Jane Madders

In 1927, Jane Madders learned physical relaxation techniques at the Chelsea College of Physical Education. with one of her teachers being F. Matthias Alexander, who had developed the therapeutic Alexander Technique. == Career ==

Madders began working as a physiotherapist. She published her first book in 1955: a short collection of exercises for women entitled Before and After Childbirth. During the 1950s, Madders also did occasional radio broadcast work, first under the pseudonym "Mary Orchard" and then under her own name. She was the introducer of the regular Women's Hour programme serving the Midlands, and she also contributed items to the English Magazine programme for overseas listeners. Around 1952, Madders organized a "family club" in Birmingham, where mothers could learn relaxation techniques and bring their children to play together. They also operated a clothing and toy exchange and organized an on-call "flying squad" of members who could help out mothers in need of emergency childcare or other assistance. Within 18 months of the club's creation, its funding and financial responsibility was taken on by the local government education authority, The Family Club was later credited by Madders as being the earliest formal children's play group in Britain. The course, which was unique within British education at the time, provided school teachers with improved skills for helping students navigate physical, mental, and social health issues. During the 1960s, Madders also taught relaxation techniques to patients referred to her by a migraine clinic in Birmingham. She spent six years conducting research for a study on migraines. Madders and Hay reported that 69 of their patients had demonstrated improvement by experiencing fewer or milder cases of migraines after the treatment. In the early 1970s, Madders supported the establishment of Relaxation for Living, the first relaxation charity in Britain. Working with the organization's founder, Amber Lloyd, Madders spearheaded training for Relaxation for Living teachers, provided technical advice and national publicity for their work, and eventually served as chairwoman for the organization. In 1982, Madders was working as a physiotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital and giving talks on stress at seminars for medical professionals, and in 1988 she presented a six-part television series for ITV entitled Stress. She continued to teach relaxation classes after retirement. == Personal life ==

Madders was married to Max Madders, a physical education lecturer at Birmingham University; he coached Olympic swimmers and wrote several books on swimming. The couple had two sons. == Death and legacy ==

Jane Madders died in October 1990 in Birmingham, at the age of 81. She had begun collecting interview material for a book about British life in the 1920s and did not finish it before her death, but her sister Grace Horseman completed the manuscript, and Growing Up in the Twenties was published in 1993. In her study of the history of therapeutic relaxation in the United Kingdom, scholar Ayesha Nathoo concludes that Madders was key to the development of British public perception of relaxation as "a therapeutic skill that required professional instruction" during the 20th century, responding to the existing demand for instruction and generating new public interest in relaxation skill training and resources. == Works ==

Books • • • • • Articles and book chapters • • • • == References ==