Aging gracefully with the Alexander Technique

Are you being careful on the stairs?

Finding it more of an effort to get out of a low chair?

Watching the ground so that you don’t trip?

Or maybe spotting yourself looking more hunched over ?

As I approach my 70th year, I notice that I am regularly confronted with changes in my physicality and that this somehow loops into my confidence and thinking. Concern for the future. Mobility, balance, comfort etc

For a few years before she died, I worked with an indomitable nonogenarian called Freda. She had been a wonderful singing teacher and so had great faith in the application of Alexander technique for her singers and herself. As she became less and less mobile, our sessions together became invaluable and precious. They helped her to be safe in her home as well as helping her when she got into and then extricated herself from difficult situations. She would often comment with deep insight and humour about aspects of the work as she applied it to herself.

So much so that I compiled a small book about her and her graceful way of thinking.

There are many aspects to Alexander work that are very nuanced and subtle.

Profoundly beautiful. Not easy to put into words. My hope in writing about Freda is that it would illustrate something deeply attractive about the work which might spark some curiosity and entice people to give it a try for themselves.

This brings me to the changes and necessary adaptations that begin to emerge as we age. Freda was able to harness her clarity of thought despite considerable physical limitations and it is this practical and pragmatic approach that I love to share.

I will be offering classes at the TNHC that will explore and support us to age with grace, humour and poise. Dates, cost and times to be confirmed. Do come join us at the lovely TNHC. The first free workshop session will be held on Monday 2nd November at 2pm 2026.

Here is an excerpt on clarity.

Aging gracefully with Freda.

Clarity of thought.

One precision point of upward direction.

A minuscule force yet sufficient to the task. How would it be if our intentions were so clear that our actions had such effortless precision?

If our thoughts were so clear that we were able to utilise only the effort required for our actions?

It takes Freda a little while to rise from her chair. When she does it is simple, light and smooth.

“I prepare the messages before I move”