Alexander Technique News

Posture at work. The Alexander Technique helps alleviate chronic and recurring pain caused by posture, stress and tension and this has been confirmed by numerous medical research trials. What first appears to be lazy or stiff posture may in fact a problem of muscular coordination, a lack of teamwork in the body. Some muscles are overworking whilst others are under working. This can lead to poor body mechanics and pain. This may show itself in postural problems such as scolios

By kind permission of Sue Merry, Alexander Technique’ By kind permission of Sue Merry, Alexander Technique’ What does the Alexander Technique help? It helps alleviate aches and pains from horse riding It improves your riding by cultivating the attributes seen in top riders as follows: It reduces excessive tension in the rider It encourages the rider’s head, neck and back to work together to produce a secure seat and good position It helps aids appear almost invisible It encou

The Alexander Technique: Musician’s Method for improvement By kind permission of Lori Schiff, Juilliard School, New York Brilliant and Comfortable Bass Playing by Peter Buckoke. By kind permission of Peter Buckoke, Professor of Double Bass, Royal College of Music’ The Alexander Technique has a long history of helping instrumentalists and singers to perform with less strain/stress and likelihood of injury. Musicians carry out some of the most complex and demanding physical mo

NICE, the advisory body to the NHS, guidelines 2017 (1.7.4) recommend: Consider the Alexander Technique for people with Parkinson's Disease who are experiencing balance or motor function problems.

In 2008, a Randomised Controlled Trial of 579 NHS patients suffering Low Back Pain was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) – Randomised controlled trial of Alexander technique lessons, exercise, and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain. It showed the Alexander Technique achieved an 86% reduction in pain compared to standard GP care. What Doctors Say 97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique – it is only a very sma

In 2020, it was estimated that 145,000 people in the UK live with a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis. Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease, mainly affecting people of retirement age, for which there is no known cure and so it is a question of how best to manage the condition. It occurs when there is a loss of the majority of cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra which produce a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine acts as a messenger between the parts of

Back pain is one of the commonest conditions in western society and little has been found to substantially help patients with chronic or recurrent back pain in the long term. A research trial, funded by the Medical Research Council, was conducted to look into this. It took 579 patients who had previously contacted their GP for help with chronic back pain and divided them into groups receiving GP care, therapeutic massage or Alexander Technique. In 2008 the British Medical Jou

Knee osteoarthritis, has been estimated to affect over 12.5% of the UK population. (This blog focusses on osteoarthritis and not the much less common condition of rheumatoid arthritis which is a separate condition ) Osteoarthritis of the knee is generally viewed as a degenerative disease of the bony surfaces of the knee and the articulated cartilage and the OA related pain is a direct result of this destructive process. NHS Physiotherapy typically conservatively treats knee o