My name is Berit Kambskard. I spent three years in full-time training at The Constructive Teaching Centre in Holland Park, London and qualified as a teacher of The Alexander Technique Easter 2000.

 

Our Alexander Technique teacher

To enquire about an appointment please fill in our Enquiry Form and we will be in touch or alternatively call us today on
020 8542 7788

 

 

 

 

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Have you tried the Alexander Technique?

If not, now’s your chance at The Wimbledon Physiotherapy Clinic.

What is it?

The Alexander Technique aims to help you become more aware of balance, posture and movement in everyday activities. Through increased awareness, previously unnoticed tension can be brought into consciousness and you will learn to differentiate between necessary and unnecessary (appropriate and inappropriate) tensions and efforts.

Why do people have lessons?

People have lessons in The Alexander Technique for a variety of reasons as the Technique is a powerful tool that can be applied to all aspects of daily life as well as to specialist skills.

 

Some people come with physical ailments, neuromuscular or joint problems, bad backs, breathing difficulties or tension problems. Other people come in order to improve their performance and prevent injury in music, drama and sport or to enhance business and presentation skills. The Alexander Technique can be a great support in pregnancy and childbirth, but an increasingly large number of people come simply because having Alexander Technique lessons makes them feel better – improving their overall functioning and well-being.

How can the Technique benefit me?

The Technique helps you to identify and prevent the harmful postural habits that may be the cause of stress and pain. As you learn to release unnecessary tension you will discover you can:

• improve your performance

• be poised

• move gracefully with less effort

• be alert and focused

• breathe and speak more easily

• be calm and confident

 

Many people associate The Alexander Technique with posture and relaxation, but posture is far more complex than just standing or sitting up straight. Posture could be described as how we support and balance our bodies against the ever-present force of gravity, while going about our daily activities. FM Alexander’s own observations, since confirmed by scientific research, revealed that there are natural postural reflexes that organise this support and balance for us without any great effort, provided we let these reflexes work freely without interference.

 

A useful term for the mechanisms of support and balance is ‘poise’, something we see working beautifully in most younger children. But these mechanisms are very delicate and are easily interfered with. Emotional and physical strains accumulated through life can become fixed into the body in the form of chronic muscle tension and patterns of distortion throughout the physical structure. These patterns in turn restrict the workings of the natural postural mechanisms – common phrases such as ‘I’m feeling really down’ and ‘I’m all tensed up’ suggest a feeling for how our relationship with gravity has been disturbed.

How do I learn?

You learn the Alexander Technique through one-to-one lessons with a qualified teacher who will address your individual needs. Learning the Alexander Technique involves changing longstanding habits and relies on your active participation. It is suitable for people of all ages and levels of physical fitness.

 

Although some benefit may be obtained from taking just a few lessons, a course of lessons is recommended in order to maintain and develop the benefits for oneself.

What happens in a lesson?

Your teacher will use gentle hands-on guidance and verbal explanations to help you unravel distortions and encourage the natural reflexes to work again. Through experience and observation you will gain increased awareness enabling you to change long-standing habits and to function more efficiently.

 

In time, you will be able to use your new understanding and skill in more complex and demanding activities. Bring awareness and poise to everything you do.