, as part of the ATEAM Trial into treatments for chronic back pain.

This research looked at the psychological aspects underlying the ATEAM Trial and the outcomes showed that patients found the Alexander Technique was ‘effective’ and ‘made sense’ as it could be used during everyday activities, it had a ‘convincing rationale’ and that teachers provided good support and personal advice. The Alexander Technique was generally seen to be more acceptable to patients than the exercise regime which was prescribed by the doctors.The Technique was also seen as improving the patients’ quality of life, which is great!

As one of the teachers selected to teach on the ATEAM Research Trial, I welcome this publication and the findings it reports, which tally with my experience of teaching the Technique to pupils from a wide range of backgrounds who predominantly find the Technique effective, not just for back pain but for helping and preventing the development of many conditions.

Alexander Technique Courses and Classes

If you would like to find out more about the Alexander Technique, you might like to join my upcoming
Introductory Alexander Technique Course, or you might prefer to dive straight in and try some individual lessons which are available on an ongoing basis.