‘The Posture Clinic’
a course of half hour sessions in EC1 or on Zoom
Posture Clinic helps prevent and relieve chronic lower back pain and neck tension
I will look specifically at how you sit at a desk, use your mobile, and how you stand, and teach you strategies to combat poor postural habits that are contributing to your unease.
I take you out of ‘posture’ – a fixed held position that often causes tension and pain – back into a responsive alert state that is up and easy and bringing you to a state of natural co-ordination and balance. This is the essence of the work, to leave posture behind and inhabit an easy conscious state. Mindfulness in action!|
This poster is from the National Back Pain Association in 1994! Think how much more technology we use nearly twenty five years later…
Poor posture when you’re working on a laptop, or bending your neck to look at your mobile phone puts stress on your spine, and contributes to problems with lower back pain, neck pain, headaches and sore shoulders. BackCare UK – as the National Back Pain Association is now called – has always endorsed Alexander Technique as a means to improve posture and relieve prevent back pain.
Research
In 2008 the BMJ published the results of a trial which proved that 24 lessons in Alexander Technique reduced back pain:
“after 1 year those who had Alexander Technique lessons had an average 3 days of pain per month compared with 21 days per month with usual GP care.”
Arthritis Care recently funded a research on neck pain and discovered that the Alexander Technique:
“led to significant reductions in neck pain and associated disability compared with usual care at 12 months. Enhanced self-efficacy may partially explain why longer-term benefits were sustained.”
In a recent study in to Alexander Technique used to help manage knee osteoarthritis:
“On average, knee pain decreased by half (56% reduction) following the lessons, and this benefit was maintained longer term, as shown at the 15 month follow-up. A similar reduction was observed in the overall score of pain, stiffness and functioning. An interesting additional observation was that most people who were taking painkillers at the beginning of the study, were able to stop or reduce this following the Alexander lessons”
More research in to the benefits of Alexander Technique is available on the website of STAT, the Society for the Teachers of Alexander Technique. STAT is committed to furthering research in all fields into the effects of taking Alexander Technique lessons. http://alexandertechnique.co.uk/alexander-technique/research
So will Alexander help with your posture? Yes ! By taking you out of posture and back into an easy balance.