Jane Madders

Jane Madders (; c. 1909–1990) was a British physiotherapist, health educator and author known for her expertise in relaxation techniques. After receiving training in physical relaxation during the late 1920s, Madders developed an interest in using her skills to assist pregnant women; she taught relaxation skills at antenatal classes and midwife courses, and published a book of exercises for women in 1955.

Madders organized a "family club" for mothers and children in the early 1950s, which helped mothers learn parenthood skills through group discussions and lectures while their children played; she credited it with being the first formal children's play group in Britain. During the 1960s, Madders was senior lecturer for a college course in "Health Education and Personal Relationships" that was unique for its time in Britain. She taught relaxation techniques at a migraine clinic and conducted research into the effectiveness of relaxation training in helping migraine patients.

After supporting the creation of the first relaxation charity in Britain and broadcasting a successful series of radio talks on You and Yours in 1972, Madders went on to publish three books on relaxation techniques, including Stress and Relaxation (1979), which was translated into multiple languages. She continued to teach classes after retirement. Scholar Ayesha Nathoo notes that Madders was a key figure in the development of British public perception of relaxation as "a therapeutic skill that required professional instruction" during the 20th century. 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. 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.

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Articles and book chapters