May’s Reflections: Awareness, Sunlight, and Sensitivity

Awareness has been a thread running through my whole working life — from my early days as a nurse and health visitor, to my years as a lecturer encouraging people to tune into their own health and wellbeing. But it wasn’t until I trained as an Alexander Technique teacher that I truly began to understand what awareness really means — not just as a concept, but as a lived, embodied experience.

When I was home educating my son, I often turned to national awareness days, weeks and months for inspiration — they were a great way to explore different themes and access free resources. I’ve started doing the same again now, using awareness campaigns to shape some of my blog posts and social media content, especially where they overlap with the principles of Alexander Technique.

This month’s post is a little more personal, though.

May includes two awareness themes that are particularly close to my heart: Coeliac Awareness and Melanoma Awareness.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with melanoma. What began as a mole on the sole of my foot — one I’d had since childhood — had started to change. It was removed through a narrow excision, followed by a wide excision and a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which showed the cancer had already spread. Further scans revealed melanoma in lymph nodes deep in my pelvis, and I was reclassified as Stage 3.

By then we were in lockdown, so further surgery wasn’t possible. Instead, I began drug treatment — nine months of strong medication with difficult side effects. But it worked. The cancer retreated. I was classed as cancer-free.

A year later, still feeling unwell, I pushed for more tests. That’s when I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease.

So now, in 2025, I continue to attend regular full-body and skin checks every 6 months (sometimes more frequently). Just this week, another lesion was removed from my back, and I’ll get the biopsy results in a few weeks’ time.

I share this not for sympathy, but to highlight the importance of paying attention.

Melanoma Awareness
In the UK, UV levels are high enough to damage the skin from April to October, even when it’s cloudy. Please take a moment to check your skin — especially any new moles, or changes to old ones. My melanoma was on a part of my body that doesn’t even see the sun — a reminder that skin checks are important everywhere.

Coeliac Awareness
Did you know Coeliac disease can develop at any age, and the average time to diagnosis is 13 years? That’s partly because it can affect many systems in the body, not just the gut — fatigue, skin issues, mood, joints, and more. You do need a genetic predisposition to develop it, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you or someone you know has long-term, unexplained symptoms.

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Noticing That You Need to Notice
That’s the first step of awareness.

The Alexander Technique has helped me understand awareness in a whole new way — not just noticing our symptoms or stories, but how we move through life. It helps us tune into our inner and outer worlds, moment by moment, breath by breath, and find more ease in daily activity.

With warmth,
Phil x

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