A newsletter to help you stay connected to Alexander Technique related research.

The ASO Newsletter - 13th Edition

Thank you for being here and for your interest in research on the Alexander Technique and its teaching.

In this exchange, Nicola Hanefeld, PhD, overseas MSTAT, talks with Lesley Glover, PhD, MSTAT, about the second study of her PhD at the University of Hull which Lesley supervised. Women without previous experience of the Alexander Technique were given access to a postpartum online self-care package. This mixed-methods study produced some surprising data; the online approach was forced by the pandemic.

How Women Use The Alexander Technique In The First Year After Birth - Researcher Interview Series Part II

The second interview in this series explores how women without previous experience of the Alexander Technique drew on the AT principles through an online self-care package.

About:

Nicola Hanefeld: Nicola is English but lives in south-west Germany and is mother to three grown-up children. She returned to University after a 37-year break after being awarded the University of Hull’s studentship to research the Alexander Technique in the perinatal period. Nicola’s background is originally in biology, but she has been a freelance AT teacher since qualifying from the Basel AT school in 1989.

Lesley Glover: Lesley is a clinical psychologist and retired from a Senior Lectureship at the University of Hull in 2021 after over 20 years of teaching, research and supervision of doctoral students. She qualified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique in 2014 from the York Alexander Technique School and has a practice in Howden, East Yorkshire. She is a member of the STAT Research Group.

Additional information:

To learn more about the research discussed in the video:

• Link to the research paper: Women's experiences of using the Alexander Technique in the postpartum: ‘…in a way, it's just as beneficial as sleep’

• Follow the link below to learn more about Nicola’s crowdfunding project on The Postpartum Handbook; mindful maternal self-care with the Alexander Technique which will draw on the findings of her research: https://speek.de/en/postpartum-handbook

• Nicola’s thesis is available at: https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:18382

Member Contributions and Thanks

As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. Please use the Comment box below or email us at alexander.studies.online@gmail.com with any information, feedback, or questions. We will do our best to respond to you as soon as possible.

A special thanks to Nicola Hanefeld and Lesley Glover for all their work in creating this series for ASO. And as always, to all our community members who have contributed, thank-you! We are working hard to integrate all your thoughtful input and materials. Your written contributions, reference updates for the Zotero library, and words of support in all forms continue to be appreciated and inspire.

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To keep the conversation going: reach out to us online, or email Erica and the ASO team at alexander.studies.online@gmail.com