The Nature of Thoughts

by Witold Fitz-Simon “Invisibilia” is a new radio show/podcast from NPR that combines science and personal stories to explore the unseen forces that shape our behavior. In their episode “The Secret History of Thoughts,” they use the story of an unfortunate young man who is suddenly overwhelmed with violent thoughts as the medium through which to look at the way the mental health profession has evolved its understanding of thoughts and the way they do or do not define us.

In the segment “Dark Thoughts,” we meet “S,” a normally easy-going man, who is triggered by a film he watches into seeing violent images over and over again. He begins to identify with them to the point that it begins to impact his life, causing him to withdraw more and more. The piece is a story of his search for help as he attempts to understand and deal with his thoughts, and through it, we are introduced to three major ideas about thoughts and their significance to the whole person. According the piece, the first stage of "thought history" grew out of the work of Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, and those who follow his ideas, the content of "S's" thoughts would be an indicator of a problem in his psychological make-up. They revealed some inherent quality about him. The second stage grows out of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which would say that "S's" thoughts do not say anything particular about who and what he is. Instead, they would be the result of some form of prior conditioning or stimulus, either internal or external. Whereas in Freudian psychoanalysis, patients go through an extended exploration of their lives, thoughts and feelings, in Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, the patients are given strategies to directly challenge and deal with the thoughts. A more recent "third wave" approach is Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, where the patient is taught to allow the negative thoughts to just be and, in so doing, disarm their power to contribute to negative side-effects such as depression and addiction.

Though not a form of psychotherapy, the Alexander Technique has its own way of dealing with negative thoughts that ties in quite nicely with some of these ideas. F. M. Alexander was one of the first Westerners to realize that mind and body were all part of the same, larger whole of the individual person. A person's thoughts are a part him or her as are their arm or leg. Your arm is part of you, but it is not in any way all of what you are and can be. The same can be said of your thoughts. As part of the larger whole of who you are, your thoughts have an impact on both the structure and the physiology of your body. A thought can create the constriction and tension of anxiety as much as it can create the lightness and freedom of joy.

The Release of Inhibition

Alexander originally called his technique "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual" (the title of one of his four books). The name is a bit of a mouthful, but with it he was attempting to convey how it is possible to live consciously and constructively. This is to say, we each have many instinctive or habitual ways of thinking, reacting and being, but as thinking, rational people, we have the capacity to choose. Do we live at the mercy of these instincts and habits, or do we live with a mindful, embodied relationship to ourselves and our environment?

One of Alexander's great discoveries was that of inhibition, although his use of the word is very different to Freud's. Alexander's "inhibition" refers to our capacity to neurologically inhibit our responses to a stimulus. We can choose to react habitually or we can pause and let the habitual reaction go. It is a release of energy, of tension, which can bring the body and mind back to a state of ease and poise.

The American Center for the Alexander Technique is home of the oldest training program in the United States. If you are curious about finding out more about the Technique and how it might be able to help you find poise and ease in your daily life, contact one of our teachers in your area.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/After-crop1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]WITOLD FITZ-SIMON has been a student of the Alexander Technique since 2007. He is certified to teach the Technique as a graduate of the American Center for the Alexander Technique’s 1,600-hour, three year training program. A student of yoga since 1993 and a teacher of yoga since 2000, Witold combines his extensive knowledge of the body and its use into intelligent and practical instruction designed to help his students free themselves of ineffective and damaging habits of body, mind and being. www.mindbodyandbeing.com[/author_info] [/author]

Five Questions with Alexander Technique Teacher Jean McClelland

by Anastasia Pridlides

[Jean McClelland is teaching a free workshop for ACAT members—"The Flow of Voice, Breath and Body"—on Monday, January 26th, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. To confirm your space in the class, email the ACAT office.]

Q. How long have you been teaching?

A. I was certified by AmSAT and ACAT in 1991, although I have been teaching singing since the late 1970s.

Q. How were you first introduced to the AT?

A. I was introduced to the Technique through a friend of mine at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, where I went in 1972 (after college) to study with the extraordinary singer, artist, and teacher, Olga Averino. My friend Susan had been studying voice since high school but had developed enormous vocal tensions. Susan's teacher at Longy (not Olga) had lived for some years in South Africa and was acquainted with the Technique and felt that Susan would benefit from lessons. There were very few AT teachers in the area at the time, but Susan started lessons with Joe Armstrong. Susan would share with me her experiences in her lessons, and she encouraged me to study with Joe by saying that she thought I would like the AT because it was "very intellectual!" Without knowing a whit about what the Technique was about, I went off for Alexander lessons. Everything in my life changed. I remember so clearly my first lesson, looking at Joe and thinking that he was standing in a very odd fashion. He clearly had a "torso back and up off the legs,"which is what we see in great athletes and musicians, but it was foreign to my eyes and foreign to my body. It was however exactly what Olga meant when she said that a singer must, "stand like a baseball player." At that time, I had little understanding of how to use my body. Indeed, the comment after my first jury in conservatory was, "Musically very intelligent but needs to develop the physical requirements necessary for solo singing."

Q. What made you decide to become a teacher of this work?

A. About six months after I started lessons with Joe Armstrong, my posture changed quite significantly, and about a year after that, I had an experience that was quite revelatory. I was in conversation with someone, and for the first time in my life, I was totally present and spontaneous. I think that experience made me understand the profound nature of the Alexander Technique, even though I was light years away from understanding it. Those early years of study were so transformative to every aspect of my life that it seemed natural to want to share this work with others. I have always loved teaching, and once I started doing more and more voice teaching, it became apparent to me that including Alexander as part of voice study would be ideal. In the late 80s, I began to shift my performing away from musical theater to more concert work, and it became easier for me to commit to the three-year training. I entered ACAT in the spring of 1988.

Q. What most excites you about your upcoming workshop at ACAT?

A. The art of using one's voice in singing and acting can often seem quite mysterious. In her autobiography, "The Inner Voice: the Making of a Singer," the opera singer Renée Fleming asks: "How can I describe a process to you that is mostly unconscious?" And Olga Averino in her book, "Art and Principles of Singing," writes that "the process of good singing is a process of physical and psychological coordination. Physical coordination depends on the alignment of the singer's instrument. In itself, it produces no sound, but it creates the conditions which allow the imagination to produce the sound." As Alexander teachers we guide our singing and acting students to an improved use of their bodies and their coordination, but we must also be able to help them free their imaginations and encourage them to have a curious and improvisational mind. Only then will they truly sing or act freely and expressively.

My main goal for this workshop is for participants to explore how to use their imaginations to stimulate breath and voice, and to understand and how to creatively work with many of the vocal concepts that abound in voice lessons, such as: vocal support; open throat; breath movement; diaphragmatic breathing; grounding; embodied voice, intention, etc.

Q. What is your favorite way to engage with the AT in your daily life right now?

A. It's simply a way of being present in the world, isn't it?

[author] [author_info]JEAN MCCLELLAND received her B.A. from Vassar College, did graduate study at Boston University in opera, and has studied extensively at the Carl Stough Institute, Psychosynthesis Institute of New York, and the Michael Chekhov Studio. As a performer she has appeared in the Broadway production of "Camelot" and has played leading roles in numerous musicals and operas. Jean also performs in concert with her husband, Bill McCelland. Jean is on the faculty of the New York Open Center and has given workshops at New York University, Vassar College, Rutgers University, William Paterson University, Stevens Institute and the Rowe Conference Center. www.jeanmcclellandvoice.com [/author_info] [/author]

My Powerful Learning Experience from an Alexander Technique Group Class

by Jeffrey Glazer Group classes can be a great way to learn the Alexander Technique. I recall a vivid example of one group class when I discovered the power of the mind/body connection, and realized how much my thinking was affecting my body.

During this class we played a simple game. The students all stood in a circle, and the teacher introduced a soft, squishy ball to toss to each other. We were supposed to make eye contact with someone in the circle before we tossed the ball to them.

As we began, I didn’t notice much. Then the teacher asked us to tune into our bodies. It was then that I noticed a tightness in my neck, that I was clenching my jaw, and more or less holding my breath in anticipation of the ball being thrown to me.

Gaining a New Perspective

The teacher then pointed out that there were no penalties for dropping the ball or making an errant throw, no winners or losers, and no time limit. In fact, we could even let the ball drop in front of us instead of catching it. That’s when something clicked. I realized I was bringing the same attitude to this game that I brought to many other areas of life. Namely, that I was supposed to be right, good, and not mess up. I assumed the goal was to catch the ball, make accurate throws, and look good doing it.

I decided that the next time the ball was thrown to me, I would let it drop. But the instant the ball was thrown my way I found myself reacting and trying to catch it. It took a few times before I was able to stop reacting and let the ball drop. I had finally opened myself up to something different, a non-habitual reaction to a ball being thrown my way. Then I noticed my neck and jaw weren’t so tense anymore, and I had stopped holding my breath. The next time the ball was thrown to me I did catch it, but it was a choice rather than mandatory. The traveling of the ball through the air and into my hands seemed to happen in slow motion, and my movements were fluid and spontaneous.

Choosing How to Respond

I realized that my thinking really did affect my body, and not just in this game, but in all walks of life. I had learned that before reacting to something, I could decide how I wanted to respond. My habitual attitude of “catch it or else!”, only created fear in my nervous system, which I reacted to by clenching my jaw, tensing my neck, and holding my breath. Once I changed my thinking to allow for a choice, I was in a state of poise, so that during the times when I decided to catch the ball, I did so with greater ease. Most importantly, the chronic pain in my neck and arms began to dissipate as I let go of the tension in my neck and jaw, and stopped holding my breath.

What’s great about the Alexander Technique is that it paves the way to do something differently, with more ease and poise. Beginning this January, ACAT will be offering drop in group classes. Come for a class and experience for yourself how the Alexander Technique can help you.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/jeffrey.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]JEFFREY GLAZER is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. He found the Alexander Technique in 2008 after an exhaustive search for relief from chronic pain in his arms and neck. Long hours at the computer had made his pain debilitating, and he was forced to leave his job in finance. The remarkable results he achieved in managing and reducing his pain prompted him to become an instructor in order to help others. He received his teacher certification at the American Center for the Alexander Technique after completing their 3-year, 1600 hour training course in 2013. He also holds a BS in Finance and Marketing from Florida State University. www.nycalexandertechnique.com[/author_info] [/author]

Coughing and the Alexander Technique

by Barbara Curialle Having spent Thanksgiving week coping with a case of bronchitis, I’ve come away with a few suggestions on dealing with the most irritating (in every sense) part of the problem—the coughing.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, which bring air into, and carbon dioxide away from, the lungs. Among the symptoms are shortness of breath and coughing, the body’s means of getting rid of the excess phlegm that builds up. My loyally end-gaining body kept up the coughing to the point of exhaustion and even sore ribs (specifically, the oblique muscles). Rest, a course of antibiotics, cough medicine (the non-codeine kind), and herbal tea did help, but so did these Alexander tips. It takes some presence of mind to direct in the middle of a coughing fit, but what worked best was, as much as possible, to:

1. Allow my neck to be free and my head to balance at the top of my spine, my torso to widen and lengthen, and my legs to move away from my torso
2. Bend at the hips, knees, and ankles to go into monkey
3. In monkey, put a hand on one leg or on a table or other surface to become almost quadrupedal to support me and absorb the effort of coughing
4. Use the other arm to cover my nose and mouth
5. Unbend at the hips, knees, and ankles to return to the upright

Of course, remembering not to DO breathing but to allow the breath to enter my lungs helped me feel at least somewhat less congested, as did a whispered “ah” here and there. I won’t say I remembered to do this every time, but I found that even thinking to direct at various random moments did cheer me up, even if it didn’t cure me.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Curialle.jpeg[/author_image] [author_info]BARBARA CURIALLE, a graduate of ACAT, has been a nationally certified Alexander Technique teacher since 2009. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in music and social science from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Music (piano) from Manhattan School of Music. In 2011, she underwent spinal-fusion surgery and credits the Alexander Technique with a very directed recovery. She maintains a teaching practice on the Upper West Side and feels at her best when applying the Alexander Technique to physical activities such as walking, running, strength training, yoga, and swimming. She can be found at barbaracurialle.com[/author_info] [/author]

The Alexander Technique: It's Not Just About Standing Up Straight

by Brooke Lieb When people hear that I teach Alexander Technique, they often comment "Oh, that's about standing up straight", or say something apologetic or sarcastic. Then they inevitably pull themselves up into their version of "Good Posture".

The good news is that gravity is not what's getting you down. It's actually your own muscles, over contracting, working inefficiently and pulling you down. When you learn to allow lengthening to occur throughout your musculature, weight falls more efficiently through bones and joints, leaving you more balanced on your skeleton.

Hours spent sitting at a computer, studying, driving a car and other such sedentary activities contribute to being habitually shortened through the muscles on the front of the body. Because we are so used to this shortening, it doesn't register in your feeling sense as active muscle work. In fact, it probably feels effortless and maybe even comfortable. Fortunately, when you learn to release this excess effort, the natural outcome is more evenly distributed muscle tone, lengthening and more upright alignment through your spine. You can get better results with less effort when it comes to posture.

I have a couple who've studied with me since Fall of 2000. He reported gaining a full inch in height at his last check up; and she went from a 1/4" to a 1/8" correction in her orthotics for a leg length discrepancy.

Studying the Alexander Technique can help you look taller and feel lighter and easier in upright posture.

I leave you with this quote:

"I am putting into gear the muscles that hold you up, and you are putting them out of gear and then making a tremendous effort to hold yourself up, with the result that, when you ease that effort, you slump down worse than ever." F. M. Alexander

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brooke1web.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com[/author_info] [/author]

“Text-Neck”: a Modern Epidemic and its Elegant Solution, The Alexander Technique

by Witold Fitz-Simon The internet has been a-buzz this week with the publication of a new study by surgeon Kenneth Hansraj, M. D. Using computer modeling, he was able to determine how much stress we are actually doing to ourselves when we drop our heads and collapse to look at our cell phones.

An adult human head weighs anywhere between 10 and 12 pounds. When posture is good, with the top of the spine in a neutral position relative to the rest of the body, and the head poised in balance on the top vertebra, that weight is safely and effectively transferred down through the spine to the feet and the floor (or to your ischial tuberosities—your sitting bones—and to your chair if you are seated). If you take the head and the top of the spine forward by 15°, so Dr. Hansraj has determined, that weight effectively becomes 27 pounds. At 30° it becomes 40 pounds, at 45° 49 pounds, and at 60° it becomes 60 pounds. If you spend any amount of time with your head dropped forward, it’s as if you are carrying the equivalent of several large bags of groceries around at the top of your neck. Dr. Hanraj estimates that people spend an average of 700 to 1400 hours a year with the head stooped like this, and speculates that the average High School student might spend 5,000 hours a year like this.

Fixing a problem like this might seem simple. All you have to do is not drop your head. The reality of this is quite different. Dropping your head to look at your cell phone can be such an ingrained habit that you don’t even realize when you’re doing it. And when you do, just pulling your head back is not going to be the best solution. If you do that, you will have taken the tension in your neck from having your head forward and and added to it the tension of pulling your head back. A better solution is to learn how to free your neck and allow your head to remain poised on the top of your spine while you negotiate your phone in the first place. Luckily, the Alexander Technique can help you do just that in a simple and effective way.

The America Center for the Alexander Technique has a 50-year tradition of excellence in training Alexander Technique teachers. If you would like to find out more about the Technique, find one of our affiliated teachers here.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/After-crop1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]WITOLD FITZ-SIMON has been a student of the Alexander Technique since 2007. He is certified to teach the Technique as a graduate of the American Center for the Alexander Technique’s 1,600-hour, three year training program. A student of yoga since 1993 and a teacher of yoga since 2000, Witold combines his extensive knowledge of the body and its use into intelligent and practical instruction designed to help his students free themselves of ineffective and damaging habits of body, mind and being. www.mindbodyandbeing.com[/author_info] [/author]

A Delicate Balance?

by Karen Krueger

I recently heard the phrase "a delicate balance" twice in 24 hours: first, when a friend mentioned he had recently seen the current Broadway revival of Edward Albee's play of that name, and second, when I happened to hear an Alexander Technique teacher use it about the poise of the head. I was reminded of how often I have heard Alexander Technique teachers say that we are aiming for "a delicate balance" of the head on the top of the spine.

I have never liked this wording, and I don't use it with my students. But hearing the phrase twice in such a short period of time prompted me to wonder why. What is it about the word "delicate" that bothers me?

Here's the definition of the word given by my American Heritage Dictionary:

1. Exquisitely or pleasingly fine. 2. Frail in constitution or health. 3. Easily broken or damaged. 4. Requiring tasteful and tactful treatment. 5. Keen in sense discrimination or perception. 6. Manifesting sensitivity and attentiveness to the proprieties. 7. Regardful of the feelings of others. 8. Keenly accurate in response or reaction. 9. Soft or gentle in touch or skill. 10. Very subtle in difference or distinction. --See Synonyms at fragile.

Here's what the synonym list at "fragile" has to say:

Delicate ... suggests lack of durability or susceptibility to injury.

Reading these entries helped clarify for me why I don't want to think of my head balance as delicate: I don't like the idea of its being frail and injury-prone, as per definitions 2 and 3. In fact, I have found that a well-managed poise of the head releases a great deal of energy in the whole system.

The other definitions seem to me to describe the Alexander Technique in general, and the skills it teaches, rather than head balance in particular. Of all the many shades of meaning in this one word, the only one that seems at all relevant to my understanding of how the head balances on the top of the spine is the last of the ten definitions--"very subtle in difference or distinction."

It has definitely been my experience that subtle changes in head balance can have profound effects on the entire system--which is what I believe Alexander meant by "primary control." However, the experience of my head, neck and back that results is not delicate at all, but rather strong and powerful.

Probably those teachers who talk about the "delicate balance" of the head do not intend to say that this balance is frail or weak; it is my mind and my way of thinking that add that meaning. So this is an interesting illustration of the confounding power of vocabulary. Our language is simply not precise enough to ensure that we will all understand the same thing from the same words.

I believe our choice of words is worth examining because it can reflect and thus illuminate our priorities and values. Perhaps those who favor the phrase "a delicate balance" may seek, in their Alexander Technique work, to evoke a certain quality of being that might be called "delicate." One of the differences that I have discovered among Alexander Technique teachers is the degree to which they value and seek to elicit lightness, releasing and letting go, on the one hand, or energy and strength on the other hand. Of course, all of these qualities can happily co-exist, but many teachers seem to prioritize one or the other.

Despite my issue with this one phrase, I value both approaches for myself and for my students. Indeed, I seek a balance between the two--but a strong and energetic balance rather than a delicate one!

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kreuger.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]KAREN G. KRUEGER became a teacher of the Alexander Technique after 25 years of practicing law at two major New York law firms, receiving her teaching certificate from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in December 2010. Her students include lawyers, business executives, IT professionals and others interested in living with greater ease and skill. Find her at her website: http://kgk-llc.com. [/author_info] [/author]

"Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life" by Marshall Rosenberg

by Tim Tucker Note: The ACAT Faculty began working with NVC to meet our need for effective and empathic ways of communicating with our teachers-in-training. Alexander's work asks us to address our use on every level. Many of us found NVC supported that desire in the areas of perceiving, listening and speaking in ways that inhibited end-gaining and allowed us to support ourselves and our students in accessing a non-defensive and thoughtful internal state in which to learn how to teach the Alexander Technique. We added the book to our required reading so our teachers-in-training were introduced to NVC while on the course. All of our students are asked to write a response paper to a number of texts, including NVC, as part of their certification requirements. The following is Tim Tucker's response paper. —Brooke Lieb, Director, Teacher Certification Program

When I arrived at ACAT and reviewed the list of books we would be reading, I was pleased to note the inclusion of Marshall Rosenberg’s “Nonviolent Communication” among the titles.  My Zen teacher had already introduced me to Rosenberg’s work, but my knowledge of NVC remained quite superficial and I was pleased to have an opportunity to deepen my understanding of how it works and what it has to offer.

“Nonviolent Communication” is not a long book (212 pages) but the concepts explored in it seem so novel and the information is so dense in its presentation that it took quite a lot of time and effort to read the book.   This is probably because I have labored, like so many other people, under a significant degree of confusion about my perceptions and behavior.  I was (and often still am) in the habit of inappropriately melding things that ought to be looked at separately, while simultaneously separating things that need to be considered together.  Consider the following basic schemas:

Neutrally observe

↓

Identify Feelings

↓

Identify Needs

↓

Make a request of the other person

The NVC model above, which is grounded in vulnerability, compassion and the ability to offer empathy (as opposed to giving advice or reassurance), stands in striking contrast to the way I, and many others, have typically operated:

Judge

↓

React

↓

Blame/Criticize

↓

Spin in self-validated feelings

↓

Try to change the other person

It’s fairly obvious when two alternative behavioral models are laid out this clearly which one will likely lead to better results.  Yet NVC, which appears to be a much more direct route for people to get their needs met, is hardly the norm in our society.  Analysis, assessment, criticism, diagnosis, evaluation, interpretation and judgment take the place of neutral observation without our even being aware of it.  We don’t even see our own behavior, or that the “pain engendered by damaging cultural conditioning is such an integral part of our lives that we can no longer distinguish its presence.” (p. 165) In this state of near-unconsciousness, hypnotized by our habits and conditioning, it’s very easy to never examine feelings or to reflexively attribute them to other people who in our eyes are inevitably at fault and need to change whenever they fail to act in accord with our values and preferences.

I am very interested in why I and so many other people frequently exhibit the self-defeating patterns of communication delineated by Rosenberg, but the book does not delve much into that fascinating question.  What exactly is this “damaging cultural conditioning” alluded to by Rosenberg, and why does it happen in the first place?  Early in the text, Rosenberg says “I find that my cultural conditioning leads me to focus attention on places where I am unlikely to get what I want.”  (p. 4) In the chapter “Expressing Anger Fully,” he comments on a Swedish prisoner’s confusion of the stimulus triggering his anger (external) with the actual cause of his anger (internal), “By equating stimulus and cause, he had tricked himself…This is an easy habit to acquire in a culture that uses guilt as a means of controlling people.  In such cultures, it becomes important to trick people into thinking that we can make others feel a certain way.” (p. 136).  As for what Rosenberg thinks causes these unhelpful behaviors, a pretty clear indication is given on p. 23:

Most of us grew up speaking a language that encourages us to label, compare, demand and pronounce judgments rather than to be aware of what we are feeling and needing.  I believe life-alienating communication is rooted in views of human nature that have exerted their influence for several centuries.  These views stress our innate evil and deficiency, and a need for education to control our inherently undesirable nature.  Such education often leaves us questioning whether there is something wrong with whatever feelings and needs we may be experiencing.  We learn early to cut ourselves off from what’s going on within ourselves.  Life-alienating communication both stems from and supports hierarchical societies, the functioning of which depends upon large numbers of docile, subservient citizens.  When we are in contact with our feelings and needs, we humans no longer make good slaves and underlings.”

Thus, Rosenberg thinks that our communication and behavioral problems actually serve the interest of those in power in our society.  He is effectively saying that the dysfunction and pain so prevalent among the mass of people and so vividly displayed in their misguided, violent communication sustains the dominance of the elites who control most of the wealth and resources.  Simply put, the proletariat is voluntarily colluding with their oppressors in big business and government without even being aware of it, and on an extremely intimate level.

Whether Rosenberg is correct or not in his view on the genesis of life-alienating communication, it clearly is a conditioned behavior; life-alienating communication is the NVC equivalent of F.M. Alexander putting his head back and down and gasping for breath when he wanted to recite Shakespeare.  And just as we find in our practice of Alexander, breaking our habit of life-alienating communication in NVC requires us to rein in conditioned, habitual, reflexive behavior by stopping and thinking before engaging in an activity – in this case, before speaking.  This stopping, by definition, requires us to slow down and take more time to do whatever we’re doing.

Consider the following passage from “Nonviolent Communication,” which strongly echoes Walter Carrington’s “Thinking Aloud”:

“Probably the most important part of learning how to live the process that we have been discussing is to take our time.  We may feel awkward deviating from the habitual behaviors that our conditioning has rendered automatic, but if our intention is to live life in harmony with our values, then we’ll want to take our time.” (p. 146)

Carrington’s version of this way of thinking is:

“I always say to people, ‘Think about time.  Realize how much time is a personal thing, how much time is an individual possession….you’re the only person who can give yourself time.  Nobody else can give you time.  You’ve got to take the time.  You’ve got to be prepared to take the time it takes.”  Thinking Aloud, pp. 130-131.

NVC and Alexander Technique both provide lenses for people to look at how they unconsciously and habitually harm themselves, and tools for people to learn to stop and apply the “new, correct messages” that can return them to a more natural and healthy way of being and relating.  Both AT and NVC require that we slow down and apply a great deal of scrutiny to how we perform a host of deceptively simple activities we formerly took for granted (and often still take for granted).  By slowing down and paying careful attention to ourselves and our behavior, we practitioners of these remarkable disciplines are swimming against the tide of our cultural conditioning.  Although the tide of cultural conditioning can seem overwhelming it will, through diligent self-work, be overwhelmed.  Put another way, if everyone in our society were to suddenly begin to diligently practice these disciplines, the entire machinery of our frenzied, addictive, commercial culture would quite simply collapse.

[author][author_info]TIM TUCKER, a fourth-term teacher trainee at ACAT, was drawn to the Alexander Technique because of its strong affinity with his Zen Buddhist practice.  A former stock market analyst and artist, Tim is very interested in studying culturally promoted patterns of addiction, violence and waste in American society.[/author_info] [/author]

The Alexander Technique and Back Care

by Witold Fitz-Simon In 2008, the British Medical Journal published the results of their randomized controlled trial of Alexander Technique lessons, exercise, and massage for chronic and recurrent back pain. This is not exactly news for those in the Alexander Technique community, as word of favorable scientific studies travel fast. The results were so positive in favor of the Technique, however, that it is worth giving them another look.

579 patients with chronic or recurring back pain were selected from 64 general practices in the United Kingdom. 144 people were given normal care for back pain that you might receive from any general practitioner. 147 were given six sessions of massage. 144 were given six Alexander Technique lessons. 144 were given 24 Alexander technique lessons. Half of the people in each of these groups were also given an exercise program.

The participants in the study were interviewed three months after their interventions were given, and again after twelve months. As you might expect, the control group showed no improvement after three months or beyond. Of the other groups, all showed some improvement. What is remarkable is what was found at the one-year mark. Those who had received massage reported they still experienced around 21 days of pain in the previous four weeks, whereas those who had taken six lessons in the Alexander Technique reported around 11 days of pain. Those who had taken 24 lessons in the Technique that ended a year previously reported only around 3 days of pain in the prior 4 weeks!

Here is the video that the BMJ produced explaining their study:

http://youtu.be/3GbwzqT9piU

http://youtu.be/BXmimtk381U

The American Center for the Alexander technique has a 50-year tradition of excellence in training teachers of the Alexander Technique. Click here to find a teacher near you.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/After-crop1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]WITOLD FITZ-SIMON has been a student of the Alexander Technique since 2007. He is certified to teach the Technique as a graduate of the American Center for the Alexander Technique’s 1,600-hour, three year training program. A student of yoga since 1993 and a teacher of yoga since 2000, Witold combines his extensive knowledge of the body and its use into intelligent and practical instruction designed to help his students free themselves of ineffective and damaging habits of body, mind and being. www.mindbodyandbeing.com[/author_info] [/author]

The Alexander Technique as a Tool for Dealing With Trauma

by Brooke Lieb [*Please note, I am fully healed and my love of dogs is fully intact!]

The Sunday before Father’s Day in 2005, I was bitten on my right leg in three places by a bulldog in the home of someone I knew. I had met the dog before a number of times over the years, and had entered the home of her owner without waiting for the woman to come to the door without incident many times.

After the dog released me and her owner pulled her away and closed her up in a room, I noticed my habitual reaction was to immediately focus on the idea that “everything is fine.” My parents were there, having arrived before me, and they and the dog’s owner seemed ready to join me in my habit. I was able to stand and walk on the leg. I saw a long scratch down the inside of my calf, which was bleeding; and evidence of bite marks on my calf and the outside of my thigh, which was swelling slightly, beginning to turn red as bruising began; and what seemed like bleeding under the skin where there were obvious teeth marks.

As moments passed, my assessment of the situation was that I had to pursue proper treatment for myself. Those around me were already soothing themselves with the idea that I was walking and the skin was not broken, so I was OK. I first suggested that I go to the hospital, as I imagined a tetanus shot was in order. The others seemed hesitant to take me there, as the wounds didn’t seem serious enough. The owner said she didn’t think I needed to go to the hospital or that there was any worry, as the dog was up to date on her shots and the skin was not broken. (In fact, on later inspection when I got home, I discovered the skin had been broken in five places.)

I did not want to go to the hospital, but I knew that was my habit of minimizing things. I pursued the subject, insisting that I should consult with a medical professional to determine the proper course of treatment. The owner offered to try to reach her doctor on the phone. She called and I thought the line didn’t answer. My mother later told me she believed there was a recorded message with further instructions and another number to call in an emergency, but the dog’s owner didn’t pursue the course beyond her first call. I suggested I call my own doctor, who was out of town. The doctor covering for her called me back after about 15 minutes and determined that the dog and I were up to date on our shots and my concern was infection. He didn’t tell me to go to a hospital, but did tell me how to clean the wounds and what to watch for that would indicate infection.

The owner had provided me with a bottle of betadine and paper towels to clean the wounds. I asked her for some ice as I saw there was swelling, and at first she told me in which drawer I’d find a plastic bag to put the ice in before she stepped in and did it for me.

I noticed throughout that I was in mild shock. My hands were shaking, and I had lost my appetite, even though I had been hungry when I arrived. I felt an energy of wanting to move, to get away from this environment, even though I stayed where I was. I was also acutely aware that I found the behavior of my parents and the dog’s owner contributed to my discomfort. I felt a distinct attitude coming from them that the event was over and all was fine now, while I was still very shaken. I felt unsafe in their presence and that any display of upset or fear would be met with a non-reaction.

When I arrived home a couple of hours later, my husband expressed what felt like an appropriate level of horror and concern and outrage that this had happened. I knew his response had an accurate level of energy and urgency to it. It took me a couple of days to feel the full intensity of my physical and psychic disturbance, and all the while, I had to keep recognizing my habit to minimize the events, my feelings, my thoughts and use my Alexander principles of awareness and direction to keep myself in the reality of the situation. My parents also woke from their somewhat numbed reaction and became more upset upon seeing my injuries in full color, and in response to how the dog’s owner had minimized the seriousness of the events.

For a few days, whenever I thought about the actual attack, I could feel the pain of the dog’s jaw biting my leg vividly. I could feel my fear and shock setting in as I struggled on the floor, calling for help and trying to scramble away from the dog. I wondered if I would have flashbacks and residual stress from the event. That didn’t happen and I believe it was because I sought out contact with people who would express the outrage, and empathize with me, whether or not they saw the actual wounds or had ever been bitten by a dog themselves.

Acting against my habit in this case has had many benefits. I have been much more proactive in dealing with many different circumstances that I would habitually avoid or let go un-addressed at the expense of my own comfort and well-being.

About a month later, on July 7, 2005, I was watching a film clip of a man injured in the subway bombings in London. As I watched the police help him walk and saw the cuts on his face and his bandages, I recalled the shock and mild trauma that I had experienced from the bite, and felt I could empathize much more fully with the pain, fear, and shock he must be feeling. I could touch into those feelings, while not re-living the moment as real or losing my present self in the memory. I fully credit my skill in the principle of the Alexander Technique with my ability to feel more fully and know I was safe.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brooke1web.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com[/author_info] [/author]

"Indirect Procedures" by Pedro de Alcantara at ACAT

by Brooke Lieb Alexander Technique teacher and author Pedro de Alcantara is celebrating the release of the 2nd edition of his popular book, "Indirect Procedures: A Musician’s Guide to the Alexander Technique," with ACAT! He will be discussing how his deepening understanding of the Alexander Technique in the sixteen years since the publication of the first edition has led to a substantial revision of the book in a free event open to all on Monday, November 10th. This will be followed by a weekend workshop, "Forward & Up: A Creative Approach: An experiential workshop for Musicians, Alexander Students and Alexander Teachers" on November 15th and 16th.

When did you first experience the Alexander Technique, and why did you decide to have private lessons?

I went to college at SUNY Purchase in Westchester. One of my cello teachers took lessons from Pearl Ausubel and suggested that I try the Alexander Technique to improve my coordination at the cello. I went along with his suggestion, not knowing what I was getting into!

What are some of your stand out memories from those initial private lessons?

Pearl was my first teacher, and I took infrequent but regular lessons from her for about two years. My memories of my very first lesson, in the fall of 1978, was the feeling of growing, growing, growing like a plant in a speeded-up stop-motion video clip. It was absolutely intoxicating.

Why did you decide to train; and how did you choose which course to join?

Lessons were having a deep effect, and I decided to see what would happen if I brought the Technique to the very center of my life. I trained with Patrick Macdonald and Shoshana Kaminitz in London, from 1983 to 1986. My motivation was partly to train with someone who had trained with Alexander himself, and partly to study the cello with a great London-based teacher, the late William Pleeth.

What was your inspiration for Indirect Procedures?

In the spring of 1990 I visited the pianist and composer Joan Panetti, one of my old music teachers at Yale (where I went after my undergrad studies at SUNY). She witnessed me in a somewhat directionless personal and professional transition, and she suggested that I write a book as a way forward. I’m of course very thankful for her insight regarding the merits of writing a book and my potentialities as a writer.

Tell us about the revised edition.

The first edition was published in 1997, but some of its concepts were borne of a research project I did while training back in 1985 and 1986. This is almost 30 years ago! Naturally enough I learned many things over the decades, and the old edition didn’t represent my convictions or my temperament anymore. I’d say the revised edition is actually a new book. You might want to check my essay “The Process of Change,” published in AmSat News, where I explain the book’s transformation.

What advice would you give to other Alexander Teachers to stay inspired and excited about their teaching?

Lessons are actually encounters in disguise—encounters with the “other,” who really is a mirror for you to learn about yourself; encounters with the unpredictable, the challenging, the entertaining. Years ago I actually stopped thinking of myself as a teacher, with the duties and constraints that the word implies. Now I think of myself as an informal researcher in the field of creativity and health; my students really are my partners and assistants, each bringing completely individual contributions to my explorations. It makes for a very gratifying professional life!

More information about Pedro de Alcantara can be found at his website.

To register for the free event on Monday 11/10 at 7pm, go here: An Evening with Pedro de Alcantara: “Indirect Procedures, New Edition: The Process of Change”

To register for the weekend workshop on Saturday 11/15 and Sunday 11/16, go here: Forward & Up: A Creative Approach: An experiential workshop for Musicians, Alexander Students and Alexander Teachers

Space is limited for both events, so be sure to register in advance to guarantee your place.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brooke1web.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com[/author_info] [/author]

Finding What You Need: Collaborating to Create Your Support Structure as an Alexander Technique Teacher

by Karen Krueger Teaching the Alexander Technique can be lonely. After the structure and camaraderie of training, it can be daunting when we suddenly find ourselves having to create our own schedules, our own ways of self-care, continued learning and practice development.

For me, the answer to this dilemma has involved connecting with other teachers and other professionals. The difficulties of creating a practice as a solo entrepreneur can lead us to view others solely as competitors, rather than potential collaborators. But there are many different models of collaboration being put into practice in our community. This blog post describes some of mine. At the next free member event at ACAT on October 20, we will explore this topic in greater depth. Please come, contribute your voice, and connect with fellow ACAT members.

The Many Benefits of Exchanges

My two weekly exchanges are my most important support. I also enjoy occasional exchanges with others, but there is something very special about the relationships that have developed through consistent, regular interaction with the same people, who are friends as well as colleagues. We share our questions and interests of the moment; experiment with different approaches (everything from where we put our hands to what we think and say); discuss challenges that we are dealing with in teaching; and generally have fun while honing our skills and taking care of ourselves. We also get to see each other, socialize, and support one another in practice development. We share practical information like where to find teaching space and what interesting workshops are coming up. These weekly meetings are a source of joy and well-being for all of us.

We also refer students to one another. I have several students who also work with one or more of my exchange partners. Occasionally we have had lessons with two teachers and one student—which is wonderful for all concerned, though perhaps not practical as a regular teaching model!

Other Collaborations

Many other forms of collaboration, both formal and informal, are possible. We can volunteer at ACAT's monthly free introductions to the Alexander Technique for the general public (the "Hands-On Demonstrations"). We can partner with other teachers to promote our work, or to develop our individual marketing approaches. We can team up with other professionals to reach people who might not otherwise hear of our work. For example, last year I taught a series of small group classes in a physical therapist's studio: she got her patients to enroll, and I showed up and taught. I learned a great deal and enjoyed the class, and several of the class participants went on to take private lessons with me.

Not every such effort bears fruit. I have done many things to promote the Alexander Technique and my own practice that have not resulted in an immediate influx of paying students. I keep making connections, though, because I believe that the more people have heard of our work and have some understanding of what it is and what it can do, the better for all of us.

Free Member Event: Building Your Practice Through Collaboration

If this topic interests you, I hope that you will join Michael Hanko, Anastasia Pridlides, Morgan Rysdon and me on Monday, October 20, 7-9pm, for "Building Your Practice Through Collaboration." We will explore ways to connect with others to create the support structures we need to thrive and grow as teachers. First, we'll hear from the panelists about how their various collaborations with Alexander Technique teachers and others have contributed to their teaching skills and helped them develop their practices. Then, we'll break into smaller groups so you can connect with others looking to support each other in various ways. I hope to see you there.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kreuger.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]KAREN G. KRUEGER became a teacher of the Alexander Technique after 25 years of practicing law at two major New York law firms, receiving her teaching certificate from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in December 2010. Her students include lawyers, business executives, IT professionals and others interested in living with greater ease and skill. Find her at her website: http://kgk-llc.com. [/author_info] [/author]

"Dare to be Wrong" by Judith Leibowitz Now Available on Kindle

by Brooke Lieb

ACAT is pleased to announce "Dare To Be Wrong: The Teaching of Judith Leibowitz" which was edited by ACAT Alumna Kathryn Miranda, is now available for purchase as an ebook for the Kindle through Amazon.

Some members of the ACAT Community shared their response to the book, and for those who studied with Judy, some memories of working with Judy, as well.

"I love Judy's book. It's one of the clearest books on how to teach and learn the Technique. The process she describes is simple but powerfully effective. She begins with awareness, defines inhibition, and clearly delineates the job of both teacher and student while masterfully teaching the purpose, function and meaning of the directions. All of this is brilliantly set on a foundation that gives the student permission to explore and dare to be wrong in order to discover a new way of using herself. "

Lolita Brinkley, ACAT '14

"When I read 'Dare to Be Wrong', her words were so vivid I felt I was in the room with Judy again. I was reminded of how clear and simple her use of language was, while the effect of her hands-on work was expansive and allowed me to understand the potential of inhibition and direction - and my potential as a being - at a quantum level to what I could ever understand all on my own.

I credit Judy with my constant curiosity and awareness of how the 'whole person' is under my hands. Judy always cultivated the direction and understanding that was there in me, and through this indirect approach, some of the ways I may have been interfering with my own poise on every level gently rose to my awareness so I could know myself and see my potential. At the same time, I never felt judged or that there was any 'wrong' way of exploring this work.

Judy's excitement and curiosity within the work was infectious, and the longer I teach, the more I understand and the less I am attached to what I know. Instead, I am interested in the as yet unexplored potential. I now know how teaching this work has allowed me to progress beyond where I would had I remained as a student. It is a great paradox that we get some much more for ourselves when we embark on the process of being a teacher.

This book is a chance for be with Judy."

Brooke Lieb, ACAT '89

"I remember Judy's hands on me as if it was yesterday. She had an unusual, perhaps unique, ability to intuit my state of mind, and then to create a lesson addressing my USE in 30 minutes ... lessons that stay with me until today.

Judy clarified my understanding of 'legs away' and 'monkey/bending' by transmitting a combination of kinesthetic and intellectual experience in weekly lessons during her last year teaching. Every lesson ended with her laughing and excited by our discoveries. She never took the AT for granted and reveled in the brilliance of the work.

Part of my clarity in developing a lesson was learned during my training as I watched her work with my colleagues at the end of every training class. Each of had a lesson while all 8 of us observed. She was a master of problem solving in the moment ...seamlessly integrating the hands on work with the Alexander concepts. Her teaching was both artful and specific, full of anatomical allusions and metaphors that clarified."

Judith Stern, ACAT '87

"Judy’s hands were very quick. They moved quickly from one part of a student’s body to another. Her thinking and perceiving was lightning fast and it kept me very present to keep up with her. Also, each finger gave an individual message. Judy sculpted in a variety of mediums – stone, wood, bronze, and it was as if each finger had its own brain as she sculpted me, and my energy, in the lesson. Judy thought in terms of energy. She was also very positive and encouraging. I believe she gave only half hour lessons, which was all she needed to tune up and expand one. If she felt the lesson was finished in 20 minutes, she would end it then.

Judy loved movement. I think she got tired or bored of just doing chair and table work, so she would work with large movement. She would get us going from bent knees to jumping again and again, and work with swinging the whole body around one standing leg which she called going into arabesque. I remember her swinging me forward and back with her hands in the arabesque in her teaching studio. Perhaps I had my hand on the table for a light support. There wasn’t any time to check thinking. While doing it, my balance and integration, with the help of her hands, seemed amazing."

Joan Frost, ACAT '83

"Judy Leibowitz was my primary teacher when I trained at ACAT, and my dear colleague until her death. She was profoundly influential on me; I feel the way she taught is still the foundation of how I work, even after many years of developing my own style. How great it is that her book 'Dare to be Wrong' exists, for which I am so grateful to Kathy Miranda. What a perfect title, in Judy's own words, to convey the essence of what she offered her students.

This book is simultaneously a reference book that I return to again and again, a concrete record of how a master teacher worked, and an emotional experience of Judy coming back to life on the page. I feel her hands, hear her voice, and my nervous system starts to respond! I also respond to her passion for, and fascination with the work, her sense of the potential it holds, and her ability to understand and communicate about the work in its multilayered totality- its complexity and simplicity. (As she always used to say, the Alexander Technique is full of paradox!)

Dare to be Wrong is truly a treasure for Alexander teachers, students, and anyone interested in the Alexander Technique. To pick up this books is to be inspired. "

Kim Jessor, ACAT '81

Alexander Technique Shown to Benefit Business

by Witold Fitz-Simon In a study conducted in 2011, Alexander Technique teacher Mireia Mora Griso undertook a study of large companies who gave their employees training in the Alexander Technique. If you have studied the Alexander Technique, the results are, perhaps not surprising, but for the business world at large, they should be a wake-up call to Big Business of the power of the Technique to improve productivity and cut health-care costs.

Griso’s research protocol whittled down her subjects to ten major companies:

• Victorinox (Swiss knife company)
• Unicible (an IT company)
• Siemens AG (an electrical engineering company)
• Treuhand GmbH (an accountancy practice)
• Ville de Lausanne (a town services organization)
• D. E. V. K. (an insurance company)
• Steuerberaterverban Schleswig-Holstein (a tax consultancy company)
• Alliance Insurance Corporation (an insurance company)
• Chevron-Texaco (an energy company)
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (a hospital)

In each of these companies, more than 50 people were given significant training in the Technique (more than just an introductory session). In each of the companies, the training was given substantial support as an important part of policy over, at minimum, a three-year period. The Alexander Technique teachers conducting the training all reported that the people they worked with recognized the need to improve their quality of life in the workplace and, despite initial resistance in some cases, the majority of people became positive about the work.

The study produced a fascinating list of benefits of the Technique reported by the participants:

Physical Benefits

• Reduced pain and disability
• Improved muscle tone
• Postural coordination and balance

Psychological Benefits

• Stress management
• Improvements in self-esteem
• Improvements in public speaking
• Improvements in creativity
• Improvements in conentration
• Improvements in team work

Business Benefits

• Reduced work hours lost to illness
• Reduced accidents
• Reduced employment insurance costs
• Improved cost-profits relationship
• Improved work performance

To read about the study in “TalkBack” the quarterly magazine off BackCare, the U. k.’s National Back Pain Association, go here.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/After-crop1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]WITOLD FITZ-SIMON has been a student of the Alexander Technique since 2007. He is certified to teach the Technique as a graduate of the American Center for the Alexander Technique’s 1,600-hour, three year training program. A student of yoga since 1993 and a teacher of yoga since 2000, Witold combines his extensive knowledge of the body and its use into intelligent and practical instruction designed to help his students free themselves of ineffective and damaging habits of body, mind and being. www.mindbodyandbeing.com[/author_info] [/author]

The Alexander Technique and Yoga: Parallel Inquiries Into Freeing The Self

by Witold Fitz-Simon On the face of it, Yoga and the Alexander Technique would seem to be two completely different disciplines. Comparing them would be like comparing a dog with an iPad. Although they originated in very different times from very different cultural traditions, and would appear to have emerged out of very different intentions, thematically, they do have a lot in common. In a lecture given in 1985, John Nicholls—a senior teacher of the Alexander Technique—sought to put the work in a larger context of world traditions that aim to delve into the deeper nature of humanity. He identified seven general themes common to abroad array of such traditions, including disparate bodies of work as Freudian psychology, Osteopathy and Zen Meditation. The full text of his lecture can be found here.

The seven themes he identified are these:

1. Consciousness becoming conscious of itself and the unconscious/subconscious
2. Need to understand and control our reactions
3. Being out of touch with feelings
4. The integration of the body and mind
5. The search for natural functioning (non-interference)
6. Search for a central core to integrate the parts, a Center, Self or "I"
7. Renewed interest in "vital force", bio-energy, Chi, Prana, etc.

A quick overview of how these themes interweave through Yoga and the Alexander Technique reveals that, although the terminology and the larger philosophical frameworks of each system might be different, the underlying concerns and observations are quite similar.

1. Consciousness Becoming Conscious of Itself and the Unconscious/Subconscious

The fundamental cause of human suffering from the perspective of both Yoga and the Alexander Technique is an essential misunderstanding of who and what we are. We act and react mindlessly and instinctively to the stimuli of life without clear, conscious reasoning. Each time we do so, we further ingrain the habits, misperceptions and faulty assumptions that have led us to where we are in the present moment.

Both systems hold that the only way to rectify our tendency for this kind of automatic behavior is to undertake the task of self-knowing. In Yoga, an awakening is necessary to discern what is real from the unreal in order to transcend the endless wheel of suffering in birth, life, death and rebirth. In the Alexander Technique an awakening is necessary to become aware of restrictive habits of mind and body in order to create the freedom and wellbeing of proper functioning of the human system. For both, this means, delving into that which is initially obscured from mundane waking consciousness. Both offer clear, well-considered practices and procedures to the student, giving them a framework With which to explore themselves in a formal setting and in the chaotic and uncontrollable outside world.

2. The Need to Understand and Control our Reactions

Both systems understand that it is not so much the doing of things that gets us into trouble as it is the underlying frame of mind that does the damage. In Yoga, every action has a consequence (the law of karma). Each of these consequences further deepens our suffering, be it physical, mental or existential. Some of these consequences will not necessarily come to fruition in the present lifetime, thus hurtling us forward into further births. We must learn the underlying causes of our actions in order to learn to act in such a way that we undo the harm we have done to ourselves.

The Alexander Technique also holds that every action has a consequence, although the consequences F. M. Alexander was concerned with were all of them much more immediate and written on the body. Every reaction based on habit, or the result of the sympathetic nervous system’s startle response, is a compression and a restriction that puts more stress on the body and mind of the individual, that contributes to greater discomfort and deterioration of proper functioning of the person’s entire system, edging them closer to the possibility of emotional upset, injury and disease. Only by learning to observe and inhibit our reactions, and to project specific intentions for more organized, balanced functioning can we avoid and retrain ourselves to greater ease and wellbeing.

3. Being Out of Touch with Feelings

Both yoga and the Alexander Technique have an interesting relationship to the senses of the body. Both are of the opinion that the way we use the senses causes us more harm than good. In Yoga, the thought is that paying attention to the senses draws us away from the Self, where the important knowledge lies, into the outside world. The Alexander Technique shares that thought, positing that we are too quick to respond to the stimuli that the senses bring us. Both believe it necessary to create a dispassionate distance between the object of the senses and the awareness so as to watch and direct the reactions of the self. The Alexander Technique even recognizes an additional sense, kinesthesia (the “feeling” sense), which needs to be regarded with a healthy degree of skepticism for the faulty impressions it can bring.

4. The Integration of the Body and Mind

Both Yoga and the Alexander Technique recognize that there is no separation between body and mind. They are two aspect of the larger whole of the Self. The body can be directed to influence the mind just as the mind can be directed to influence the body. The two must come together and work in unison to create the desired change in the individual.

5. The Search for Natural Functioning (Non-Interference)

In the Indian philosophical tradition, the human body is made up of a network of 72,000 subtle energy channels. These channels feed into seven wheel-like energy centers, or chakras, that align along a central column running from tail to head. If these channels are open, and the wheels are spinning freely as they should, then the snake-like spiritual energy known as kundalini coiled at the bottom of the spine will be free to rise and higher consciousness will be achieved. The goal of a physical yoga practice is to purify and open all these channels so that spiritual energy can flow freely.

From the Alexander Technique perspective, the human system is pretty much perfect when we are young children. Having emerged from the womb a largely blank slate of potential, the infant develops naturally, learning to push and pull, to lift its head, reach and grab, eventually learning to pull itself upright to stand an move about. It is only as it gets older that the child starts to learn bad habits that pull it away from the perfect poise of the toddler. The Alexander Technique aims to undo all the interferences and to get the individual back to that state of wasteful poise.

6. and 7. Search for a Central Core and Renewed Interest in Vital Energy

In some ways, these final two themes are where Yoga and the Alexander Technique are perhaps the most closely aligned. Both gave a strong sense of rising energy along a central channel with the head playing an important role in the final integration of body and mind.

In Yoga, the kundalini energy is encouraged to rise up the central subtle energy channel, the sushumna nadi. When it reaches the head, it blossoms out of the energy wheel at the top of the head and joins with the energy of the universe around it. In the Alexander a Technique, the upward flow of energy is directed through the torso along the lengthening and widening spine where the head is encouraged to balance in a poised state of freedom, leading the movement and subtle functioning of the whole system.

This post originally appeared on Witold Fitz-Simon's blog.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/After-crop1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]WITOLD FITZ-SIMON has been a student of the Alexander Technique since 2007. He is certified to teach the Technique as a graduate of the American Center for the Alexander Technique’s 1,600-hour, three year training program. A student of yoga since 1993 and a teacher of yoga since 2000, Witold combines his extensive knowledge of the body and its use into intelligent and practical instruction designed to help his students free themselves of ineffective and damaging habits of body, mind and being. www.mindbodyandbeing.com[/author_info] [/author]

The Shoulders: To Rest or Not to Rest?

by John Austin Finding neutral for the shoulders is one of the most challenging things one can do in terms of the use of the self in my experience. Add a complex activity that requires a certain level of ease in the shoulder girdle on top and you’ve got a recipe for paradox and frustration.

Let’s begin with the basic anatomy of the shoulder girdle. When I refer to the “shoulder girdle” I mean the hands & arms, shoulder blades, and collar bone. You may be surprised to learn that the only jointed (bone to bone) connection of the shoulder girdle to the rest of the skeleton is in the front of the torso at the top of the sternum.

Find your collar-bone (clavicle) by palpating the bone and follow it toward the mid-line until find two roundish protrusions at either side of the top of chest bone (sternum). You are on top of the sternoclavicular joint(s) where the shoulder girdle meets the rest of the skeleton.

If you follow the collar bone out from the mid-line toward the arm until it reaches the furthest bony protrusion you’ve found the point where the clavicle meets the shoulder blade (scapula), the acromioclavicular joint. It’s called the acromioclavicular joint because it is where the clavicle and the point of the scapula furthest from the mid-line, called the acromion process (processes are protrusions that allow for muscle and ligament attachment), meet. This should not be confused with the glenohumeral joint where the upper arm attaches to the shoulder blade; there is no direct bone to bone attachment of the upper arm to the collarbone.

Now, palpate your way back to toward the mid-line from the acromion, this time following the shoulder blade until it reaches what will feel like the corner of a triangle. You are feeling the “spine” of the scapula. Depending on your muscle build you may have to press quite firmly and the scapula may seemingly disappear into muscle. The strong muscles of the back are what support and stabilize the shoulder girdle as there are no bone to bone attachments in the back. The structure of the shoulder girdle, while providing extreme freedom of movement, also brings an ambiguousness when looking for a neutral position for the shoulders and arms.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that how we use ourselves in our daily activities has a profound effect on the resting lengths of our muscles. It is this phenomenon that we are observing when we see pianists and people who spend hours at the computer still in the shape they work from when walking, eating, watching TV, etc. In the case of the shoulder girdle this can be quite extreme. Because of the lack of bony structural support, the resting position of our shoulders is almost completely determined by the resting lengths of our muscles. If we overstretch our muscles in daily activity, we run the risk of deteriorating the support that allows the shoulders to find a comfortable resting position.

Along the way to becoming a “serious” violist, I was told to keep my shoulders relaxed. So I went about figuring out how to do that. I am meticulous in the practice room and before long I had discovered that I could relax my left shoulder while playing although my right didn’t really follow suit. The static nature of the left shoulder in violin & viola playing allows for a certain amount of relaxation (release of all/most muscle tone) while the larger more dynamic movements of the bow require the arm muscles which originate in the back to be active for movement to occur. The left shoulder can relax even more if you use a shoulder rest as you then virtually never have to move your shoulder.

On the surface you’d think that one less thing to worry about (moving the shoulder to balance the instrument) and a little less muscular effort would be good; so for years I ignorantly thought, “I’m raising my right shoulder, that’s not good.” Yet, after hours of playing it was not my right shoulder that cracked and popped, it was my left. Even after years of receiving praise for my tone which of course comes primarily from the bow, I thought, “But my left is down so it must be better than my right,” and went about trying to lower my right. Needless to say I was unsuccessful.

It wasn’t until years of Alexander work that I realized what I was actually doing was relaxing my left shoulder to the point that it was resting on my rib cage. This was the grinding bone on bone I felt in the form of constant cracking and popping when I moved my arm. I was robbing my shoulder girdle of it’s muscular support by relaxing it and then dragging it across my rib cage.

It turns out that the last thing we want to do when doing any activity is rest. The word activity even contains active! To remedy my issue, I had to relearn to play the viola without the shoulder rest. I found that every little shift was a welcome opportunity for movement in my shoulder girdle. Rather than trying to hold myself still or relax into a blob I was free to move and the movement had an organizing effect on my shoulder girdle which helped remind my shoulder blades where neutral was. I had been taught that raising my shoulder was off limits movement-wise on the viola. How ridiculous a notion it was to make a movement off limits when all of the great violinists and even Primrose himself did this subtle lift of the shoulder.

This rule I assume was a reaction to the common problem of violists & violinists clamping down on the instrument between their necks and shoulders, which isn’t much better. Although, too much tension is less likely to destabilize your shoulder girdle. In my case, relaxing has left me not being able to let my left shoulder be in it’s neutral resting place without pain. I’ve over-stretched the muscles and they now rest on bone and nerves. It takes subtle conscious direction of my shoulder for the pain to subside, which is annoying to say the least.

I’m not sure if it is laziness, bad teaching, or what exactly is at the root of the shoulder rest debate in the string playing world. I’ve already written about the laziness possibility here. String teachers having a very small part of the body of knowledge necessary is possible, pun very much intended. It could just come down to the fact that playing the viola is extremely difficult and the shoulder rest is a seductive little crutch that can allow us to avoid having to learn how to properly use our shoulder girdle in the process of playing the viola, which is not simple and takes a long time to do.

Once again the most healthy option seems to be to stop trying to gain our end without reasoning out a means whereby to attain it; not to mention means that at the very least don’t leave us physically and mentally destroyed and/or with a mediocre end: the music which we care so dearly about.

This post originally appeared on John Austin's blog.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/headshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]JOHN AUSTIN started pondering and pontificating on the probable and possible reasons for the tragic loss of joy in himself and his fellow musicians as he approached his breaking point in a music conservatory. In fact, he was nearly a casualty of the music “busi-ness" when he stumbled on the Alexander Technique. Since then he's been inspired by his training at the American Center for the Alexander Technique to write in an attempt to better understand what was happening to himself and others. Mr. Austin has an active performing career, blog, and teaching studio in West Harlem, Manhattan.[/author_info] [/author]

"Physical Expression on Stage and Screen: Using the Alexander Technique to Create Unforgettable Performances" by Bill Connington

by Helen Farmer When I moved to New York after completing my MFA in acting I bought several books that claimed to be New York actor survival guides how to build your career, how to audition etc. I quickly realized little information that help me in the way I needed. I was tense, unsure, and had no idea how to make use of my training when I was sitting in a casting office or worse, waiting for the phone to ring. I wish I had been able to carry Bill Connington’s "Physical Expression on Stage and Screen" with me then. For, Mr. Connington has written a book that both educates and inspires. Working through this book an actor will not only find their feet on the ground and their head moving forward and up, but they will reignite their creative fires and empowered to be the artist they want to be. A true ‘survival guide’ if there ever was one.

Mr. Connington begins as many Alexander teachers do with the story of F.M. the way he tells sets tone for the book to follow. He is not interested in being mired in the past. He touches briefly on the history of AT as well as his own experiences. These sections serve to contextualize the work, making it more someone who has never heard of Alexander or this kind of work. But this is a book for actors, not necessarily Alexander practitioners Mr. Connington moves quickly into the heart of the matter. With the suggestion that the results he has seen are: “Unique, surprising and unexpected” from an approach described as “organic, non-judgmental and open”, I would defy an actor struggling with any kind of block in their creativity to not dive right into the this book.

Basic Principles Brought to Life

In the early chapters Mr. Conninton begins to explore some basic Alexander concepts such as proprioception, end-gaining and startle response. Each explanation if followed by a clearly laid out experiential exercise that the actor can do on their own or with a friend. These exercises allow concepts to become integrated into the actor’s process. Being able to fully blend the Alexander technique into the daytoday lives of the actors and have it be relevant is clearly important to Mr. Connington and is manifested in several interesting ways. The most striking being the of the Alexander principles: Sensory Awareness, Inhibition, Direction, and Constructive Conscious Control. Instead Mr. Connington gives us: Sense, Poise, Flow and Choice. Reading this language I felt as if someone had opened a window in a musty room and let a little light in. The principles are all present, but the shift to less arcane language encourages a kind of accessibility I really responded to. The classical Alexander ‘directions’, become ‘flow thoughts’ and are dropped into the subsequent exercises that investigate both everyday (sitting, talking on the phone, typing) and more expansive activities (walking and talking, balancing, stillness), as well as breathing. Mr. Connington describes this work as: “a multi-platform self-improvement program” and through these exercises he offers concise, simple ways for the actor to gain more self-knowledge and freedom in their work.

Had the book stopped there it would be an excellent introduction to Alexander technique, but it is the second and third sections that truly set this book apart for an actor. In the second section Mr. Connington asks the actor to come out and play or as he puts it: “stimulate and develop your imagination and emotion.” While never losing sight of the principles, the second series of exercises gives the performer the opportunity to explore character building, vocalization and movement in an enjoyable non-judgmental way. Mr. Connington asks the reader to do everything from chanting, to creating a silent movie, to reciting Emily Dickinson. Drawing on such influences as Michael Chekov and Stanislavski, Mr. Connington clearly demonstrates through this expansive and fun section that the Alexander technique is not a stand-alone aspect of theatrical training, and can be used to broaden the range of an actor’s work.

Practical Advice

In the third section Mr. Connington gets down to the nitty-gritty, how an actor is going to use the Alexander technique outside of the studio. This is an essential and oft-missed element of actor training; how do you take the creative exploration of rehearsal or class and put it to work in an audition or performance? Mr. Connington’s vast experience as an actor and working with actors is clear here. Using the Alexander principles he offers exercises that an actor can use in the mundane everyday work of being an actor. Exercises that will get one comfortable with a cold reading (essential if you want to audition for film and TV), or will warm up you up in three minutes or less (great if you are running audition to audition), or will allow you to let go and get some sleep at the end of the day (in case you ever want to play Hamlet). Moreover, he introduces the concept of constructive conscious control, or as he calls it ‘choice’ and offers it to his reader as the ultimate gift. As an actor it is easy to feel like you are not the one in control of your destiny. To be reminded that everything is a choice and that the ability to change lies within their grasp is a very empowering message and one every artist should hear.

It is that message of empowerment I take away from this book. Mr. Connington is offering to every actor a simple, concise, and fun way to fully realize their potential as artists and as healthy happy human beings, an incredible gift to say the least.

ACAT and Bill Connington will celebrate the publication of "Physical Expression on Stage and Screen: Using the Alexander Technique to Create Unforgettable Performances" with a one-time, free event for Alexander Technique teachers and trainees, performers, and their guests on Friday, September 19, 2014, 7-9 pm at ACAT, 39 West 14th Street, Suite 507. Space is limited.  Reserve your place by e-mailing connington@acatnyc.org

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/helen-farmer.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]HELEN FARMER is originally from Calgary, Canada. She holds a B. A. in Theater from the University of Guelph and an M. F. A. in Acting from Rutgers University. A professional actress, she currently teaches acting at Rutgers in the BA faculty and lives with her husband in Manhattan. Helen first experienced the Alexander Technique while working with Kelly McEvenue at the Stratford Festival and continued to study with Greg Seel at Rutgers. She is entering the third year of the ACAT Teacher Training Program.[/author_info] [/author]

An Interview with Board Member Gail Heimberg

by Brooke Lieb

August 28, 2014: Gail Heimberg is a long time student of the Alexander Technique and has served on the ACAT Board since 2010. After managing a computer store in the early days of microcomputers, she founded her computer consulting and training company, Techknowledge/G in 1990. She volunteers for other organizations and also serves on the Board of her 

BROOKE

How did you first discover the Alexander Technique?

GAIL

I had neck pain for many years. At a seminar someone suggested I try the Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais. I eventually went to a physical therapist that used Feldenkrais and found it helped only for a short time after a session. The pain always returned.

In 1999, I’d been doing computer consulting for years and went to a new client. As I sat crouched over her computer, she said if I touch the top of your ears you could let your head go up. It did! What a rush! This was Beret Arcaya. She suggested I go for a series of lessons with a protégé of hers. I did. My neck pain disappeared, never to return.

BROOKE

What were your early lessons like?

GAIL

At first I thought I wasn’t getting it but I liked it and I think I could connect physically to the subtle changes that happen in each lesson. My teacher was lovely, clear and so patient.

BROOKE

How long have your been studying?

GAIL

I have studied continuously since 1999. I always felt that I was changing and that although I couldn’t “get there”, I was continuing to improve.

BROOKE

What kinds of shifts and/or changes have you noticed in your understanding of the work?

GAIL

As I am getting older, I delight in the fact that I am still changing, still improving. That I look and move so much more youthfully that I could have possibly otherwise.

The lessons and the technique have helped me through illness and surgery, I lost my midrange voice and Beret Arcaya and the Alexander Technique helped me to get it back.

BROOKE

How do you apply it to daily life, and/or use it in practical ways?

GAIL

Even more exciting to me than improving physically is how it’s helped emotionally. I actually figured out that negative thinking was a habit and I could stop when I was aware of it. Friends asked me once what kind of meditation practice I did. I cited using the Technique and “stopping."

Perhaps the hardest thing for me (maybe for everyone) is to remember to be aware in all activities. It’s something to keep working on!

BROOKE

What keeps you engaged in study?

GAIL

When I see a picture of F. M. Alexander or hear about other teachers who could move easily when they were elderly; I say to myself, I want that! I love the idea of always improving!

Lessons are so helpful when I’m tired, stressed or something is not quite right in my body.

BROOKE

What would you say to a newer student, to give them a preview of what happens after a long course of study?

GAIL

I love to tell people that this is fantastic and it will help them now and way into the future. It will help with what brought them to lessons but that if they keep it up, even more great things will happen.

What I don’t love is how hard it is to get someone to appreciate how fantastic this is, how much it’s helped me and how much it could help him or her.

BROOKE

How has your understanding or concept of the Alexander technique evolved over the years?

GAIL

I really think that I am always finding new ways to appreciate this work and my body. I know there were uncharted and “unexperienced” physical and emotional places that I discovered and still discovering.

BROOKE

What inspires you to serve on the ACAT Board?

GAIL

I want the world to know there is something that actually works to alleviate pain and to improve one’s experiences in life; to help spread the word.

I have also found the people who have served with me, delightful to work with and they have the same goals. I have served as “a body” at the school and was very impressed by the level of the training we offer. I learned something new each time!

Try a lesson one-on-one with

a certified Alexander Technique teacher

.

Over 40 Years of Experience: Barbara Kent, Senior Teacher at ACAT

by Judy Stern

Barbara has taught me many skills on many levels—too many to list in this article. The "hands on" skill that stands out today, was learning to maintain the energetic space between my hands, my arms and my student while maintaining full contact. This allows students to sense the space for them to change (to move up and out). The energetic space makes it easy for students to discover and address habits without feeling imposed upon, or pressured to change. This is one of many skills that Barbara teaches our trainees today, just as I learned it when I trained at ACAT in 1987. Of course, now I also teach our trainees about the energetic space. It's an incredibly valuable and necessary skill that helps maximize teaching and learning.

Barbara has also taught me many psychodynamic skills. In addition to being an Alexander Technique teacher, Barbara is a trained Rubenfeld Synergist. This means she has particular interpersonal skills that enhance a students' ability to learn and the teachers’ ability to impart information. For example, let's say a student has a very slight limp that was due to a recent injury. Barbara wouldn't say, "Do you know you're limping?" Rather than pointing out the limp directly, which might make the student self-conscious (i.e.: startled), she would use an indirect approach. She would encourage lengthening of the torso on the opposite side of the limp, and eventually, the limp may decrease, even disappear, if it is due to habit.

50 Years of ACAT!

Barbara has brought so much to the ACAT community. She is THE Senior teacher/trainer in NYC and perhaps on the East Coast. To be called a senior teacher, one must have 20 years of teaching the Alexander Technique. Barbara has over forty years of experience! She carries the ACAT legacy passed on to her from Judy Leibowitz and Debby Caplan (both took lessons from F. M. Alexander) and Frank Ottiwell, as well as her mentors, Walter and Dilys Carrington and Elisabeth Walker, who were trained to be teachers by F. M. Alexander. It is an amazing experience to work with her, because she embodies all that she learned those teachers.

Barbara's many roles at ACAT since she trained in 1971 speak to what a remarkable asset she is to the ACAT Training Course and to the Alexander community at large. She has headed the ACAT training twice, first when Judy Liebowitz, our first and founding director, stepped down from the position in 1982. Then a second time, in 1996, when called upon by the faculty to lead once again.

I highly recommend the Alexander Technique Lesson at Home, a digital download in which Barbara narrates a compilation of the procedures Judy Leibowitz taught that are very helpful for practicing the Technique on your own. You also get an interview with Barbara, in which she talks about Judy (Leibowitz') influence at ACAT and on her own teaching. You can get the Lesson at Home by making a donation to ACAT.

Barbara is a treasure in our community, having touched so many of us with her gifts.

ACAT’s 50th Anniversary – Matching Challenge Grant

ACAT has received a matching grant of up to $10,000. Donate in honor of Barbara Kent and Jessica Wolf, and have your donation matched dollar-for-dollar. Whatever you give, your donation will be doubled. To thank you for your donation, we will send you a link to download an MP3 of ACAT's Alexander Technique Lesson at Home, based on Judith Leibowitz’s teaching and narrated by Barbara Kent. Go to acat50.org to donate and find out more. All donations to ACAT are tax deductible.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Judy-Stern-headshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]JUDY STERN is a senior faculty member at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT). She has been teaching the Alexander Technique for almost 30 years. She has a post-graduate certificate in Physical Therapy and a Master of Arts in Health Education from the University of Florida/Gainesville. She was a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Physical Therapy early in her career, and worked for 19 years as a traditional physical therapist. Judy has a special interest in the neurophysiology of the Technique. She has a private practice at her studio in Rye, NY, and specializes in working with people in pain. Connect with Judy at her website. www.judithcstern.com [/author_info] [/author]

Comedy and Tragedy: Performance and the Alexander Technique

by Brooke Lieb This summer, I decided to check some items off my bucket list while I am healthy, happy and had time. I spent Tuesday afternoons in "Acting for the Camera" in the afternoons, and in a Stand Up Comedy class in the evenings. Although I have a Bachelor's Degree in Musical Theater Performance, I haven't worked on a text or studied acting technique in over 25 years. I have never done Stand Up. The first point at which my AT skills kicked in was the act of registering. I tend to think inhibition is about overtly stopping from impulsive and habitual behavior. In this case, inhibition helped me override the habit of keeping in my comfort zone, to do something new, different and unknown.

Tragedy

I had a chance to observe the on-camera acting class before I registered. I noticed my first impulse as I watched the teacher, Karen Ludwig, work with her students, was to run as far in the opposite direction from this class as I could. As I thought about being in the class, I found a number of rational reasons not to register. I also had the chance to observe my thinking from a new vantage point and understood that my love of acting is the reason I am afraid. I care about learning and doing well. The paradox is that doing well requires me to take my attention off the result so I am present, focused, specific and connected to the reality of the circumstances of the scene. I have to do what I am doing, in as heightened a state of reality as possible.

We have had 9 classes so far, and I've seen my work played back on the camera 4 times. I also have the chance to watch my classmates, working live and on camera. It's much easier for me to hear and see what the other actors are doing well and need to work on. I have a bit of a blind spot watching my own work, so my first order of business is just to be able to see and hear my own work on playback. I haven't seen anything in my performance that horrifies me or makes me go running from the room, even if I'm not satisfied with the reality.

The work I'm doing in class reminds me of my early Alexander lessons. I feel like I have little or no experience, I don't know what I'm doing, and this will be a long and deep process. My relationship to studying acting is much more loaded than my relationship to studying Alexander Technique. I am having to deal with a much stronger stimulus to end gain, i.e., produce a successful result. I feel like a rank beginner and I have to learn how to balance my passion to learn; the vulnerability of being watched and judged; and the need to give myself time and space to explore, be curious, make mistakes, and play.

I have decided to register for the class and continue this upcoming semester. It is so challenging and I am so out of my comfort zone, that I know I need more time and opportunity to practice the craft.

Comedy

I have always been curious about stand up comedy, and comedy improv/sketch comedy. I love to tell jokes, and friends and family have always told me I have a good sense of humor. I didn't really consider that in stand up, it isn't only a matter of one's ability to deliver the punchline, you must be a writer. I have done a lot of improv (where I always have a scene partner and someone to play off) over the years. I had never done stand up before. I admired brilliant stand up comedians over the years, and their creativity and ability to craft stories out of life's foibles.

I didn't really think it through when I signed up, which was a good thing, because I might not have done it otherwise. It ended up being easier to write my material than I expected. I was fully prepared to find out I had no skill in this area. Unlike acting, with which I have a long history of failure and success, I had no attachment to being any good at stand up. Also, knowing that I wasn't going to be forced to perform at the graduation show made it easier for me to give it a go.

My Alexander tools seemed to be the most useful when it came to relating to the audience. During my 5-minute set, I started out focusing on remembering my script and not starting the next line until the laughs died down. (Yes, I managed to get plenty of laughs!) As I realized they were enjoying the material, I started slowing down mentally, talking to the audience and relating to them as I would in a real conversation. Pacing took care of itself, and I really enjoyed myself. One caveat: this was an invited audience of friends and family of everyone from our acting class, so they were pre-disposed to like us, support us and laugh at our jokes. I must attend some open mics to get a better sense of what it's like to connect (or not) with a roomful of strangers (many of whom are drinking.) I haven't encountered any hecklers, so that is uncharted territory.

All in all, the stand up comedy experience was easy, fun and fulfilled a curiosity I've had for a long time. My whole attitude about it was one of curiosity and play. The nerves I felt getting up to try out new material every week in class, and at performance, was attached to excitement, without much fear. It is a stark contrast to my acting class.

How can you apply Alexander Technique tools to your performance?

In addition to the more physically based tools of freeing your breath, slowing down, taking time to see, hear and choose how you might respond in the moment, you can work with your thinking and internal dialogue.

1. Get clear about your level of desire to be there, doing it, especially if you are particularly afraid or indifferent. Most of us understand the idea that we get performance jitters. Fear makes sense. Apathy doesn't make as much sense, but sometimes a strong desire can trigger apathy as a protective mechanism.

2. Ask yourself:

• Am I doing this because I want to, and I am invested?
• Am I doing this because I think I should; or have I internalized the voice of someone else telling me I should do this?
• Can I tolerate any discomfort long enough to get some experience and see if there is satisfaction or pleasure from this experience?

3. Talk to people who are doing what you want to do. Ask them about what kinds of fears, doubts, experiences they have had. Ask them how long it took for them to feel better, or get to a point that they knew they were going to show up and keep going. Talk to a number of people, and notice how varied their advice and stories can be. We all respond to desire and passion in different ways. Some performers seem fearless and outgoing, others seem crippled by doubt, others seem blasé and indifferent, like it's no big deal. Where do you fall on that spectrum?

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brooke1web.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]N. BROOKE LIEB (ACAT, '89) is the Director of ACAT's Teacher Certification Program. She has a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Musical Theater Performance from Empire State College, and maintains a private practice in New York on the Upper West Side, and in Pipersville, PA. Her clients include performing artists, people dealing with chronic and acute pain, and those living with scoliosis. Brooke will be performing another set Monday, September 22 at 7:30 - doors open at 7 at Caroline's Comedy, 1626 Broadway between 49 and 50 - call (212) 757-4100 to make reservations and mention you are coming to see Brooke - if you mention her name, your cover is only $5! www.brookelieb.com [/author_info] [/author]