'Good use', as defined by FM Alexander, refers to a neuromuscular state of efficiency. The muscles operate to support balance and movement in an optimal way - the way they are designed to function. People with 'poor use' have resilient postural habits which create tension, wear and tear and discomfort in the body. The muscles support balance and movement in a distorted, mechanically disadvantageous way, involving excessive tone in most areas and collapse in others. People wit

Fourteen months ago someone crashed into my car causing me a moderate whiplash injury. They class it as 'moderate' when a person is in significant pain but able to continue with their lives. It was weird. For the first week I thought I'd got away with it. Then the pain began - and months and months of it, from head to foot. Headache, backache, numbness, prickling arms, sciatica etc. I did a lot of Alexander Technique work to cope with the situation. Fourteen months on and my

Has it ever occurred to you how adaptable top actors need to be? Physically and emotionally; different venues, different menus; different co-workers, different costumes - and that's even before they turn themselves into another person for our entertainment. It's a kinda magic! Being adaptable in this way requires an enormous amount of self-knowledge and that's where the Alexander Technique comes in. Learning to be consciously aware of your balance and movement on a minute lev

I recently triggered tennis elbow in both my arms - an old injury from my 20s which happened when I wasn't 'listening' to my body... So I was alone on a long car journey, which I had sensibly divided into manageable portions, with breaks etc But unfortunately my phone, which I was relying on for directions from Google Maps, died on me, and my car, for some reason, failed to charge it's battery. Navigating through heavy motorway traffic North-East of London, I made a series of