I decided to try the Alexander Technique because my back was always sore, my shoulders sagged, I was mildly stooped and I felt that this was not how one’s body was supposed to feel. After five lessons for the first time in years I was no longer asking my husband to rub my shoulders every evening. After 10 lessons people I hadn’t seen for a while noticed something different about me – they said that I looked great but couldn’t quite work out what was new. I carried on with my weekly lessons because I was feeling so much better. I was relearning how to walk and stand and sit and lie down, all the things we think that we know how to do but when done poorly can lead to all the problems that I had been experiencing.
I noticed at work (as a doctor) that my hands were much more perceptive when examining patients because my arms were no longer in a constant state of over use. I have recommended the Alexander Technique to many many patients with a variety of problems including back pain and joint pain. If I could refer patients fo r Alexander Technique on the NHS I undoubtedly would have filled the Pimlico Centre for the Alexander Technique appointment book many times over.
I continued with my weekly lessons throughout my recent pregnancy and I am certain that due to this, in nine months I never experienced any back pain or discomfort of any sort. Indeed, I felt so well that I was walking six miles a day until the day before the baby was born.
Three years since my first lesson I am an evangelist about Alexander Technique. Not only has it changed the way that I think about the body and the way that it moves and functions (and as a doctor I think about the body a lot) but through a series of subtle changes week after week I feel so much more comfortable in my own shell. I can’t thank James enough for his expert teaching and for making the lessons such good fun. I can’t imagine now not doing Alexander Technique, professionally and personally it is one of the best discoveries I have ever made.”
Dr Saira Hameed MBBS (Hons), MA (Oxon), MRCP, MPhil
