Mark Josefsberg shares the inspiration behind his new book “Lighten Up: 29 Playful Lessons to help you learn The Alexander Technique” (available at Amazon.com) with Brooke Lieb.
Read moreWhat was it like to train at ACAT? Graduates share their experience and then-trainees on the course give us a glimpse into the classroom.
Graduates share their experience and then-trainees on the course give us a glimpse into the classroom.
Read moreACAT Alumna Cate McNider: Integrating Alexander Technique with other Somatic Practices
ACAT Alumni Cate McNider and Brooke Lieb discuss how Cate added Alexander Technique to the modalities she uses to support her clients.
Read moreACAT Alumni Mark Josefsberg shares how he discovered Alexander Technique and why he decided to train with fellow ACAT alumna Brooke Lieb
Mark Josefsberg, Alexander Teacher and author of “Lighten Up: 29 Playful Lessons to help you learn the Alexander Technique” shares his story of discovering Alexander Technique and deciding to train with fellow ACAT Alumna N. Brooke Lieb.
Read moreFrom the Archive: Want to Change Your Body? Use Your Mind…
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by Jeffrey Glazer (originally published Feb. 37, 2015)
Good posture, less pain, better breathing, fluid movement, even confidence; all are side effects of effective application of the Alexander Technique. You may be surprised to learn that a major key to achieving those goals lies in your thinking. The technique teaches you to utilize thought as a way of solving problems that stem from poor posture and movement habits. Since posture and movement are ultimately controlled by the brain, we can improve them by using the brain, albeit in a different way.
The key is to trust that thinking can create a positive change in the body. For example, the primary tension pattern that the Alexander Technique seeks to prevent is tightening the neck. This is because a neck that isn’t tight is essential to preventing tension in the rest of the body. To prevent tightening the neck, instead of doing something that feels like not tightening the neck, we simply think “I’m not tightening my neck.” Or, to frame it in the positive, think “neck free”.
Read moreFrom the Archives: So You’re An Alexander Teacher? How Come You’re Slumping?
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By Jeffrey Glazer (originally published July 16, 2015)
Recently I was watching a video on YouTube about Patrick Macdonald, a prominent first generation teacher of the Alexander Technique. The video portrays his training course in the 1980’s. I love this video, as I always learn something new when I watch it.
I decided to peruse the comments section, and I saw several comments about Macdonald being hunched, and people asking why that is. Since, among other benefits, the Alexander Technique claims to help with one’s posture, it is totally understandable why people would question why such a distinguished teacher appears slumped.
Read moreFrom the Archives: The Alexander Technique as a Tool for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Source: http://blog.mymsaa.org/ms-management-of-cognitive-symptoms/
by Rachel Bernsen
In February 2016, Senior Alexander teacher Judy Stern convened a panel discussion entitled Living with MS and How Alexander Technique Can Help: A Students Perspective. The discussion centered around a student named Ron, who shared the numerous ways the Alexander Technique has been effective for coping with symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). To protect Ron’s privacy I’ll only use his first name.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society defines MS as “an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.” Ron credits the Alexander Technique with lessening the severity of his symptoms, improving his quality of life and overcoming several professional prognoses that “there is nothing you can do”. With the aid of the Technique he is still ambulatory, walking with only a cane. He also drives, plays golf and is very physically active.
Read moreFrom the Archives: Engaging Curiosity and Dialogue: How to Introduce the Alexander Technique
by Morgan Rysdon (originally published in 2014)
On Monday, January 13th 2014, a panel convened at ACAT to discuss an issue of great concern to so many teachers of the Alexander Technique who struggle with talking about this rich and complex work. "Engaging Curiosity and Dialogue: How to Introduce the Alexander Technique" was moderated by Karen Krueger and included myself, Bill Connington, Rebecca Tuffey, and Jessica Wolf on the panel. The audience ranged from more senior teachers to trainees, all with a desire to explore this never-ending topic of how do we—as teachers of the Alexander Technique—introduce this unique work to others
Read moreFrom the Archives: Spreading The Word, Even If The Word Is "Posture"
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by Karen Krueger (originally posted Jan. 22, 2016)
I'm a big believer in speaking up about the Alexander Technique whenever I get the chance. So I jumped right in with a comment when I spotted an article in the New York Times about the importance of posture:
New York Times: Posture Affects Standing, And Not just The Physical Kind
Read moreNo more "auto pilot": Using Alexander Technique for Mindful Movement
No more "auto pilot": Using Alexander Technique for Mindful Movement
I recently began working with a student who has been living with Parkinson’s for 20+ years.
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 moreFrom the Archives: Embracing Change (Originally published March 14, 2018)
From the Archives: Embracing Change (Originally published March 14, 2018)
Alexander Teachers could be considered “change agents” for the individual. We help our students expand ways of being in thinking, movement and behavior.
That can seem vague and hard to articulate, and many Alexander Teachers find ourselves momentarily tongue-ied when someone asks: “What is the Alexander Technique?”
Read moreFrom the Archives: Giving Up Good Posture (Originally published March 13, 2014)
Photo ©2011 Anne Wu, CreativeCommons License
From the Archives: Giving Up Good Posture (Originally published March 13, 2014)
by Dan Cayer
I started meditating long before I ever heard of the Alexander Technique. Now, my experience as an Alexander teacher has profoundly affected how I sit on the cushion and even how I approach meditation altogether. A week ago, I taught a workshop at the Interdependence Project called Posture, Pain, and Meditation Practice. My experience there inspired me to write about "good posture."
Read moreTraining Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #31
Training Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #31
October 6, 1978
It is always imperative to come back to the head. Other areas may be of great interest to work on spine curvature but not at the expense of the head.
Read moreTraining Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #30
Training Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #30
Judy tells people it takes from 10 to 15 lessons to start to understand, and 30 to become facile and familiar.
Walking:
Your spine is the axis around which you rotate.
As the knee bends, it's coming from the small of the back.
Read moreFrom the Archives: How To Manage Anticipatory Anxiety with the Alexander Technique
From the Archives: How To Manage Anticipatory Anxiety with the Alexander Technique
by N. Brooke Lieb When I began my training as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, my biggest "symptom" was not pain, it was anxiety. I had started to have panic attacks, where I felt light headed and would begin to hyperventilate, and I was afraid I was dying. Often, the fearful thoughts centered around having an allergic reaction to something that would prove fatal. (I have had three incidents of strong allergic reactions, one to medication, one to food and one undetermined, none of which has been fatal.)
Read moreWhat I Need Will Bring What I Want Closer: Relief
What I Need Will Bring What I Want Closer: Relief
What we want is for our pain to go away. What we need is to pay attention to what we do that creates the pain. Our wants aren’t satisfied without energy put into it, right? Our needs are a lot simpler than our wants, and are often delivered in unexpected ways. Our wants, well, we can want endlessly, about all kinds of things, but what we actually receive sometimes falls short of that list, right? And other times, what we receive is actually better and along the line of our needs instead.
Read more10 Keys to Understanding Trauma
10 Keys to Understanding Trauma
by Cate McNider (originally published here)
A very important thing to know after you have experienced something traumatic, is that the subsequent events that bring it all up again, is the body’s way of telling you, there’s leftover information in your system that needs to be emptied. It’s the triggering events that are trying to help you heal, though it feels like it just hurts and depresses you even more.
Read moreHow are you doing?: Looking at how Allostatic Overload is Impacting Our Well-being
How 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 moreThe Hero's Journey Is Written In Your Habits
The Hero's Journey Is Written In Your Habits
by Cate McNider (originally published here)
The blindspot humans love to avoid, is that the use of themselves, how they think and move is at the root of their problems. The systems we live by are justifiably crumbling, and addressing the pains of that evidence is everywhere, in process. Routinely, I see health articles omitting the responsibility of each person looking to see what they are doing and thinking and how that is creating the dysfunction. We are the creators, is the elephant in the cosmos.
Read moreTraining Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #29
Training Journal: Classes with Judith Leibowitz #29
Thursday, June 8, 1978
Working on going up on toes:
Back and up – if you feel that your weight is shifting to back of heels when you think torso back and up, you probably have a tendency to hold in the legs.
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