You Deserve a Pain-Free Life

“Please give patient Alexander Technique handout.”

This is a frequent direction to my staff for my patients as they leave our office on Main Road in Westport.

I have benefitted firsthand from my lessons with Mary Derbyshire in Little Compton, so I am eager to introduce my patients to it.

In fact, it was a patient who introduced me to it a few years ago. Her story is remarkable. At an advanced age, she suffered a fall and fractured her neck, resulting in what the neurosurgeon deemed an unstable situation. He offered a surgical fixation so that slippage would not cause quadriplegia, but the patient declined.

She did not want to be impaired by the side effects of narcotics, so she called her friend Mary, who through the Alexander Technique gave her the tools to control her pain.

She was also regaining range of motion, and it was healing slowly by itself. With no drug side effects, she was mindful not to trip or fall again.

I thought, “I need to meet this person!”

I was eager to learn more, and also curious to see if I could experience relief of some chronic shoulder pain, so began my lessons with her approximately 18 months ago.

I recall her assurance early on, as she gently moved my arm, “Oh, you will be pain-free,” as I recounted how long my shoulder had been hurting.

Our lessons are a wonderful mix of bits of information, experiencing passively and actively what release of tension and effortlessness in one’s own body feel like, and collegial sharing.

Changing habit patterns of held tension, creating new patterns that serve me better, attending to breath and body, letting my skeleton support myself with less efforting on the part of my muscles and connective tissue are all part of the technique.

I am getting lessons in residing in my human body so that there is still freshness and energy at the end of the day, for the spontaneity that my role demands, so that my true character is expressed.

What is truly remarkable and reassuring about all of this is the way that it dovetails so perfectly with the other practices I am studying for my own health and that of my patients.

Alexander Technique is also very much about head and neck structures, tongue, vocal cords and temporomandibular joint, so about “finding your voice.” It also makes it possible to reject the inevitability of aging with pain and loss of mobility.

If you are one of my patients, you probably already know why I ask “Where is your tongue?” I still marvel at how simple a tool that is, and how profound the consequences of practicing what Mary calls “good use” actually are.

I have found as I advance into my nineties—that Mary you have guided my thinking so that with a sense of peace, calm, and wonder I can use my mind to know how to let go —that I can proceed without pain even when I exercise to improve my balance, movement, and coordination. I can use my mind to know how to let go –how to find beauty, joy, and laughter— This is so especially needed the older we get!

I first heard of the Alexander Technique when my daughter was getting a music degree in college. It was, I assumed, primarily for musicians and performers.

Years later, while taking an exercise class from MaryDerbyshire, I learned the true scope of the practice. I have long accepted the connection between mind and body, but thought of it as more of a one-way street: that the mind can influence the body. It wasn’t until Mary started talking about how our body can get stuck in a “fight or flight” state, which seemed to perfectly describe the emotional state I was in at the time, that I began to see that the process might go both ways. I knew people went to see Mary for physical issues and hoped it might help with my emotional ones. I initially worked with Mary weekly for about 6 months. At first I could not detect any particular changes, but Mary is so passionate about the Alexander Technique, and I was so desperate, that I just kept going.

And then I began to notice that things had changed. I got a phone call dealing with a family matter that would normally have floored me. I was fine – I handled the situation calmly with barely a hint of anxiety. I started playing the piano again and found that my shoulders were not jammed up under my ears and that I had a much better sense of where my hands were so that I wasn’t looking down as often. I was standing next to a friend during a chorus rehearsal and she turned to me and remarked that she had never heard so much sound come out of me.

So I’m a believer. I go back every year for a few tune-up sessions and never fail to get new insights. It never ceases to amaze me that such a gentle touch can produce such dramatic results.

I suffered a stroke 3 years ago, and shortly afterward, a friend suggested I look into Alexander Technique to enhance my recovery. This non-invasive, educational method of teaching people the use of the mind to encourage change in the body has been extremely effective for me.  I was, and still am, highly motivated to get better and was fortunate enough to know Mary Derbyshire.  I try to stay open-minded to what Mary teaches me, and the results have been an increase in mobility, confidence, and relaxation.  We work one on one, and Mary’s immediate feedback helps me learn about my patterns and responses and how to help me change them in order to heal myself.  My reactions and movements have changed.  My physician, family and friends often remark on my continuous improvement and my ability, as a result of Mary’s guidance and encouragement, to focus on, heal and influence my body.

I am 65 and have been physically active all my life, for the last 14 years a student of Taekwondo. I also run, ski, and cycle. Going back some 3 years I had developed progressive stiffness in my neck and pain and discomfort throughout my upper back. CT imaging of my cervical spine also revealed moderate degenerative arthritis.Within days of starting Alexander lessons with Mary, I was able to achieve a level of sustainable relief that chiropractic, massage, and specialized physical therapy did not. Alexander is profound in its straight-forward simplicity. It works not only as an approach to pain management but also as an orientation to all physical activity, from standing and sitting to jumping, turning, and twisting kicks in the air.

In March 2015, partly as a result of improving my golf swing to create more follow through, I developed muscle pain in my upper back and rib area. This happened even though I had been attempting to keep muscle tone with frequent Pilates classes.

I was at a point where I thought that I would never play golf again. I was 76 yrs old at the time.

After I had tried many therapeutic modalities one of the therapists recommended that I should go to Mary Derbyshire to learn the Alexander Technique.

We started the sessions in Late June 2015. We did two per week for about 8 weeks. I went away for a month and then we continued with 4 more sessions until I left for the UK. By this time I was able to play golf again.

The technique has kept at bay all other muscle problems not just the back but in the legs, knees, and ankles.

As a result of what I have learned from Mary, I can make a swing with good turn in both directions and am hitting the ball better than I have in years. I expect to be able to do that for many years into the future.