Testimonials on fine-balance.com - "A 14 degree improvement in my scoliosis curve"


Fine Balance Alexander Technique in Chiswick, West London, W4

Testimonials


'A 14 degree improvement in my curve' - Cassie James

I came to the Alexander Technique following a routine check-up with my surgeon in 2003. I had an operation for scoliosis (curvature of the spine) in December 2000, and everything had been fine up until then. I had been working in an office job for a few years, and all that time spent slumped at a computer had taken its toll on my back. The appointment with my surgeon served to confirm my fear that my condition had worsened. Facing another operation if it did not improve in 12 months time, I set about trying to find another way to achieve this. After a lot of research on the internet, I started to learn about the Alexander technique and I chose to have lessons with Sara. It was really nice to find someone willing to help me without the aid of a knife! After just a few lessons I felt my balance improving and a new ease of movement, where I had previously been tense. My posture has noticeably improved too - I feel taller and the bouts of pain I had been experiencing have gradually disappeared. Re-learning everyday movements in order to move without using unnecessary force (easier said than done!) and knowing when my muscles are tightening and how to release them has made a huge improvement to my life. Of course, the real test was my forthcoming hospital appointment - the x-ray showed a 14 degree improvement in my curve, which is good enough for me not to have to go through another operation. My surgeon gave me the all-clear to go back-packing and we went straight to a travel agent that day and booked our flights to Peru. I have just returned from South America, where we walked the Inca Trail carrying heavy back-packs, and I did not experience any pain throughout the whole trip, which I attribute to Sara's teaching and “thinking my neck free”!

'A practical tool for doing almost anything' - Rupert Howe

A few months after a car crash in which I suffered whiplash injuries, I started getting headaches that were so strong they'd lay me out for a whole day. They were getting worse, and more frequent – up to once a week. I work with computers, and I realised that if this continued I'd soon be unemployable. I was recommended to take Alexander lessons with Sara. Within two weeks, the headaches had stopped. They've stayed away for a year and a half. I'm writing this as a kind of 'proof' that the Technique has 'worked' for me – but the weird thing is, I think that the 'cure' of the headaches isn't really even the point. It's just a consequence of something more profound. I do everyday things differently now - calmly, and more confidently. From taking out the rubbish to taking meetings with psychopathic Wall Street professionals... Sara has given me a practical, scientific, intellectual tool for doing almost anything. It's totally fascinating, and something I'll keep learning about for the rest of my life. Plus, I really enjoy the lessons...

'I cannot recommend Sara too highly' - Phil Williams

I was drawn to the Alexander Technique because I had read that it improves posture and back-related pain, something I had suffered from for some years following a back operation. I started taking Alexander Technique lessons with Sara once a week over three years ago. I was immediately drawn to her approach of light physical manipulation combined with a readiness to answer and debate the many questions I had about the Technique - I am one of those people who needs to know what I am doing - and how it can affect our lives for the better. Within a number of weeks, I felt that my appalling posture was improving and felt lighter and more aware of myself physically. I also realised that I was no longer suffering from my recurrent shoulder and neck pain.

After about two years, I dropped to less frequent sessions. I do not believe I am the most disciplined of pupils but I feel that as well as relieving me of physical pain, the Alexander Technique has helped me enormously in questioning, and abandoning to some extent, mistaken and dysfunctional mental habits I hold on to, with the result that I feel a calmer and more self-aware person than I was, a little more able to live in the moment and a little less susceptible to always thinking about the end-result.

For those who want to explore the Technique with an expert and challenging teacher, I cannot recommend Sara too highly.

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Testimonials

'A 14 degree improvement in my curve' - Cassie James

'A practical tool for doing almost anything' - Rupert Howe