People often ask me about sleep problems and unfortunately there's not a lot I can say to help, as you can't really use the Alexander Technique while you're asleep. The technique is about conscious control - something that can only be achieved when you are awake! Lessons can help you feel better in general, which can then impact on the quality of your sleep. People do tell me that their sleep has improved as a result of lessons but it's not something I can promise, or prove.

Forty years ago I went for my first Alexander Technique lesson with Tessa Goldhawk in Penzance. My mother found an advert in the paper and suggested I try it. Little did she know... All I can remember is that I had crippling foot pain. The lesson made me feel generally better; I enjoyed it and wanted to do more but the experience was very vague. I definitely couldn't have explained the process to anybody. I'm not even sure my foot pain went away. A couple of years later my

About twenty years ago a gentleman walked into my practice in Bournemouth for a lesson. He was tall and elegant, walking with a certain grace, or lightness, which made him stand out, given that he was also very elderly. I asked him if he'd had Alexander lessons before, and he replied - oh, yes, hundreds. I asked him if he was seeing me for a top up, and he replied - yes, that's right. I asked him how long it had been since his last lesson, and he replied - oh, about fifty ye

Recently, after working my way through the recipes on my new favourite food blog, I realised something... How I hate washing dishes! Given the choice I would much rather scrub the toilet or clean up dog sick. Weird... It briefly occurred to me that I might be able to blame genetics when I discovered a cousin and an aunt who share the aversion. When the time comes, if somebody sweetly calls, "I'll wash up," we don't care if that person is a frail nonagenarian, we'll sneak of

Haha, my pupils occasionally imitate me saying this! It's one of the things I do nag people about. Arms weigh a fair amount and when you spend your time holding on to them, waggling them around or positioning them high across your torso, that's going to create problems. If your neck, shoulders, chest and back are already a bit tense and tired, using lots of muscular effort in your arms is going to make matters worse. - When you are stationary, standing or sitting, you can l

In 2009 UCL published some interesting research in the European Journal of Social Psychology on how people form habits: I find this very interesting as the Alexander Technique is all about changing habits - getting rid of inefficient ones and creating useful ones instead. Clearly the human brain is incredibly versatile and the physical part of altering habits is relatively easy. In my experience it's the psychological part that people find challenging - people are often so

Ok, so a lot of us do this I guess. Myself included. And it is a terrible habit, really! Have you ever considered how much one of your legs weighs? It’s heavy. Why would you want to compress your other leg under this sort of weight? Think about your circulation - especially if you have varicose veins… Think about the distortion you create though your entire musculoskeletal system. Everything becomes twisted and strained. There’s no possible way it can do you any good. I kn

If you are in the habit of standing with one hip higher than the other, when there’s no medical reason for doing so, you should definitely aim to just stop! When you stand in this crooked way, your weight, instead of being transferred efficiently through your bones, ends up hanging from your tendons. This won’t be very good for your hips in the long run. Also, the compensatory twists you create in your upper body, cause massive disruption to your ‘use’ and will inevitably l

The Alexander Technique is a practical approach to improving posture, movement, and overall balance. Developed in the late 19th century by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor who struggled with chronic voice loss, the technique focuses on recognizing and changing habitual patterns of tension and misuse in the body. Alexander discovered that by becoming aware of his movement habits and consciously adjusting them, he could resolve his vocal issues and improve his

Recently I was contacted by the creators of Mystic Mag about contributing an interview, and this is the result: https://www.mysticmag.com/psychic-reading/jenniferdavy-interview-2/ If you visit their site https://www.mysticmag.com you'll find a huge amount of well-researched, interesting information on everything psychic, from palm readings to astrology and everything in between. Their approach is honest and unbiased - nothing is excluded. The site is friendly, easy to use an