Author: ReginaS

People who are living with Parkinson’s Disease can derive great benefit from learning the Alexander Technique. Many case histories and personal reports as well as research suggests that the Alexander Technique can provide benefits for people living with PD such as:

• they felt more positive/hopeful as a result of the lessons
• felt less stressed/panic
• improved self confidence
• improved balance/posture
• improved walking
• improved speech
• reduced tremor

The Alexander Technique is not a treatment, but offers strategies which can help Parkinson’s patients to manage themselves better in their daily lives and gain more control over movement patterns. As the Alexander Technique is something you learn and apply in your daily life there is a high potential for longtime retention of the benefits. Alexander Technique can be a valuable contribution to the quality of life of people living with Parkinson’s.

From 2016 to 2018 Regina was involved in devising and setting up a project in London to make the Alexander Technique more available to people with Parkinson’s and their carers. In an article for the latest issue of STATNews, the newsletter of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT) she reports about the development and activities of this project.

More on the “AT for Parkinson’s” project on the website of the Walter Carrington Educational Trust.
Research studies (please scroll to “Diseases” for research specifically on Alexander Technique and Parkinson’s).

You are warmly welcome to come to one of our ‘Open Hours’ events to get an impression of the Alexander Technique.
Through a series of lessons you can learn to practice the Alexander Technique.

Over the past 15 years or so sitting has been linked with diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and even depression. Although the evidence is not solid and headlines such as ‘Sitting is the new smoking’ is too dramatic, there is enough evidence to warrant a consideration of the problem. After all, many people get back ache from sitting many hours at work. In these discussions, however, there is no attention given to how we sit. The Alexander Technique is concerned with how we perform an activity, whether sitting, standing, walking or any other activity. This is not about posture as such – there is no ‘sit up straight’ in the Alexander Technique – but about how we use our musculature during sitting. By regulating the tonus of our musculature we develop a more efficient of use of ourselves, which in turn improve our sitting. A better sitting position comes about indirectly, as a byproduct of becoming aware of how we do things (more accurately: ‘using ourselves’) and how to do them more efficiently. With the Alexander Technique you learn general principles which can be applied to every aspect of life, including sitting.

You are warmly welcome to come to one of our ‘Open Hours’ events to get an impression of the Alexander Technique.
Through a series of  lessons you can learn to practice the Alexander Technique.