Alexander Technique and RSI

Jane is a lively, active woman with a demanding, stressful job that involves a lot of computer work. She had previously had 15 lessons with me some years ago for upper back pain. more...

Take a PitStop to Good Posture the Alexander Way

Summer is finally here ̶ for a while at least. And of course the summer means we want to look our best and so start to exercise to get in shape. more...

Links to Stephanie Smith's Research Blogs

Proprioception

It is important to remember that human evolution has taken at least 5 million years; we are only able to describe the last few thousand as ‘civilised’, implying that our biology is the product or result of the slowly changing demands of nature. "We live in a time of rapid change" is a phrase in constant use these days usually referring to technological advances, scientific breakthroughs and so on. It also applies to us as a society – ideas change, different political parties come and go and social norms shift. Obviously, as individuals we are affected too. more...

Supporting Reflexes or Why Elephants Can't Jump

T. D. M. Roberts has defined the essential characteristic of a reflex response (1967, p.9) as:

"…a characterizable pattern of involuntary response which can be elicited with some regularity from an organism on presentation of the appropriate specific stimulus, provided that the connections to the central nervous system are intact".

Scientific studies tell us that a number and a variety of reflexes support the body and they are all are concerned with gravity.more...

A Look At Gravity

Newton’s third law of motion is that action and reaction are always equal and always opposite in direction. In other words if your feet push down on the floor then the floor must push up on your feet with equal force of support. more...

Arms and Shoulders

We think our arms hang from our shoulders but in fact, we have reflexes in our arms that support the body. When we interfere with the supporting reflexes in the arms, the arms do not support themselves easily and feel as though they hang heavily from the shoulders. Our arms support us not only when we are on all fours but also when our hands are not in contact with the ground. more...

Exercise Facts and Fallacies

Alexander Technique is not an exercise but is a detailed study of the fundamental principles of human co-ordination and movement that underlies all activity. A unique form of neuro-muscular rebalancing more...

It’s a Good Idea to Breathe!

It is said that we can survive 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food but little more than 3 minutes without breathing. Normally, the function of breathing takes place without any direct help from us – it is continuous and we do not think about it more...

Stretchy Finger and Why You Can't Tickle Yourself

Nottingham University’s research team stumbled on these findings completely by chance during the University’s Community Open Day in April last year.
As part of the event they invited members of the public to experience some of the body distortion illusions they use as part of their everyday research more...