Alexander the great

Actors and athletes are among thousands of people using the Alexander Technique to boost their health, looks and careers. It can help with back problems, stress, poor posture and even Parkinson's disease. RACHEL BAIRD and PETA BEE report.

As a nation of back pain sufferers, we could do with knowing more about the Alexander Technique. It's been taught in Britain for exactly 100 years, but even now there are only around 1000 teachers and few people understand what it's all about. Yet, anecdotally at least, it seems to works miracles. It's definitely made me taller - a wonderful thing when you're only 5ft - and a family friend avoided a back operation by taking Alexander classes instead. I've also heard of people whove used it to cope with terrible injuries and of one man who was convinced it cured him of tuberculosis. Even the England football team might play better after a few lessons, according to my Alexander teacher Brita Forsstrom "It might improve their reaction speed, free up their movements and give them increased control, as well as helping to prevent injuries," she says. "The Alexander Technique teaches people to be more aware of how they use themselves in everyday activities. If you improve the way you use your body and mind, it will help improve your breathing, circulation, muscle tension, balance and coordination, and mentally it can help you stay calmer and think on your feet."

The technique is used to help people with back, neck and shoulder troubles, as well as stress. Actors, sportspeople and musicians also learn it as a way of improving their performances - among them Dame Judy Dench, John Cleese, Sebastian Coe and Linford Christie. It was nvented in the 18902 by an actor, Frederick Matthias Alexander who was struggling at the time with voice problems. Classes teach people to "unlearn" ba habits such as slouching and twisting, and to use their bodies better. They sound absurdly simple because they involve practising what you do all day - sitting, standing, walking and lying down. Teachers use their hands gently to guide you out of your unhealthy patterns and into better ones. You remain fully clothed throughout and need to make very little physical effort, so being old, pregnant or unfit doesn't matter. After 45 minutes or so you'll be calmer and far less tense, which even affects the sound of your voice. Over time, classes also make you more aware of your posture, so you'll catch yourself when your shoulders are hunched upto your ears, and know how to lenghten out your back and limbs instead. As Alexander himself put it "When you stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing does itself." What's more, having good posture will make you look taller, thinner and more confident. Iknow my spine has extended, because at a hospital where I'm measured every year they found I'd grown at least a centimetre. The nurse said she'd seen the same effect in several patients who do Pilates classes, and that Alexander lessons must be responsble for my new height. I've seen Brita every two weeks for the past few years. Afterwards I feel wonderfully stretched out, calm and comfortable, and that's why I keep taking classes. A massage might do the same, but it wouldn't teach me how to help myself with tension and bad posture between lessons.

But you don't have to see a teacher for years on end: the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique says a course of 20 to 30 regular lessons will give you a good foundation for continuing improvement on your own. Members of the society train for the equivalent of three years full time and their traing includes a detailed study of human anatomy. As witth many forms of complimentary medicine, there is little hard scientific evidence that the Alexander Technique works. However, the Naational Health Service and the Medical Research Council are funding a £1 million study be Southampton University into the Technique's effects on chronic back pain, due to report next year. Another study, published in 2002 in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, found the technique was "likely to lead to sustained benefits for people with Perkinson's Disease." But only 93 patients were involved, so more research is needed.

The charity BackCare says many back pain sufferers are already convinced that Alexander lessons help them. Schula Byrne, its publications manager, says: "We do get quite a few letters from people who were lying on their backs 23 hours a day and taking drugs to control their pain. Then they tried Alexander Technique and it turned theirlives around and they now have some decent quality of life. It would seem that the vast majority of people are very positive about it - I've never heard anything negative. So yes, we do think it's a good thing."

Alexander Technique and pose-tech classes
If you book an introductory Alexander Technique lesson this week, to be taken over the next three months, you wil pay only £10, compared with a normal fee of £25 to £35 pounds for £45 minutes. To find a teacher, contact the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique at www.stat.org.uk or 0845 230 7828 . Alternatively you can write to the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, 1st floor, Linton House, 39-51 Highgate Road, London NW5 1RS. Ideally you should have one-to one lessons because you'll get far more individual attention that way. However, some organisations, such as adult education colleges, offer group classes.

Contact adyp65@ukgateway.net for details of Pose-Tech clases - a two-day course costs around £145. Visit www.posetech.com for general information and videas about Pose-Tech.

Head off pain and you'll jog along nicely

Britain is in the throes of a jogging boom. Mass running events are more popular than ever, with more than 40000 entering this year's Flora London Marathon - an increase of 33000 since the race was first held in 1981. But while running is great for our waistlines, it can be hard on the hips and knees. Physiotherapists recken that, of the 3.5 million Britons who jog regularly, up to one in three will suffer an injury or creaky joints. Now the idea that running is bad for our joints is being challenged by advocates of anew technique, which claims to guarantee pain-free jogging. It's called Pose-Tech and it's the hottest thing to hit the sport since cushioned trainers. Developed over the past 30 years by leading Russian sports scientist and athletics coach Dr Nicholas Romanov, Pose-Tech uses Alexander Technique principles to help runners unlearn bad habits. It's so effective that Dr Romanov has been working with Britain's triathletes, including Tim Don and Andrew Johns, to help them avoid injury before the Olympic games.

But it's not just elite athletes who can benefit. Pose-Tech courses are being held in the UK for ordinary people, led by the Canadian running coachn and Alexander instructor Malcolm Balk. Learning how to loosen you neck so your head extends gently forward is key, he says. It promotes a natural lengthening of your spine, which releases muscles and joints so the rest of your body is better aligned. This means runners will have freer movement of the limbs and an ability to breathe more easily under pressure.

"The head weighs almost about 10lbs so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that letting the head roll around is going to place a tremendous load on the rest of the body," says Balk. "It creates tension in the shoulders and puts immense pressure on the spine. Similarly, running with your head backwards compresses the vertebrae in the neck causing the back to arch and stiffen." Another rule of Pose-Tech is to run on the balls of the feet rather than the heels. "If you run in the convensional way, you put your heel down in front of you and it acts as a brake to slow you down," Balk says. "By keeping your legs below you and your bodyweight on the balls of your ffet, you reduce the impact and increase the speed without trying."

In his classes he uses various training aids to help people adapt to the new style. These include rubber ropes that strap arpound your ankles and are held by a partner who applies resistance by holding them and running behind you. Balk says getting the hang of Pose-Tech takes practice but that dedication pays off. "It can be hard shaking off bad habits," he says, "but if you practise good running technique, you'll become less injured and tired, which ultimately means you'll enjoy running more.

The Art of Running by Malcolm Balk and Andrew Shields is published by Ashgrove Press at £9.99.

How to run with style
Here are Malcolm Balk's top tips for pain-free running:

1. Your shoulders need to remain free, so the movement of your arms can connect with your legs through your back.
2. Allow your knees, rather than your feet, to lead each stride. If you try to increase your stride length by reaching forward with your foot, it causes a braking action that will slow you down.
3. Focus your gaze 30 to 50 metres ahead. Running with a poised head will improve your balance and reduce strain on your neck and shoulders.
4. Allow your wrists to remain toned rather than floppy. It's a common mistake among runners to assume that flopping their hands means a relaxed style - in fact it creates tension, as their shoulders tighten to pick up the slack.
5. Don't push your chest out too much as it tends to throw your head backwards. It will also make it hard to breathe naturally.
6. Practise running lightly and quietly. Pounding and foot-slapping are a sign that something is wrong - ypou are literally jarring your whole system.

That, experts have warned me, leaves me predisposed to straind and pain, which is why I went to a weekend-long Pose-Tech course held by Malcol Balk in London recently. Changing my running style wasn't easy - Balk insisted we adopt the slightly odd-looking upright running style of former sprinter Michael Johnson. To help ourselves, we repeated endless drills using various pieces of equipment, and we were videoed at both the start and end of the course to assess the progress we had made. I improved from being a runner with arms akimbo to someone who apperaed to be moveing more smoothly. Since then, I've made a conscious effort to further adapt to the healthy Pose-Tech style - and the result, surprisingly, is a far more comfortable route to fitness.