Palliative patients in their final days, depending on the nature of their condition, can benefit from the soothing touch of Alexander Technique. The sensitive hands-on presence helps release tension and comforts the patient. Those living at home and who are not in their last moments can learn how to better manage their bodies and release muscular tension that contributes to pain. They can learn how to better organize their bodies to get out of chairs, walk, or climb the stairs with greater ease.

Caregivers, such as a spouse, parent, child, or friend, who are so vital in assisting a person at the end of life, can also benefit from the Technique. Their caregiving is so focused on all that they can give to their loved one, that they often neglect themselves. A caregiver also needs some time to care for themselves. When caregivers come for Alexander lessons, they learn to release their own built-up tension to better care for themselves. In return, they feel refreshed and better disposed and able to help their loved one.

Health professionals in palliative care work as a team and have immense loving hearts. They are deeply committed to the comfort and well-being of their patients and their loved ones. Touch is a very important part of what the palliative team does for their patients. Here also, the Alexander Technique can assist the health practitioners to be more aware of their own tensions and to manage them so as not to transmit these tensions onto their patients.

The Alexander Technique is a means whereby individuals can connect to themselves as a whole . . . mind, body, and spirit. When they are connected to themselves, to their bodies, and to their humanity, life flows freely. In palliative care, the Alexander Technique can give a helping hand to stay connected to life right to the very last breath. (Written by Philippe Bouskéla.)

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Thank You Mr. Alexander!

Pain is the second most common symptom that people with cancer suffer, the first being fatigue. Pain has different sources whether it comes from the tumour itself or from the metastatic growth. They are for the most part manageable with the appropriate medication, especially when well-dosed. 

In Palliative Care, to better manage and alleviate pain we must first identify its origin. The pain will then be qualified as ‘bony,’ ‘visceral,’ ’neuropathic,’ or ‘muscular.’ The medication will then be specified according to the nature of the pain for maximum relief. A type of pain, however, that is difficult to relieve is muscular pain that emerges from the tensions the body develops to protect itself, to avoid or to find temporary relief. Tensions due to poor posture only add to more discomforts and unfortunately medications are not very effective in this type of pain.

‘’Doctor, I was able to climb the stairs easily and without pain,’’ Solange said to me in my office one morning. I asked her, “What did you do to accomplish this?” 

“Thanks to my Alexander Technique teacher,” she replied. He had succeeded where I and my pills had failed for months.

Since Solange’s visit in my office that morning, I recommend to my patients suffering tough muscular pain to consult an Alexander Technique teacher, who can help them improve the quality of their life, as they can live at times for years with cancer in the palliative phase.

Thank you, Mr. Alexander . . . I thought to myself.

– Dr Christiane Martel, Medical Doctor in Palliative Care

As an Alexander Technique Teacher, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to discover and to apply the Alexander Technique in the context of Palliative Care. I had the privilege to give a workshop on the art of touch to health professionals (nurses, massage therapists, acupuncture, etc.), who work in a palliative care home near Montreal.

The objective in this workshop was to introduce the Alexander Technique to health professionals working with patients living with cancer in the palliative phase and that of their caregivers. The workshop was very appreciated and I was asked to offer lessons to the patients and the caregivers. 

This is when I joined the team of the day clinic at the palliative care home and where I was able to appreciate the multidisciplinary approach that supports and accompanies patients and their caregivers in the challenges of living with advanced cancer. Working alongside these professionals, I began to appreciate that the difference between palliative care and curative care, is to accompany those concerned to the acceptance of their condition. Even with the lack of a cure, it is possible to live with an advanced cancer and still have a good quality of life. The beauty I witnessed was profound as I witnessed the fragility of life and the resiliency of life so intimately interconnected.

– Philippe Bouskéla, Alexander Technique Teacher