November December 2018

LIVING THE ALEXANDER WAY OF LIFE
“Holding back the years”
by Liz Jeffries
As this edition of GT will take us through the Christmas period I
did debate with myself as to whether I would include a Christmas
theme in this column. I decided against it, so you may be glad
to know that this will be the only mention here!
One thing that we perhaps should be concerned with all
year round is our health. Globally we appear to be very
interested in the health and wellness market to the tune of
over £2,000,000,000,000 (yes that is £2 trillion!). This includes
complementary/alternative medicine, preventative/personalised
medicine, health/nutrition and weight loss and fitness/body/
mind. This is a 23% increase since 2013.
There is no doubt that sometimes getting older can create
problems in keeping fit. We are not as springy as perhaps we
once were. I know that too much jumping up and down Morris
dancing affects my knees, so come Boxing Day I might not be
jumping quite so high (sorry, another Christmas mention!)
I often get asked if it’s safe to exercise if we are in pain. We
will always find people ready with remedies of what we should
do based on what has worked for them. However, there is no
one answer because everyone is unique and their experience
of pain is unique. By and large, however, certainly with chronic
pain, it is good to keep moving and it can give us a sense of
taking control of our condition. Exercise can have benefits that
can help alleviate the pain, such as weight loss (which will help
decrease inflammation) and endorphins. So
we should look for some form of exercise that
can help with our pain over the longer term
and that we feel happy doing. Be aware though
that whatever exercise we choose it will not automatically cure
the pain.
So what exercise to go for? Definitely something you enjoy. If
it’s a chore you are likely to tense up it’s probably not going to
help. Also, if whatever you are doing is making the pain worse
over the longer term, then switch to something gentler, like
walking or tai chi and work up from there.
Exercise is only beneficial if it is done with good body use, as
poor postural habits can sometimes aggravate a condition,
which is then compounded when we do strenuous exercise.
The Alexander Technique can help with body use, posture and
alignment to enable us to get the most out of our exercise
routine, whilst alleviating the pain. It also helps with stability,
which can be another cause for concern and might prevent us
from thinking about other exercise besides walking.
So a nice brisk walk after the Christmas lunch should do it (oops,
sorry!). Have a great festive time.
Please see www.alexandertechniquehastings.co.uk for info on
individual, duo and group sessions or mail@lizjeffries.co.uk
01424 465838/07929 725 156.
Creative Writing Corner
“ The Naughty Chair”
by Linda Taylor
It was a lovely Christmas present for anyone to have been given. Shirley
knew we had bought a Georgian House and needed more furnishing for it
and that my taste ranged from Georgian through to early 20th century.
It was a single chair and she had found it along the Portobello Road.
Heaven knows what she paid for it but there she stood, holding it slung over
one arm and grinning away with such pleasure. She had always been a good
friend, even at school.
She put it down in the corner of the front room which was still devoid of
furniture. The wood had a fine patina even though there were a few spots of
paint and chips at the slender feet. The upright back, held a splat of a carved
lyre and the round seat was caned but in good nick.
“You do like it, don’t you?” she asked anxiously.
I wasn’t sure. I felt suddenly uneasy and a little queasy.
“Try it! Sit in it!” she encouraged me, so obligingly I sat down on it.
The seat was so small, it held me tight. My back felt held unnaturally
straight. The thought came to me from nowhere…would a straight- jacket
feel like this?
“Apparently, it was originally a deportment chair- the original naughty step!”
she enthused.
I grew rigid. I could not move. An icy cold had crept up my stiffened legs,
up through my torso, down my arms that hung lifeless at the empty sides
of the chair. I felt choked and I gasped for breath. Shirley stepped back and
stared at me.
“Mummee… Mummee… no, please, Mummee… please no!” The words
cried out from my lips. A little girl’s voice. Not my voice.
I sobbed. The tears streamed down my face but still I could not move. I felt
nothing but the deepest sorrow mixed with such despair that I had not
felt for years; after my brother died, after the doctor said I could have no
children, after my parents were killed by a burglar…. then I had felt this
same utter despair but not since.
“I didn’t mean it, Papa! I’m sorree...” another child’s voice, this time a small
boy’s, issued from my lips. Pushed invisibly from behind, my head fell
forward. My thighs were burning now, my ankles stung. Smacks. Smacks,
they had given him such smacks…
“Merciful God!” I heard Shirley implore, as she pulled me violently free
from the seat.
Never again! I’d never sit in it. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t ever let another sit
there… be they young or old.
Together we took it down to the still smoking bonfire that my partner Peter
had left earlier that evening. I found his petrol can, grabbed old newspapers
and we watched it burn, stood back as the flames took it, smelt the strange
smoke emanating from it. What a relief as I watched those ashes leap
upwards, spiralling away for evermore…
www.amazon.com/author/ltaylorscribere
If you would like to submit a short story (450-500 words) for
inclusion in Golden Times, please email jason@goldentimes.co.uk or
post your story to us at: 78 Elphinstone Road, Hastings, East Sussex,
TN34 2BS
10 GOLDEN TIMES MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018