Anne Rowan - Alexander Technique

“We all possess an innate knowledge of our natural state, how our bodies move best - we just get in the way of ourselves sometimes!”

Alexander technique is a system developed by F.M. Alexander to help the body regain its natural balance and poise. The resulting muscular freedom is key to redressing damage that is often incurred through everyday activities. Without realising it we form habits that, over time, become engrained in our normal routines and affect the way we sit, stand, walk, talk, breathe and interact with other people.

With over 22 years as an Alexander practitioner, Ann has developed an acute awareness of these protective postures one adopts to shield a wound (whether physical or mental, emotional or sometimes all three).

Her deep empathy with posture helps to identify misalignments in the body that have often been buried by years of our attempts to compensate. She then helps the body remember it’s natural state thereby relieving the problem area of tension. That is why this particular technique has been so helpful for such a diverse range of people.

Ann also has extensive experience of the real life physical demands we place on our bodies as a former violinist with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She began lessons in Alexander technique to keep herself in top physical condition for such high calibre performances, but very quickly became aware of its potential benefit on a mental and emotional level too.
Fascinated by this discovery she started to attend sessions twice a week. After two years her interest in Alexander technique was so strong she decided to quit her job as a top classical musician to devote herself entirely to Alexander’s original teachings.

Ann became one of the first students of renowned Alexander teachers Adam and Rosemary Nott who were in turn taught by Wilfred Barlow, one of the original students of Alexander himself. Following an intensive three-year course, Ann began her professional practice. She continues to update her skills attending specialist courses in Alexander technique throughout the UK and also works with other Alexander professional colleagues to share information and deepen her own knowledge of the technique.

What happens during an Alexander technique session?
Unlike other muscular-skeletal practices such as osteopathy or chiropractice, Alexander technique does not involve direct physical manipulation. It’s more a matter of the body un-learning old patterns and taking onboard new ones. Through observation and subsequent gentle and subtle readjustments, Ann will help the body to remember it’s natural and therefore balanced state.

What problems can Ann help with?
Injuries caused from repetition in any everyday activity, hobby or profession (e.g. working at a desk with computers, driving or gardening), previous trauma such as an accident, whiplash, back pain, situations that cause muscular tension due to anxiety (known as the ‘fear reflex’), pregnancy and childbirth. Ann can also help improve professional practice in musicians, actors, golfers, public speakers, lecturers, dancers, singers, the list is endless.

Ann’s musical Background:
Starting violin at an early age, Ann’s talents were quickly spotted whereupon she was invited to join the Midland Youth Orchestra for 4 years and was subsequently accepted into the British Youth Symphony Orchestra where she spent a further one and a half years.

Gaining an honours degree in music from the renowned undergraduate course at University of Huddersfield, Ann was accepted into the Royal College of Music, graduating in 1976 with an ARCM Diploma.

Ann subsequently secured a position as violinist with the Welsh National Opera where she spent 18 months before joining the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Touring extensively, Ann even performed in the former German Democratic Republic before the fall of the Berlin wall.