No more "auto pilot": Using Alexander Technique for Mindful Movement
I remembered reading about John Pepper , who consciously retrained his movements to overcome foot drag and tremor, and became curious about how his conscious attending to his walking, typically an unconscious and habitual motor task, allowed him to perhaps create neural pathways that could compensate for or bypass the areas of his brain impacted by Parkinson’s.
Alexander Technique asks us to perform automatic tasks in a conscious and novel way.
Read moreHow are you doing?: Looking at how Allostatic Overload is Impacting Our Well-being
When I began my Alexander Technique teaching practice in 1989, my focus was on performing artists and helping people improve their posture and live with less pain.
Fast forward to 2020, when the Covid-19 Pandemic upended a way of life, and - perhaps for the first time- people who historically weren't so vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of resources and economies, found themselves part of the global trauma.
Read moreRate of Change (originally published 8/8/05)
When people begin studying something new (especially if it's helping them feel better), it's natural for them to want to learn all they can, right away and be a model pupil. Often, my clients get a great deal of relief when they first start to study, and because they have been in discomfort, they want to do all they can to hold onto the new state they are in.
Read morePrivate Lessons or Group Class? Why not both?
People frequently ask me which is a better way to study? Private lessons or group classes?
While private lessons are more common, and offer certain advantages, group learning dates back to Alexander's first Teacher Training Course, started in the 1930s.
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