The Alexander Technique can help you, and can help anyone who is willing to learn.

How can it help, and how much can it help? This will be different for every individual.

This is because the technique helps us to look at and understand the way that we use ourselves.

Some people use themselves well, but most people use themselves badly, creating huge yet unnecessary strains and tensions throughout their bodies.

Watch the way that most people sit down, and think about the tension that this simple act causes in their necks and backs. Think about the way that you are sitting now.

Pain, illness or unfitness are often simply the result of the harmful way in which a person uses herself or himself.

With the Alexander Technique you will learn to use yourself well.

Recent research published in the British Medical Journal has established that the Alexander Technique is effective (and cost-effective) in the treatment of chronic back pain. Tests showed that patients receiving even 6 Alexander lessons were reporting a drop of days per month in pain from 21 to 11 - a year after the lessons. Patients receiving 24 lessons fared even better, reporting on average a fall from 21 days in pain to 3 days in pain. The control group showed no improvement. For more details go to www.bmj.com and type Alexander Technique in the search box.

Back pain, neck pain and all other sorts of muscular and joint pain can obviously be caused by bad use, but many other conditions also have more to do with the way that we are using ourselves than with any other cause - and learning to use ourselves better is often more effective than any other cure.

Learn by working one-to-one with a good teacher. The teacher can communicate in words and through direction with his or her hands.

The experience can be a revelation, giving an immediate sense of well-being and a promise of consistent improvement to follow.

Call 01865 765511 or email me at S.C@btinternet.com for lessons and information, or visit my LINKS page to find a teacher near you.