None of us is getting any younger. But follow a few simple rules and we really can look and feel more youthful. Jane Feinmann explains how to stop the hands of time…
Banishing back pain could well be your single most effective anti-ageing strategy in 2009. And the best long-term strategy to beat back pain, according to a major study published in the British Medical Journal in December 2008, is a course of just six lessons in the Alexander Technique.
After a year, it is more effective than painkillers or massage because “it equips patients with life skills they are more likely to be able to use beyond the intervention period”, according to lead researcher Sandra Hollinghurst, a health economist at Bristol University.
With AT now set to be more widely available in general practice and for hospital out-patients, Alexander teachers are quick to point out that their lessons bring many anti-ageing benefits other than freedom from pain. Most commonly, people experience improved mobility, alertness, confidence, general health and inner calmness, according to a recent survey of Alexander “pupils”, carried out by STAT (The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique).
“The key to a youthful appearance is getting a better relationship between your head, your neck and your back,” says leading AT teacher Anthony Kingsley. “By freeing up your neck muscles, you develop poise, vitality, flexibility and twinkling eyes – all more important factors in looking young than what you wear or how many wrinkles you’ve got,” says Kingsley. He gave regular AT lessons to the TV presenter Lisa Snowdon on her way to the final of the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing.
A course of lessons, Kingsley says, lengthens the spine and widens the back, thereby freeing up the organs. “Too many people spend most of their lives with their lungs, abdomen, liver and kidneys compressed. When you lengthen the back, you free up the lungs so that your whole system is better oxygenated. Your digestion improves, and your body functions better overall.”
There’s also evidence that AT training teaches us to exercise with more freedom and efficiency, helping to prevent injuries that are caused by people holding themselves too rigidly or putting to much effort into physical activity.
Above all, a more youthful posture helps to create a sense of joie de vivre, according to AT enthusiasts, including George Bernard Shaw, who started lessons in his late seventies. “With your head uplifted, your eyes are more vital and you’re more sprightly whatever your age. Alexander is all about learning good habits and real stress management where mind and body manage life’s problems harmoniously,” says Kingsley. (www.alexanderstudio.co.uk)
From the Independent Newspaper – Tuesday, 6 January 2009
