You know the one.  Some of you can make it happen on purpose by cracking your knuckles.

It’s the noise you get from your joints sometimes.  Cracking, popping, clicking.  But what causes it, and is it a bad thing? Read the rest of this entry »

The Alexander Technique was born as a result of one man’s self-guided explorations and experiments.  F.M. Alexander was an actor with a persistent sore throat.  He’d spoken to medical experts in search of answers or methods to make the problem go away, but no-one could help him.  Does that sounds familiar to you?  You’ve got a problem, you’ve spoken to experts to make it go away, but nothing works?

It’s depressing, and you might feel like giving up and giving in.  Or you could do what F.M. Alexander did.  He asked himself a most unusual question. Read the rest of this entry »

We all have challenges in life, situations that make us feel nervous or downright scared.  Job interviews, dates, tricky phone calls, meetings with new clients, presentations – the list goes on.  Here’s a simple, practical strategy to take you from fearful to fabulous in six easy steps. Read the rest of this entry »

The relationship between your mental state and your perception of pain is a hot topic these days.  It has a very fancy name: biopsychosocialism.  How d’ya like them apples?  Anyway, when it comes to pain you certainly can seem to ‘think it worse’.

Researchers at the University of Keele took a group of people with pain and asked them some questions about their mindset, attitudes and typical thoughts around their pain.  They discovered that a particular thinking style called ‘rumination’ was more common amongst pain sufferers.

Ruminators say they habitually think thoughts like: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s Lateef, checking out the work with Belinda Mello in the US.  If you’re an Alexander newbie, check it out.

BTW, Lateef says he had a lesson in sitting down and standing up.  I disagree – he had a lesson in movement, using sitting and standing as a ‘laboratory’ to explore that.  You can translate the discoveries to all movement – that’s the point.

Brilliant insight from Amy Cuddy on the role of posture on the outcomes of your behaviour. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Descartes!

There are five basic things that we should all do as a baseline for self-care and well-being. Take care of these, and you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of living and feeling at your best.   If you let any one slip, don’t be surprised if you start to feel less good.  Read the rest of this entry »

Fascinating video from Elliot Krane on what pain is and how it can go wrong.

School bags have been in the news here in the UK recently (September 2012). Some children struggle to school with bags and equipment weighing an astonishing 60% of their bodyweight, when 10% is the recommendation.  Kids should only carry what is needed for that day.  If your child has a backpack, make sure they wear it over both shoulders with the heaviest books packed closest into their back and the straps tightened to a snug fit.

Adults, of course, can do what they like.

Am I joking?

Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine you only had a tiny supply of energy to get you through the day.

How would you spend it?

Read the rest of this entry »