My name is Nicola Hanefeld, I am English but I live in Freiburg, Germany, in the Black Forest. I was born in 1958 in Ealing, London, UK.
- 1976 - 1979 Combined Honours degree Botany/Zoology. University of Reading, England.
- 1981 migration to Freiburg, Germany.
- 1980 - 1982 Postgraduate Certificate in Education, London University.
- 1986 - 1989 Alexander Technique teaching training. Freelance teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1989.
- 2000 founding of SPEEK, offering workshops, coachings, and training in psycho-physical re-education; the Alexander Technique.
- 2000 Training in person-centred counselling, Carl Rogers approach.
- 2017 - 2021 PhD, University of Hull, England. Thesis title: Exploring how women use the Alexander Technique: psycho-physical re-education in the postpartum
- German nationality along with British nationality. Mother of three grown-up children, grandmother :-)
- Member of the German Green party, ‘Bündnis '90/DIE GRÜNEN’ and Greenpeace.
- Since May 2025 a guide at Freiburg's museum Dokumentationszentrum Nationalsozialismus.
Some publications:
Getting out of Splendid Isolation Limerick Congress Papers, 2015
Greater awareness in pregnancy. The Alexander Journal No. 10, 1989
Why is the Alexander Technique not better known? STATNews, Jan. 2022
Women's experiences of using the Alexander Technique in the postpartum: '…in a way, it's just as beneficial as sleep' Midwifery Journal 2021.
A Report on an Online Self-Care Package based on the Alexander Technique to Aid Postpartum Mothers’ Self-Care: A Small Scale Mixed-Methods Study Journal of Perinatal Education, April 2025.
April 2025: The Unspeakable. Breaking my Family's Silence Surrounding the Holocaust. Amsterdam Publishers
Some interests:
Photography, writing, genealogy.
Contact me via e-mail:
Find me on WhatsApp: +49(0)151 20 60 43 57