MUCH REDUCED PAIN AFTER 10 YEARS
Thank you again for the wonderful sessions in Alexander Technique. I found the 8 sessions very helpful in reducing by 80% my chronic neck pain and back pain of more than 10 years. After just the first session I felt lighter in my body and clearer fresher in mind. The technique itself is so simple but the results are so amazing. As I continue to practice I have noticed that I am feeling better each day, my energy levels have improved a lot. Robin, you as a coach have been very patient, gentle and kind. Much gratitude. Regards.
Purnima.
STRESS and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE REDUCED
Sitting all day in front of a computer screen for almost 40 years by now, Robin convinced me to learn how to sit properly. It turned out that there was much more I had to learn: There are the physical aspects of AT where Robin taught me to get rid of my bad habits and to move “properly”. The leitmotiv is balance and release which – of course – is a mental issue as well. Robin aided me to change my attitude towards stress. This finally helped to reduce my high blood pressure significantly!
I do recommend AT in general and the inspiring lessons with Robin in particular.
Ch. G. (IT project manager)
HOW TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY CONDITION
Robin Simmons has extensive knowledge and experience of the Alexander Technique which has helped me tremendously. As a professional musician, I am now able to rehearse and perform for long hours without pain. The improvements have helped to open up my breathing and improve my tone quality. Besides the huge benefit from private lessons, Robin has provided me with several techniques which I can practice on my own and are very useful for me to maintain a healthy condition. I highly recommend Robin as an Alexander teacher.
Robert Pickup (Principal Clarinettist, Philharmonia, Zürich)
BETTER POSTURE to ENJOY LIFE
Thank you both for teaching how to get taller, to have a better posture, to feel great and so we can enjoy our life!
M. C. (PostAuto Driver, Sion)
A PERSONAL TRAINER ENDORSES the F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Being a Personal Trainer and on my feet all day the Alexander Technique has helped me relieve tension that I wasn’t aware I was carrying. It has enriched my daily life as I am more present and aware of my movements and thoughts and has given me a new sense of awareness of how my movements can improve my breathing, posture, and attitude.
Robin, with all his experience in teaching this technique, makes each session educational along with entertaining. I’ve been working with Robin for a year now and each session brings a new idea or exercise that I can carry over into daily life and into my sessions with my clients. Very highly recommended.
R. F. (Fitness Centre Director and Personal Trainer, Zürich)
BACK PROBLEMS ALLEVIATED & MEDITATION EASIER
After lessons with Robin Simmons my back has certainly improved. It was giving me a lot of trouble on a regular basis before the lessons in the Alexander Technique. Now I can practice my sitting meditation, for example, without so much back trouble and I can get to be more relaxed in the activity. Also, after a session with Robin, I not only feel more relaxed I also feel more awake in myself. He has also helped me pay more attention to how I am sitting at work. T. M. (IT specialist, Zürich)
IMPROVED POSTURE, GENERAL SENSE OF WELL-BEING with F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
As someone who sits at a computer each and every day I initially sought out the F.M. Alexander Technique to address concerns with my posture. Almost immediately the Alexander sessions improved my posture to the extent that friends noticed. Not only this, there are a number of other immediate benefits, a sense of general well-being, better sleep and much more. I would highly recommend sessions with Robin Simmons.
M. D. (Talent Director, Major Insurance Company in Switz.)
SINGING and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
“I had a series of extremely helpful Alexander Technique lessons from Robin earlier this year. Robin is such a patient, knowledgeable and generous teacher. I left feeling wider and taller and armed with lots of tips and exercises to try at home as well as lots of new knowledge about the body and in fact I kept a notebook and wrote up each lesson afterwards as there was so much to take in! The lessons gave me a means to assess myself physically in greater depth than before and helped me to start to have a positive influence on how my body moves and feels. Thank you Robin!” Anna Stéphany (Internationally well-known professional Opera singer)
RUNNING and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
I am writing to thank you for the excellent work you did with me to help me integrate the F.M. Alexander Technique into my running. Following sessions with you, my running style has been transformed – long runs which used to leave my body sore and aching now leave me feeling flexible and refreshed. Most of all, the problems I had with my lower back have completely disappeared.
I am now, at the age of 37, running further than I was when I was 18, and with a higher level of comfort and enjoyment. I think all runners could benefit greatly from being more in tune with their physiology, and the Alexander Technique is tremendously helpful in achieving that.
With thanks, D. S. (businessman, London)
“SLIPPED” DISCS and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
My daily activities, fitness classes and everything I generally took for granted suddenly came to a standstill after finding out that I had 3 ‘slipped’ discs. These were accompanied by pain in my left heel, knee, shoulder and a continuous numbness down my left arm. This was something I never thought could happen to me as in my job as a Fitness Trainer. Any types of operation or sedentary therapy were not options I wanted to follow. My doctor recommended I try the Alexander Technique, which I was very willing to do.
My teacher, Robin Simmons, gradually taught me how to think in directions as opposed to actively stretching in a certain way. The point of this was to undo the negative movement patterns that were registered in my brain and body, and to educate my nervous system to initiate movements in a new and correct way. For example, I learnt how to understand that my back was a lot longer than I had previously assumed, and that I could use it as an integrated and flexible whole instead of moving myself as if I was put together in several separate segments.
After just 2 weeks of the Alexander Technique, I could walk freely again and without pain. After 2 months I could take up my general activities and after 3 months my sport activities. Wow, I was a new person! Now 9 months down the road I am perfectly pain free and very glad to have been able to experience and learn the wonderful way of the Alexander Technique. I continue to use it and now couldn’t imagine a day without incorporating it as much as I can into my daily life.
L. B. (Fitness Trainer)
REPETITION STRAIN INJURY (RSI) and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
About 3 years ago I developed what was later diagnosed as RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), a work related condition caused by poor posture, stress and overworked muscles. Having spent many hours searching for treatment to help my situation, I came across an article on the Alexander Technique. There were references toward helping RSI sufferers and I was looking for a less aggressive form of treatment. I decided this could be something for me. The technique treats the whole body as one functioning entity. From the first session I felt some relief from the tension in my body, which encouraged me to commit to a course of lessons. After a couple of months I have found I can sleep through the night which is something I have been unable to do for 3 years. I now regularly have deep restful sleeps. My posture has noticeably improved. I can see it, I feel taller and more upright, plus my husband comments on this so it is outwardly visible to others, which encourages me. I used to have numbness throughout my hands, which has now disappeared. In the past I would have pain all day and all night. L. J. E. (Business Executive)
MORE FLEXIBILITY, LESS PAIN, POSITIVE OUTLOOK with F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
I am over eighty and I have been very lucky to find Mr. Simmons and his treatment. Mr. Simmons is an excellent interpreter of the F.M. Alexander Technique and has helped me already in a very short time. After 17 treatments not only has my pain stopped but my posture has greatly improved and I feel lighter and more flexible, and also I have a more positive attitude and more “joie de vivre”. I can only recommend this method and the great ability of Mr.Simmons and I am happy in the future to be treated by him.
I. I. (Translator-retired) This lady is now over 90 and still going strong – she recently took up Nordic Walking with me!
WHIPLASH, HYPERVENTILATION & TENSION and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
The Alexander lessons with Robin Simmons helped me to very quickly restore normal breathing after a whiplash injury, which had left me very tense and made me hyperventilate.
The lessons also helped me to relax, lengthen my spine, and to open up my shoulder area. I became more aware of how I use my body and of my posture.
J. W. (financial advisor)
STIFF NECK & ARTHRITIS IN THE KNEE and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Due to a stiff neck (I could hardly turn my head left) and arthrose in the knee, I went for lessons to Mr. Simmons, who is specialised in Alexander-technique. He was recommended to me by a friend, who was very satisfied with the results of her problems, solved by Mr. Simmons.
Already after a few visits I felt much better and could turn my head without pain. He also showed me how to use the legs getting up and climbing the stairs without pain, which I still do successfully. The lessons with Alexander-technique also gave me more energy and a general well-being.
I can warmly recommend Mr. Simmons for his work with the Alexander-technique.
L. E. (art dealer)
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
I suffered from active Rheumatoid Arthritis (Stills Disease) from the age of 14 until I went into remission in my late 30’s. Joints including my knees, hips, fingers and neck were severely affected. Even post remission I am left with some irreparably damaged joints.There is no cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis and the conventional medication I was prescribed did no more than partially control this aggressive inflammatory disease. In my late teens a friend recommended that I have some Alexander Technique lessons with Robin Simmons. I have not looked back.
The Technique taught me how to free up and take the pressure off inflamed and painful joints, thereby reducing my pain. It also helped me retain a range of movement I would otherwise have lost forever.
I would recommend the Alexander Technique to anyone with arthritis. With a good teacher, patients could be helped to retain a good posture, suffer less pain and keep their joints more mobile. The Technique has certainly done all these things for me.
B. B. (solicitor at law)
FOCAL DYSTONIA and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
I am a professional cellist and have been playing cello for over 40 years. About 10-12 years ago I started to have problems with my right bowing arm and was unable to play fast passages. I also had difficulties in normal day to day activities in movements needing my right arm such as stirring in a cooking pan or writing. Because of this I went to different doctors or specialists to try to diagnose and remedy the problem.
After several visits I was diagnosed with a neurological problem: focal dystonia. I was told that overuse of my arm had caused a problem of communication between my brain and my arm. I have gone to numerous therapies to find a cure for this problem. At one point the doctors were convinced I needed psychological help but I could not accept this as my life generally is so positive that I could not believe there was any ‘hidden’ cause.
My partner suggested I try some lessons in the Alexander Technique from Robin Simmons as she had had excellent experience with him when she lived in Zürich. I had been to every kind of therapy to help so to try another one could not hurt.
From the first lesson on and after every lesson (I have had about 9 up until now) I could notice and feel a certain progress. Robin was the first person to tell me that the cure would have to come from inside and would take time and would involve reassessment of everyday actions such as sitting, standing, walking, playing cello, holding my arms in all circumstances and so on. Just thinking in new ways about the “exercises” would help, he said.
After every lesson and during the course of the week thereafter I can say that these lessons are doing good! I still have the above problems but I feel as if I am on the right track and heading in the right direction. I will continue with these lessons and have to commend Robin and his way of teaching the technique, his patience and assurance. I wish I had seen him first, before having to go and see all these other so-called specialists and doctors.
R.S. (professional cellist and music school director, Switzerland)
STROKE and F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Dear Robin,
I am happy to write a few lines in supporting your attempt to teach the Alexander Technique to stroke patients. As you recall I had had some Alexander Technique lessons from you several years prior to my stroke and had subsequently written to you to say how much I had appreciated the help you had given me.
I was aged 56 when I had my stroke and after having recovered sufficiently in hospital I was sent to a Harley Street specialist who advised me to carry out a number of exercises to help regain muscle strength. I felt you might be able to advise me about the way I was doing these exercises as I felt I might not be using my body to the best advantage when performing them, so I returned to see you for more Alexander Technique. You taught me how to modify these exercises and in fact we made a number of significant changes to the way I was performing them. The result was I went away confident I would improve my general body functioning much more effectively having had your advice and guidance.
D. K. (barrister at law)
LIGHTER, MORE FLEXIBLE, EYES LIVELIER with F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
After a few sessions with Béatrice Simmons I feel on the whole lighter, more flexible and released. A lot of my pain and symptoms are gone. My breathing is flowing more regularly and my eyes are livelier.
What I especially appreciate about the lessons is the individual care and the patient awareness for my personal habits. I have tried for many years so many different things but never ever has anyone pointed out to me my habitual patterns in such a way, and at the same time given me an instrument with which I can continue to work.
G. U. , Eschwege (school teacher)
SOME QUOTATIONS FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD LESSONS WITH US IN THE F.M. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
“…lessons with Robin Simmons have been
relaxing and restorative….it’s cumulative….and makes an enormous
difference to one’s capacity to enjoy the present.” (Ms. C.E. ,
Journalist)
“Thank you so much for your presentation….we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.”
(Open University , London)
“Your lessons …..have been a new and exiting experience for me”.
(Herr T. S. Heidelberg, Germany, administrator)
“..made me feel good on all levels…..made me open wide and breathe deeper.”
(Miss I. D. Zurich, Switzerland, artist)
“……very interesting and useful lessons…..they were enjoyable and instructive & I shall certainly want to continue with lessons on my return home.”
(Ms. A. K. Manchester, secretary)
“A good and thorough introduction to a useful technique”
(Miss A.B. Letchworth, executive)
“Many thanks for introducing me to a new technique for dealing with my back problem & a way to re-balance myself generally.”
(Ms R.S. Manchester – nurse)