From Our ACAT Faculty: "Does training teachers require a different set of skills?" by Brooke Lieb

December 17, 2015 admin

by Brooke Lieb

Training teachers is a different contract than work with private students.

My private students are the ones who set the pace and depth of how they work with their own habits. I explore whatever activities or concepts are most useful, relevant and meaningful to them. I have no timeframe for their progress, and no agenda about their level of understanding or interest in the work. As a teacher, I need the scope of understanding to meet my students where they are, and to give them the skills of Alexander’s work to use as they choose. They, on the other hand, are there for themselves and their own needs. I notice things going on in their behavior, use and function that they may be unaware of. I take my lead from them to determine when and how I might share those observations with the student. Learning this skill is something I hope to impart to a teacher-in-training.

On the training course, I expect and demand a much higher level of rigor and commitment from teachers-in-training. They are no longer focusing exclusively on themselves and their needs and interests. I am assessing their skills against a standard and there are specific developmental benchmarks for them to meet to progress to the next level. I strive to be clear and able to articulate in every moment what I am doing, why and how so I can transfer that knowledge in a way that will be accessible for teachers-in-training when they are the ones teaching.

When I teach a private student, I have an awareness of myself, my student and the interplay between us. My private students don’t need to observe or understand my role in their learning, but the teachers-in-training need to understand the "means where-by" of teaching. They are using the skills they learned when studying privately and applying them to the task of teaching. On the training course I teach teachers-in-training pedagogical skills that are not specific to the Alexander Technique. A teacher-in-training needs a clear understanding of how and why touch is used to teach, whether touch is ultimately used in a given class or lesson. I also need an understanding of group dynamics, and how to support individual needs balanced with the needs of the group.

[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]

Continuing Community at ACAT

December 10, 2015 admin

by Karen Krueger In my last blog post, I wrote about why I chose to enroll in the teacher training program at the American Center for the Alexander Technique ("ACAT"), and described the unique strengths of the program. Graduating from that program was a bittersweet moment for me, as it seemed I would lose my connection to the community that I was a part of as a trainee.

Luckily, as I soon discovered, ACAT gives its graduates many ways to remain part of the community. To begin with, there is the opportunity to serve as a volunteer faculty member. This meant that I could continue to participate in the training course at a level appropriate to my experience. Working with trainees was an ideal way to hone my hands-on skills, as ACAT trainees are expert at giving constructive verbal and nonverbal feedback. Participating in a training class also allowed me to observe and experience what the trainers were teaching, and to contribute with questions and observations from my own growing teaching practice.

In addition, I learned that ACAT is not just a training program. It is a not-for-profit membership organization, offering free and paid continuing education programs for teaching members and free and paid programming in the Alexander Technique for associate members and the general public. A majority of ACAT's Board of Directors are ACAT graduates.

ACAT teaching members offer monthly free introductions to the Alexander Technique. Volunteering to present or assist in these "Hands-On Demonstrations" is a great way for recent graduates to get valuable experience working with groups on the Alexander Technique. ACAT also sponsors low-cost drop-in group classes in the Alexander Technique, staffed by teaching members who have been active volunteers at the Hands-On Demonstrations.

In addition to these formal connections, ACAT graduates have their own more spontaneous ways of nurturing the ACAT community. Many of the people I trained with remain friends, have exchanges with each other to work on their skills, and refer students to each other. As I become a more experienced teacher, I find that my most valued form of continuing education is exchanging work with the ACAT people I met during my three years in the training course.

If you love the Alexander Technique, you can be a part of the ACAT community, even if you did not graduate from ACAT, by joining as a teaching member (if you are an AmSAT-certified teacher) or an associate member.

To learn more about the benefits of membership, go here.

To learn more about ACAT's teacher training program, go here.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/karen-headshot-67.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]

From Our ACAT Faculty: My First Contact With The Alexander Technique, by Marta Curbelo

December 3, 2015 admin

Marta.Curbelo by Marta Curbelo I always loved movement and dance. I became a “star” in my brand new elementary school when I danced in front of my father’s Latin band at a school assembly. As a stay-at-home mom, I missed dance. When Nicole was eight, I decided to get active again: I joined The Nickolaus Technique exercise classes. After a few years of taking classes, I became an instructor and gave classes. One of the franchise owners was training at ACAT and asked me to volunteer as his student. At the time, I was about to buy a Nickolaus franchise. After volunteering at ACAT and experiencing a lightness I had never before felt, I started The Alexander Technique lessons with Sarnie Ogus and my life changed. Forget about the Nickolaus franchise, this was for me. My then-husband was going to be assigned to London and I knew I could find a home in England with The Alexander Technique. We never made it to London, but I have been able to teach The Alexander Technique wherever I found myself: New York City, Stamford CT or Santa Fe NM; even being invited to give annual workshops in Italy and Switzerland over a six-year period.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a few years after graduating in 1987 from ACAT. At the time, I had a private practice in Stamford and was an assistant ACAT faculty member. My symptoms were (and are) fatigue and paresthesia, or nerve-ending pain, and spasticity on my left side. I found early on that I could quiet my nervous system by applying the principles of The Alexander Technique. This has enabled me to minimize the debilitating effects of the disease. I am in the process of working with my neurologist on a case study to show the potential of using The Alexander Technique in the management of MS symptoms.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Marta.Curbelo.png[/author_image] [author_info] MARTA CURBELO was certified by ACAT to teach The Alexander Technique in 1987, immediately volunteered as an assistant teacher and then became an associate teacher and finally a member of the Senior Faculty in 1989. Marta has taught at The Juilliard School and has had private practices in New York City, Norwalk CT and Santa Fe NM. She has conducted workshops in New York City, Switzerland and Italy and taught in a physical therapy facility in Mt. Kisco, NY. Marta also has been certified, after a one-year course of study in the Art of Breathing, to teach breathing coordination in conjunction with The Alexander Technique. See her website: MartaCurbelo.com.[/author_info] [/author]

From Our ACAT Faculty: My First Contact With The Alexander Technique, by Brooke Lieb

November 13, 2015 admin

by Brooke Lieb I first heard about the Alexander Technique when I was researching theater training. Alexander was part of the curriculum at The Juilliard School, Carnegie Mellon University, ACT in San Francisco, and many of the acting programs in London. I was planning to study for theater as an undergraduate, though I honestly didn't think I had the talent or constitution to manage the business side of the profession. Since I always liked to communicate through touch, I thought the Alexander Technique would be a profession that would place me within the performing arts world as a teacher, without dealing with the stress and rejection of auditioning and relying on being the right type to get to practice my craft as an actor. I knew on some level that I was going to train to teach the Alexander Technique even before I had a lesson.

I was 20 when I took my first lesson, with Nancy Wanich Romita during her last term of her teacher training at ACAT, on the campus of SUNY Purchase. After that first lesson, floating out of the dance building, I remember how excited I was having finally experienced the work that I had intuitively known was my life's work! It was more amazing then I could have imagined. I studied privately for 4 years, and had over 120 lessons at the time I applied to train at ACAT. I was on the course from 1987-1989, and feel so fortunate that I found my life's work so early. I also feel fortunate that I have had this work as part of my life resources since such a young age. I continue to learn and grow as both a student and a teacher. My enthusiasm and passion for the work has only deepened with time.

From Our ACAT Faculty: My First Contact With The Alexander Technique, by Daniel Singer

November 6, 2015 admin

by Daniel Singer As a young man in my 20’s and well out of college, I was continuing with the spiritual search I had consciously begun at age 15. So as it happened, I found myself living in upstate New York on a rural farm, with a serious group of spiritual seekers. We were studying, in a practical way, the ideas of Gurdjieff. This farm/craft guild was an extraordinarily impactful learning environment, centered around traditional arts like pottery, weaving, woodworking, printing, farming, home-crafts, etc. We were studying the ideas of Gurdjieff; and working at traditional crafts was part of a means we used for self-study. I myself became a glassblower artisan there, and made this community my home for 6 years.

While I was living there, a group of musicians visited us from Minnesota. They were from the orchestra in St. Paul. As it happened, their Alexander teacher, Goddard Binkley, (who had been trained by F.M. Alexander), had been invited by one of their group to visit us. And so, when he visited we all received a single private lesson with Goddard.

My half-hour lesson with Goddard was a very simple, no-frills chair session. The only procedure besides sitting and standing was a formal lunge. Although it was my first lesson, (and I hadn’t a clue about the AT or what was expected of me as a student taking a lesson) few words were exchanged and, strangely, nothing at the time felt like it actually needed an explanation. I recall the education in that lesson felt sufficiently implied through the intention of Goddard’s touch, directly impacting my kinesthetic sense. Looking back on it now, it is quite easy for me to argue against adopting such a model/strategy for teaching a “first lesson.” His choice to not explain anything was a curious and radical choice. I speculate that his view might have been: “If my student is leaving themselves alone sufficiently to receive new kinesthetic data from my hands and not fall back into their old pattern of thinking, this new student’s nervous system will sufficiently interpret and use the new data, even in a first lesson.” Again, it seems like a less than optimal model for most first lessons, in my current view. Yet, in Goddard’s defense, it might be useful to note that the residents of this community were all rigorously focused on mindfulness, a living relationship to silence and contemplative inquiry. We were all studying together, as a group, the axiom "Know Thyself.” Therefore, it may be likely that Goddard felt that relative silence in a first lesson was a feasible strategy in the case of these particular first lessons in the Alexander Technique. However, I only speculate.

I recall the feeling of Goddard's hands to this day…inviting, strong and dynamic. They mysteriously sculpted my body and calmed my mind. He guided me into the chair in a totally new way. There was no table work given in that first lesson. When my half-hour lesson was done, I experienced a feeling that was truly unprecedented in my young life experience. It was an epiphany without words and I felt profoundly altered in my sense of self. It was as if I had landed on planet Earth for the first time, a wakeful presence mixed with a lightness of being that had hitherto eluded me. Much to my own surprise, right after walking away from the chair at the end of the lesson I turned to Goddard and said to him, “I know this must sound strange to hear, but someday I am going to teach this work to others.” To this day, I don’t know how I had the chutzpah to say that to him in that way, but I did. And even though it took 5 more years before I actually was able to have another Alexander Technique lesson, this time with Judith Leibowitz, eventually my prediction came to pass and I trained to become a teacher of this work.

As a child, I had been rather sickly, not having sat up until almost 2. As an infant, I couldn’t keep food down so barbiturates had been medically given as a remedy for that. Prone to continuous infections, I had been well-meaningly placed on oral penicillin for 11 years until the doctors decided that medical choice was no longer a smart one. I developed acute asthma and my nervous system became overwhelmed by the “speedy” drugs given for that. I wasn’t reading until after age 7. So there were definitely developmental lags and missing pieces, as well. Yet, through the graces of nature, by the time I was a young man, I had caught up in many areas. But my relationship to organization, self, balance, breath, movement and a normal sense of physicality was still quite challenged.

I feel it was a gift from God that I was guided to my first lesson with Goddard back in 1974. The trajectory of my life was significantly altered during that half-hour with him. And so, today I teach and help train others to study awareness, inhibition and direction through the Alexander Technique as I continue this ever-new investigation into the I-Thou-ness of living.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Daniel-Singer.jpeg[/author_image] [author_info]DANIEL SINGER is a senior faculty member at the American Center for the Alexander Technique Teacher Certification Program. He maintains a private practice in NYC and is currently on staff as the Alexander Technique teacher at three performance Conservatories: AMDA, Circle-in-the Square and Michael Howard Studio. Daniel is an author of the book The Sacred Portable Now (Prima Publishing, 1996). He also co-produced a CD “The Back Alive Advantage” based on principles of Alexander Technique self-lesson work. Additionally trained and certified in educational and therapeutic uses of visualization by the American Institute for Mental Imagery, he’s an artist whose mediums have included glassblowing, painting and writing. And for the last ten years he has joyfully pursued a passion for studying and dancing Argentine Tango. [/author_info] [/author]

The Alexander Technique: Spiraling Our Lives

November 2, 2015 admin

by Mariel Berger When something is organized it flows in the most efficient way possible. I just moved into a new apartment and am discovering the joy of changing my habits to create a super organized home. Every object has a place, and that place is set up in relationship to all other things so the dynamic of the house flows effortlessly. The apartment itself is small, but its efficient arranging lets everything be seen as a whole, and function to its potential. Just as when our muscular system is integrated well, we are conscious of how the parts relate to each other: one at a time and all together.

In this modern world, it is easy to forget about the Whole, since our days are governed by the clock. Linear Time is structured in a way that you can’t see what came before or what will be. We are trapped in seconds, minutes, days --lost in the fleetingness of moments---each one vanishing as we step forward into the next. What if we allowed time to soften from its hard line into a spiral that wraps and wraps around itself? What if we were able to experience time in its Entire Presence?

From years of anxious doing, humans have learned and constructed different patterns from the ones found in nature. Patriarchy, Capitalism, Western Culture--all these very narrow systems have detached us from our true and effortless flow. Just as Corporate Agriculture turned farming into rows, despite the fact that nature’s most efficient growing shape is nonlinear, years of industrious work regimented and fixed our muscles into an unnatural shape. Tension and pain are from habits that are not aligned with nature’s organization.

Western Culture worships lines----------------------------------------------------->

[Linear Time] ---------------------> [GRIDS]-------------------------> [Boxes]------------>

Time in one fixed and narrow arrow always pointing from past to future.

[Lists] [Periods]

[Streets] [Fences]

[Wars] [Watches]

[Patriarchy]

All of these linear forces have tried to grid over nature’s beautiful and miraculous organization--the endlessly flowing spirals moving through every part of life. Spirals are found in all parts of nature: galaxies, hurricanes, whirlpools, nautilus shells, cacti, cauliflower, cabbage, sunflowers, pine cones and even inside us. “Examples of spirals in the human body include the spiral waves of blood flow, twisting curves in bones, and the corkscrew-like umbilical cord.” There are also spirals throughout our muscular system. “The human body is fundamentally built upon spiral design and moves most efficiently in accord with spiral motion.” Carol Porter McCullough via Raymond Dart discusses the “double spiral arrangement of the human musculature” here.

In Alexander Technique we are constantly practicing connecting to the spirals within us, as well as allowing our walk to return to its natural spiral motion. The more we practice Alexander Technique, the more we expand our experience from two dimensional to three dimensional. As our relationship to our bodies shift, our thought process becomes three dimensional, and our experience of time softens from a line into a spiral. Instead of end-gaining or moving in a two dimensional straight line from point A to point B, we find the infinite three dimensional spiral which lets us experience the whole and the parts: one at a time and all together. We allow for our neck to be free, head to move forward and up, torso to widen and deepen, knees to move forward and away, simultaneously and part by part. We pay attention to each piece while remembering the connection to the fluid spiral within and around us.

Just as Alexander Technique organizes our bodies, in Permaculture Design, a practice of efficient and sustainable gardening/farming, we are encouraged to organize our gardens to mimic nature’s shapes. Many people arrange their gardens in spiral pyramid designs. “The Herb Spiral is a highly productive and energy efficient, vertical garden design. It allows you to stack plants to maximise space – a practical and attractive solution for urban gardeners...This Permaculture design maximises the natural force of gravity, allowing water to drain freely and seep down through all layers – leaving a drier zone at the top (perfect for hardy herbs) and a moist area at the bottom for water lovers.” – Adrian Buckley (from here).

Alexander Technique and Permaculture Design are both practices to help the body and land return to an integrative system of parts relating to the whole. Spirals are the essence of nature, and through these practices we organize our bodies and landscapes to resonate with their natural flow. Tiny spirals are in our DNA, pour into our blood, twist into our bones, make up our muscle sheets--and as we walk our arms, hips and torso spiral around our spine. We organize our garden into a spiral of sunflowers and even the sunflowers are endlessly repeating spiraling fractals of themselves. The part is the whole, the whole is the part...and on and on…………Read this piece in any order until you see that the meaning is in every word, and the words combined make meaning. Allow yourself to flow in and out of time, spiralling around and around…..

all together one at a time all together one at a time all together one at a time……..

all together one at a time…….. alltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneatatimealltogetheroneata….…… .... …...

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/helsinki-sun-headshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]MARIEL BERGER is a composer, pianist, singer, teacher, writer, and activist living in Brooklyn, NY. She currently writes for Tom Tom Magazine which features women drummers, and her personal essays have been featured on the Body Is Not An Apology website. Mariel curates a monthly concert series promoting women, queer, trans, and gender-non-conforming musicians and artists. She gets her biggest inspiration from her young music students who teach her how to be gentle, patient, joyful, and curious. You can hear her music and read her writing at: marielberger.com[/author_info] [/author]

From Our ACAT Faculty: My First Contact with the Alexander Technique, by Kim Jessor

October 22, 2015 admin

by Kim Jessor It was 1977. I had recently graduated from college, and had come to New York to be a dancer. I was living in Soho, taking dance classes, rehearsing and performing in lofts, and living the downtown New York arty life I had dreamed of. But then my knees began to give me trouble. Like F. M. Alexander, the medical world had no answers for me, nothing showed up on an x-ray, rest was advised. I was desperate; the life I had envisioned, the great joy dancing brought me and how much my young identity was tied up in it, seemed to be slipping away from me. At Sarah Lawrence College I had known Missy Vineyard. I knew she had become an Alexander teacher, and I had another dancer friend with knee trouble who was studying with Missy. They were the first people to tell me of this work that would change my life. I don’t remember clearly how I found my way to Jessica Wolf for my first lesson. She was still in her final semester of training. Once I went with her for a supervisory lesson to Judy Liebowitz’s (one of ACAT’s founders) apartment!

While I can no longer recapture the specific details of that lesson, I do remember that I experienced myself in an entirely new way, with this unfamiliar quality of ease and lightness. I left with a renewed sense of hope and possibility. I immediately called Jessica and asked her to meet me for lunch to talk about what training entailed. I told her I wanted to become a teacher of this Technique. She explained to me that I would need to take more lessons in order to apply, which I subsequently did. But I knew right away—this was the work I wanted to do. I was completely compelled by my experience, by the sense that there was a way out of my knee pain, and that the work combined my love of movement with my enjoyment of the process of teaching. I studied with Jessica for awhile, then Andrea Hanson, and in 1979 excitedly entered the ACAT teacher certification program. Many years later, I continue to teach others to become Alexander teachers at ACAT, and still thoroughly love this work.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/k_Jessor_1642.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]KIM JESSOR received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1976, where she danced and choreographed under Bessie Schoenberg. She received her ACAT certification in 1981 and has taught since then on ACAT’s faculty, serving as Director of the Teacher Certification Program from 1991-1994. Kim has taught at the Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, the Michael Howard Acting Studio, the New York Open Center, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, the Chautauqua summer music program, Penland School of Crafts, and the Miller Healthcare Institute for Performing Arts Medicine, among others. Kim has written articles on applying the Technique to marathon running and on her work with survivors of 9/11. She has also presented at several national meetings. Currently she is on the faculty at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program/Tisch School of the Arts, while maintaining a private practice in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Kim has done post certification work with Barbara Kent, Pearl Ausubel, Ann Mathews and Rika Cohen. She is also certified in Body-Mind Centering from Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.[/author_info] [/author]

"Physical Therapy May Not Benefit Back Pain," But The Alexander Technique May

October 16, 2015 admin

By Karen Krueger and Witold Fitz-Simon Just this week, Nicholas Bakalar of the New York Times reported on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on back pain and Physical Therapy. The goal was to determine whether or not treatment with Physical Therapy in the form of manipulation and exercises was effective in treating the back pain of recently-diagnosed individuals. Participants were between the ages of 18 and 60, had no lower back pain treatments of any kind in the past six months, and had symptoms for no more than 16 days. All the participants received education about lower back pain, while one group received four Physical Therapy sessions over four weeks. The results in relief of pain for those who received the physical therapy was reported as "modest," but in the long run not distinguishable from the care received by the control group.

Some back pain is caused by poor posture and movement habits. Physical Therapy, yoga, Pilates, and other approaches can help strengthen muscles, add needed flexibility, etc. But too often they do not change a person's habits: when the person gets busy, they go right back to the habits that got them into trouble in the first place. It makes sense to us that people would not show significant improvement after three months.

The only approach that actually provides a systematic way to change habits that really "sticks" in real life is the Alexander Technique—a set of skills that you learn—rather than a therapy. Sadly, lessons in the Technique are not covered by insurance in the United States (though they are in the United Kingdom). But the skills you can learn can last a lifetime. It worked for Karen's chronic neck pain and headaches, and we know many people who found it solved their problems with back pain.

If you experience back pain and would like to learn an effective alternative way to care for yourself, find a qualified teacher of the Alexander Technique 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]

From Our ACAT Faculty: My First Contact with the Alexander Technique, by Joan Frost

October 8, 2015 admin

by Joan Frost Due to my mother’s lack of understanding regarding nutrition, as an infant I was fed boiled condensed (pet) milk to grow on. It didn’t work so well. I didn’t get to my feet until 18 months old and when I finally did, my legs buckled so that my knees and ankles caved in. In Ireland, they called this the “green stick syndrome”. I don’t know what they called it in America, but it was not uncommon in the ‘50’s. To remedy this, I had to sleep on my back every night wearing a brace – two shoes turned out 180 degrees from each other with a bar between. This put my legs into a frog position. I wore the brace every night from about 18 months to 3 years old. I have no memory of this time, but I do remember for years going to the doctor for walking exercises to deal with my very pronated ankles.

There was a problem with this mechanistic remedy: I was very pigeon-toed. The brace forced total outward rotation. Since my hip-joints couldn’t structurally accommodate that, where did the adjustment go? To the next level up – my lower back. I became extremely swaybacked. Standing equaled pain.

I must have had a weak back. When I was nine, while on my hands and knees playing with my sister, she jumped on my back and something “went”. It was my upper back. From that time forward, I couldn’t sit unsupported for more than 20 minutes before my back became hot, then numb. I gave up my piano lessons.

I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t sit. Any length of time with either and I was in significant pain. My mother took me to chiropractor after doctor. Nothing helped. I was a stoic girl – I dealt.

In college, typing papers was agony. But when I moved, I felt better. I enrolled in the dance program at the University of California at Santa Cruz and started learning about my body. I discovered my psoas muscle and my lower back lost some of its exaggerated curve. My lower back pain diminished. My upper back? It didn’t change much at all. I was always in pain behind my right shoulder blade and every few weeks it got acute.

I graduated from college and moved to New York City to immerse myself in the modern dance scene. A California friend discovered the Alexander Technique and told me I should take some lessons. She said my neck was very forward. I reached back to feel my neck and discovered she was right! I resisted studying, though. Why should I? I could have five dance classes for the price of one of those lessons. She persisted. Finally, after about six months of urging, I agreed. I called Missy Vineyard and made an appointment.

I don’t know what happened in my first lesson. I just remember taking a floor barre class afterwards and not being able to lift my head off the floor. I did return for another lesson. Again, I didn’t understand what was going on, but it seemed as if Missy knew something true about my body that I didn’t yet know. The closest I could liken to my experience was readings I had done in Zen and eastern philosophy.

Not far into the lessons, I started sticking out my elbows. Missy set me straight. I was confusing elbow width with upper back width. Amazingly, my upper back began to change! My pain started to lessen! I had started studying the Technique to keep my friend quiet. It had not occurred to me that it would affect the way I felt. By the time I was in my 20’s, back pain was a fact of my life and I took it for granted that that’s the way it was going to be.

I had ten lessons with Missy, then she moved to Baltimore for her husband’s medical residency. The effects of those lessons lasted about nine months, then I felt I had lost the sense of it. I asked around for and found another teacher and continued my Alexander journey.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Joan-Frost.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Joan Frost was certified to teach the Alexander Technique by ACAT in 1983, joined ACAT’s faculty in 1984, and was Director of Teacher Certification from 2001-2008. Joan has also taught the Technique at The Juilliard School, The New School, the Diller Quaile School of Music, and at Sarah Lawrence College. For years she was a lecturer for The Arthritis Foundation. Currently, in addition to training teachers at ACAT, Joan maintains a private practice in Manhattan, in Rockland County, in White Plains, and in Stratford, Connecticut. Find her at her website: joanfrost.com.[/author_info] [/author]

Create More Ease Walking With The Alexander Technique

September 25, 2015 admin

by Witold Fitz-Simon Here are two different takes on walking from an Alexander Technique perspective. The first is from ACAT Teacher Training Program faculty member Judith Stern, and the second from first-generation teacher Marjorie Barstow. (Barstow is in her 90's in this video and still going strong!)

https://youtu.be/m6l7F_nrjeM

https://youtu.be/GOMUKfh_bqw

The Habit of Dissatisfaction

September 18, 2015 admin

by Brooke Lieb The Alexander Technique teaches a robust tool to recognize and address habits, including movement patterns, posture and muscle tone; and thinking and behavioral habits, as well.

As a child, growing up in the United States, and particularly as a student in American academia, I developed the tendency to respond to my circumstances with dissatisfaction. I was inclined to focus on what needed to be changed or fixed, how to garner or continue to get approval, and to seek distraction from my habitual internal dialogue and attitude towards my life circumstances. This attitude was reinforced by the people around me, by the media, and in particular, by advertisers. I was encouraged, first externally, and then internally, to strive to be better, to look for the next goal, the next success or win in life, the next project, the next task. What can I do next, so I can better myself and get the next toy, reward or show of approval or love from the world around me? And as a woman, what can I do to be more attractive, and thinner?

At the same time, from a very early age, I knew I wanted to experience contentment, satisfaction and joy in my life, and I had a strong inkling that I was going to need to work to overcome my tendencies to find fault and feel unsatisfied. I first saw a therapist at 18 and then began therapy in earnest for 11 years at around 21, with my primary goal being to love the life I am actually living. I began having Alexander lessons at aged 20, so I cannot be sure, but I believe my Alexander lessons contributed to my growing awareness of my emotional habit of being dissatisfied, and gave me skills to change my belief systems and responses to the challenges of life.

Over these last 32 years, having Alexander Technique as the central tool in my life, I feel like I have woken up more each passing year, and with this alert, aware state, I have gained more inner peace, self acceptance, patience for those around me, and an acute awareness of the dynamic of chronic dissatisfaction in myself, mirrored many ways in the world at large. My process has often been painful and hard won, as I grappled with my perfectionist issues, but I believe without the Alexander Technique, I wouldn’t be enjoying the wisdom that comes with age, and feeling so awake to life. I have learned how to enjoy myself more. This awakening is still a work in process.

One of my great pleasures as an Alexander teacher and a trainer of Alexander teachers, has been the honor of helping my students wake up to themselves and their lives, as well. I am inspired by their journeys, and I learn about myself in the process. At this point, work is play for me, and I feel so lucky that I earn my livelihood doing something I love so much.

If any of this resonates for you, I would be delighted to hear from you about your journey around the habit of dissatisfaction.

NOTE: The Alexander Technique is a useful tool as part of your self-care regime, but is not a replacement for consultation with a trained medical profession. It is important that you seek the assistance of a trained medical professional for persistent and on-going physical, emotional or mental symptoms, to rule out and/or address underlying causes.

Thinking But Not Doing

September 11, 2015 admin

Frank Ottiell (1929-2015) by Brooke Lieb

In her wonderful new book, Living The Alexander Technique, Ruth Rootberg interviews senior members of the Alexander community, who have been living with the tools of the Alexander Technique well into their later years. In her interview with Frank Ottiwell (1929 - 2015), who was certified by ACAT founder Judith Leibowitz in 1959, he reflects on his continued development in learning what it is to inhibit and direct. As I was reading, I could especially relate to the following section from the interview.

Frank Ottiwell is quoted:

“I think one of the things one has to learn—and certainly Judy [Leibowitz] was teaching me that right from the beginning—is 'Leave yourself alone.' Practice Inhibition. You learn to say the words, but not to do them. That’s the trick…. I think, too, that my focus has re-directed towards stopping something from happening, rather than being seduced into getting something to happen. With the order to 'free my neck,' for example, it is easy for me to slip into making tiny movements, even without intending to. I think, for a long time, some devil in me tricked me into little direct doings. I’m sure it will try again. I will have to be on the lookout for devils.”

Having been a student of the Alexander Technique for over 32 years myself, I found it reassuring and comforting to know that Frank Ottiwell was still tempted to do something muscular when working with the Alexander Technique after all his years of experience. I, too, am always refining my thinking and working on inhibiting (withholding consent) from my inclination to do something directly with my muscles when my true wish is to “free my neck.”

I think this process of relearning and refining what we are after when we use the Alexander Technique is common for Alexander teachers and students, alike. We live in a world full of triggers, we are habitual creatures, and it seems that as technology advances, we are all trying to accomplish more, not less, and are rushing to get things done. Taking time, and learning the difference between thinking intelligently and using muscle force is vital to manage our energy and tension levels under these circumstances.

One of the main challenges in learning to work with the Alexander Technique is learning not to turn the ideas and instructions from your teacher into a direct muscular action. When I work with a student, I tell her or him: “Listen to my words and think them, allow my hands to guide you to define what those words mean in your movements, but do not use your muscles to directly do your idea of what those words mean.” Easier said than done, but anyone who has been working in this way and had glimpses of what is possible will likely agree, it is very worthwhile.

Buy Ruth Rootberg’s book, Living The Alexander Technique on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Alexander-Technique-Interviews-Teachers/dp/1937146774

Other epub versions are available on Nook, Google Play, and iBook.

You can read Frank Ottiwell’s obituary in the SF Gate here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=Frank-Ottiwell&pid=175665326

Student Abbe Krieger and ACAT's Health and Wellbeing Program

August 27, 2015 admin

by Brooke Lieb ACAT’s Health and Wellbeing Program offers experienced students (10 or more lessons) the opportunity to join classes in our World Class Teacher Training Program. The emphasis is on self discovery, self-awareness and learning more efficient ways of applying Alexander concepts to everyday life. The program is ideal for students who wish to take their study to a more advanced level, and for those who are considering training and would like to experience the Training Course environment firsthand.

To learn more and and download an application an brochure, click here, or contact me at “tcp@acatnyc.org”.

BROOKE

Why did you first start studying the Alexander Technique?

ABBE

The first time I started studying the AT was because my flute teacher from Juilliard suggested that it might be useful for my playing. I was a big end gainer; if anything could help me be an even better "fluter," I would do it. Years later, after a long stretch without any AT, I came back to it because I thought that it might be a nice complement to my daily meditation and mindfulness practice.

BROOKE

Why did you decide to participate in the Health and Wellbeing option within ACAT’s Teacher Certification Program, including the option of adding the 10-session private lessons?

ABBE

I love the AT and have been taking privates with a handful of NYC's top teachers for the last several years—sometimes twice a week. Bravos and Bravas to Ann Waxman, Bill Connington, Jean McClelland, Hope Martin, and most recently, to you, Brooke. Also, my very first AT teacher, Judith Muir. Thanks to the care and guidance of these amazing teachers, my desire to become more intimate with the AT has grown significantly. To that end, I came to ACAT to enhance my experience and "understanding" of the AT. Also, I am thinking about training…TBD

BROOKE

What has the experience been like?

ABBE

Studying and learning AT in the context of a full-time AT training program, even just once a week, and as a HWB student, has been transformative. I have become much better acquainted with the mysteries of primary control and I am starting to take my familiar debauched habits less seriously. Also, observing what the students are being taught to "not do" to facilitate length and expansion in another person is fascinating and unbelievably useful to my own use. I love that ultimately it is about learning to take care of yourself first so that you can be of service to another human being. My body is my first instrument.

About Abbe

A recent first prize winner of the Alexander and Buono International Flute competition, Abbe Krieger’s recital performances have included Bechstein Piano Center, Weill Recital Hall and Klavierhaus. As a chamber musician and orchestral player, her appearances have included Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Paul Hall and the Peter Jay Sharp Theater as well as music festivals including Bowdoin, Chautauqua, Tanglewood and Saarburg. Ms. Krieger's musical training includes degrees with honors from The Juilliard School, Carnegie Mellon University and Brandeis University. Ms. Krieger serves as guest teaching artist and soloist with the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony and teaches privately in NYC.

Give Better Yoga Adjustments with the Alexander Technique

August 20, 2015 admin

by Witold Fitz-Simon Yoga teachers giving adjustments has become a controversial issue in the yoga community. Classic yoga adjustments tend to be strong, manipulative and often invasive, with the teacher sometimes applying considerable force to push a student deeper into a stretch, or to get the student’s arms and legs into a particular position. If such an adjustment is given skillfully, the effects can be positive. Often, however, teachers yank and crank on the student’s body in such a way that can potentially cause injury. It has gotten to point where some studios offer “consent cards” that students lay on their mats to let the teacher know whether or not they are willing to be manipulated in such a way. One company has even started marketing very attractive wooden chips that you can take with you to any studio to let the teacher know your preference.

Injury in yoga—whether self- or teacher-inflicted—has become the current hot-button issue amongst those who love the practice. Even if the potential for injury were not in question, the way a teacher lays hands on a student can make a huge difference, for better and for worse. There a few different reasons why a teacher might give a student an adjustment. Amongst them are:

To take a student deeper into a stretch (e.g.: pressing their back down in a forward bend)
To arrange a body part to better fit an anatomical ideal (e.g.: outwardly rotating their upper arm bones and bringing their shoulder blades down their back)
To help a student get closer to the classic shape of a pose (e.g.: bringing hands together to achieve binding of the arms in a twist)

Such adjustments come from a misplaced value system where the shape of the pose is more important than the experience of the body doing the pose, where more range of motion throughout the body is always better, where more extreme contortion is an indicator of progress along the path. In this way of thinking, the resistances of the body must be overcome by the force the teacher applies. The student’s body must be made to conform to an arbitrary geometry imposed on the student by the teacher’s eye. This is an unsubtle and forceful way of thinking that will not necessarily have the effect the teacher intended.

From the perspective of the Alexander Technique, the root cause of the problem comes from something called “End-Gaining.” This is a particular way of thinking—one of which we are all guilty—where we put the desired end or goal first and focus all our efforts on achieving this goal. The opposite of this would be one where we are attending more to the means whereby we achieve the goal. It is this “means-whereby” which becomes the important thing, regardless of whether the goal is ever achieved. In the Alexander Technique, this type of approach is called “Non-Doing."

Part of this “means-whereby” you might achieve something such as a yoga pose is an attention to the way the body is organized internally. F. M. Alexander, founder of the Technique, discovered that the relationship of the head, neck and back governs the functioning of the body as a whole for better or for worse. If that relationship is well-organized, we are stronger, more balanced and better integrated in the way we move. If it is not, we are weaker, stiffer, tighter.

The primary focus of a yoga teacher working with these principles becomes creating the best organization of the head, neck and back of the student in any given pose or transition. If the student can be more organized in this way, their bodies will be better able to negotiate the demands of a pose, creating balanced and functional strength and mobility. A teacher working in this way will not only be less likely to cause injury, they will be more likely to create conditions of lasting and significant change in their students.

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

Alexander Technique for Non-Surgical Treatment of a Cervical Herniated Disc

August 7, 2015 admin

by Witold Fitz-Simon This video features Judy Stern—Alexander Technique teacher and faculty member of the ACAT teacher training program—on how the Technique can help people with herniated discs in their neck. The video is made by the medical practice of Seth Neubardt M. D. and Jack Stern M. D. (Dr. Stern is Judy's husband.)

https://youtu.be/P1VSSq9zuUM

If you experience chronic pain and would like to know more about how the Alexander Technique might be able to help you, find a teacher near you here.

Seeing More and Letting Go: Widening My Experience through Alexander Technique

July 30, 2015 admin

By Mariel Berger [Many thanks to my Alexander Technique teacher, Witold Fitz-Simon, and my Alexander Technique Psychologist, Jane Dorlester]

I used to believe that intense focus and concentration were the best way of being. I would spend hours practicing music, hours focusing on just one little thing. The more the world disappeared around me, the better I was supposed to be. In undergrad music school, I would walk up and down the hallways and see people in their practice spaces, for hours upon hours, directing all of their energy and attention onto one single thing. I learned that individual mastery of one instrument was the way to be. I practiced all of the time.

When I tried to look at the larger world around me, I got easily overwhelmed, scared, sad, anxious, lost, hopeless. So to cope, I would simply zoom in and ignore all the background noise, erase any thought that didn’t pertain to this one single thing. This scale. This piece.

I have realized that my coping mechanism was also what led me into deep bouts of depression, narcissism, self-absorption, and intense crying from feeling a disconnection from the world around me. Then, to alleviate my sadness, I would dive back into music in order to escape, continuing the cycle.

Depression is losing sight of the whole — falling into one mental space that feels as though it always was and always will be.

Depression is only seeing one thing — being trapped in one experience, one repeating and repeating thought.

I spent so many years narrowing my focus that my mind got into the pattern of hard fixation.

When composing music I spent hours deep in my imagination, but then I wouldn’t be able to come out from the intense focus. I mistook this focus for depth, but depth is not narrow. It expands and has breadth. I was digging a tunnel that ended how it began:

[dark]. [blind].

[alone].

For the past two years, I have been practicing Alexander Technique. Through this technique, I have learned about a soft gaze and a light awareness. It has been two years of unlearning the habits of zooming in. It has been two years of expanding out, seeing more.

Yes, I am home inside my body and aware of my sensations, I hear my thoughts, but I am also aware of my surroundings. Just as I feel my feet, I feel my feet touching the ground.

When writing a piece of music, I used to think about it so hard that my brain would hurt from all the grasping, and I would get a headache. Now, I hope to approach art-making as less thinking hard and more softening around an idea. I clear space and watch the tendency of the mind and body to grip; but instead of gripping, I let go. I soften my gaze so I see more than what’s in front of me. I let the subtle colors of the periphery be a part of my expanded experience.

The practice of releasing clenched muscles and obsessive thoughts is starting to help expand my interpersonal relationships. I am learning that there is an easier way of relating to the outside world. Because of various traumas in my childhood I have an intense fear of being abandoned. So I grew up relating to people with an anxious attachment style--clinging to them so they wouldn’t leave me. I also grew up tightening my body in fear of someone potentially hurting me. Through Alexander Technique I have learned that I don’t need to walk around in the world with my body frozen in defense. My torso can widen and deepen, my legs can move away from my pelvis, my knees can move away from my back---I can expand and expand.

I thought I was protecting myself hiding in my tightened and scared body, but I ended up causing myself pain. I developed chronic shoulder and neck pain, headaches, and pelvic pain. I am learning that practicing an open and expansive way of being does not mean that I’ll be more easily hurt by others. Quite the opposite! When my neck is free, head is moving forward and up, torso is widening and deepening, knees are moving forward and away---I am grounded, balanced, fluid--- poised. I am able to go in any direction anytime. So if someone tries to connect with me who isn’t ultimately healthy for me, I can walk away.

The essence of Alexander Technique is the simultaneity of all possibilities-- embracing the whole experience--not being stuck in one position, on one path, one direction, one idea.

I am learning to unfasten my grip on my friends and loved ones. I am also learning that I can’t control people or the world around me. However, maybe I can expand the Alexander Technique directions onto my friends and loved ones? I can look at my mom and wish for her neck to be free and for my sister’s head to move forward and up. Everything about Alexander Technique teaches me to widen, so I can in turn expand Alexander Technique into the world.

Since practicing Alexander Technique (and also with the aid of anti-depressants), I rarely experience bouts of severe depression. In addition, the pain and tension in my body become alleviated each day when I remember my directions: to widen my experience, and to be aware of the space around me-- the world around me. Each day I notice myself gripping and falling into old patterns, and instead,

I let go... I let go...

I let go...

An Introduction to the Alexander Technique: Marjorie Barstow [video]

July 24, 2015 admin

by Witold Fitz-Simon Senior Alexander Technique teacher Marjorie Bartsow (1899-1995) was a graduate of F. M. Alexander's first teacher training in 1933. Born in the United States, she returned to the US after finishing her training, and eventually settled and established her teaching practice in her home town of Lincoln, Nebraska.

This video from 182 was made when Barstow was 83. In it she talks about her introduction to the Technique and how she came to meet F. M. Alexander.

https://youtu.be/NdrP_XGEuWI

So You’re An Alexander Teacher? How Come You’re Slumping?

July 16, 2015 admin

By Jeffrey Glazer Recently I was watching a video on YouTube about Patrick Macdonald, a prominent first generation teacher of the Alexander Technique. The video portrays his training course in the 1980’s. I love this video, as I always learn something new when I watch it.

I decided to peruse the comments section, and I saw several comments about Macdonald being hunched, and people asking why that is. Since, among other benefits, the Alexander Technique claims to help with one’s posture, it is totally understandable why people would question why such a distinguished teacher appears slumped.

Thinking about it, I recalled a conversation I had with Daniel Singer, one of the Senior Teachers at ACAT (The American Center for the Alexander Technique). Daniel took lessons from Macdonald for many years, and was profoundly influenced by his approach, especially when he started teaching. I remember Daniel explaining how Macdonald was born with some of his vertebrae fused together, and that he had a terrible prognosis from when he was a young child. Daniel also said the following:

“What people see in the older (Macdonald) videos particularly is a bit of a medical miracle. It is uncanny that he was able to manage such a rare, profound and overwhelming condition so effectively due to his Alexander Technique “thinking in activity.”

After clarifying the details on Macdonald, I added the following comment on YouTube…

“Regarding some of the comments about posture and why Macdonald is hunched, I think there is a misunderstanding. At 2:54 in part 1, it mentions that Macdonald had a congenital curvature of the spine, and later in the video (part 2, 6:50), Macdonald says that the technique saved his life. I spoke to an Alexander Teacher who took lessons from Macdonald for many years, and he told me that Macdonald was born with 5 thoracic vertebrae fused together, and he had early onset idiopathic scoliosis, with a strong forward pull as well as a twist. That type of scoliosis is severe and can even be life threatening. Despite Macdonald’s poor prognosis, his Alexander Technique skill and thinking helped enable him to overcome the most harmful effects of his condition, as he miraculously lived so long and vigorously with such a structural condition.

And only as his overall strength declined due to whatever other aging factors appeared to weaken him, did the conditions of his structured stoop (which was imprinted into the structure of his body from birth) become visibly worse. It is likely that the reason Macdonald said the Alexander Technique saved his life is because with his condition one can end up bent over 90 degrees with the face and chest facing the ground, and the result of those pulls can compromise the space needed for organs to function properly. So, while it is true that most Alexander Teachers and experienced students stand upright and have what many would call “good posture”, sometimes there are underlying conditions or other factors that are at play.”

So, here is the moral of the story…

1. Sometimes there are underlying conditions that affect the spine, and consequently, posture. While such conditions can prevent one from fully standing up straight, this does not mean they cannot benefit from the Alexander Technique. Without the Alexander Technique, Macdonald would likely have been hunched over in much more dramatic fashion. Indeed, Marjorie Barstow, another renowned first generation teacher, developed severe osteoporosis later in life, and has many YouTube videos where she is hunched. She also taught into her 90’s, and just like Macdonald was able to so at a high level of energy and vitality.

2. One must be careful not to judge too quickly, whether it is posture, or anything else.

3. The idea of posture as some sort of fixed upright shape is not really adequate. Posture is dynamic, as we are constantly moving about and adapting different positions to do what we need. It is more important to learn to move with less tension and without compressing the spine, so that there is greater ease and coordination in all activities.

4. In addition to being about movement, the Alexander Technique cultivates a high level of awareness around one’s thinking and reaction patterns. This results in the ability to think more clearly and respond more constructively to whatever one is doing. When we learn to slow down, it can also help to calm the nervous system, which, in today’s society, is a much needed component of overall health.

Finally, here are links to the Macdonald video, which is broken up into two parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Watch, learn, and enjoy!

[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]

The Alexander Technique in Education [video]

July 9, 2015 admin

by Brooke Lieb Produced by STAT and The Alexander Trust, "Alexander in Education" is a film about how the Alexander Technique is helpful for students, in developing skills for life.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOMlc0f0orA

Alexander’s greatest wish was for his method to be integrated into primary and secondary education as part of the standard curriculum. This video, from the UK, shares firsthand accounts from students of many ages, who were fortunate enough to have Alexander Technique as part of their education before college or adulthood. The Alexander Technique not only gives us tools for managing the physical demands of life, it teaches us critical problem solving. For education to be fully rounded, a knowledge of our own inner workings seems like an obvious foundation, and yet there is little in the US curriculum that teaches us about ourselves in the practical, concrete way the Alexander Technique can.

In my own practice, I have found children are just as subject to stress and anxiety as adults. By virtue of the fact that they are younger, their habits and beliefs is not as entrenched as with adults, so often they are keen students, they grasp the concepts quickly and successfully apply the ideas to change their behavior. They change more quickly.

There are no short cuts for certain things in life, and just as you need to floss, brush and take care of your teeth to keep them healthy, taking care of your mental and physical wellbeing is one of those things. Whether you are young or old, a course of study in the Alexander Technique can give you a lifetime of skill at reducing the effects of stress, tension and wear and tear on your system, as well as improving performance and adaptability.

To find a teacher near you, visit http://www.acatnyc.org/main/find-a-teacher/

Make Your Life as Interesting as a Procedural Drama with the Alexander Technique

July 3, 2015 admin

by Witold Fitz-Simon In genre fiction, movies and TV, there is a type of story known as the procedural. The classic version of this type of story is the Police Procedural, best exemplified by the TV show “Law & Order.” The crime is committed and the detective is on the case, using forensics to search out cues, canvassing the neighborhood for potential witnesses and piecing together the truth. A good police procedural can be riveting. Each clue uncovered, each witness questioned can build up to a fascinating portrait of passion, of greed, of intrigue. The Alexander Technique can make your mundane daily routine just as interesting, even without the drama!

One of the key ways in which we can get ourselves in trouble in life—doing things like stressing ourselves out, or giving ourselves repetitive stress injuries or back pain—is by not paying much attention to the how and why we’re doing things. We go for the end result of our goals without being mindful of the choices we make to achieve them. This puts us at the mercy of habit: a history of behaviors that get the job done, but not usually in the most effective way possible. And if those habits have in them the seed of mis-use of our bodies, or emotional unease, then we can only add to our problems no matter what we do to get away from them.

Be Your Own Detective!

The solution to this is to be more like the police detective in the P. D. James mystery, or the Crime Scene investigator in the TV show. To pay more attention to the process and the details. In the Alexander Technique there are certain practices that you do over and over again in a lesson like sitting, standing and walking around. Even though there is a lot of repetition of these activities, we don’t think of them as exercises.

The idea of an exercise is something that you can learn to get right once and keep doing the same way, often quite mindlessly, to achieve a goal. In the Technique we think of the activities we carry out as “procedures.” You might spend a lot of time with your teacher sitting and standing, but the point is not learning to sit and stand correctly. The point is to become aware of how you approach the activity. What is your intention when you do it? What do you think about. You must become the detective in the mystery of your own life!

Get On The Case!

Try this right now, if you have the time. Do something simple and easy: stand up and sit down, or reach out and take a sip of your drink, if you have one at hand. Whatever activity you have chosen try it once or twice without thinking about it very much.

Now that you have your chosen activity fresh in your mind, take out your mental notepad and pen and interview your prime witness, yourself. Ask yourself these questions:

Did you notice anything special about what you just did? What were you thinking about as you did it? What did it feel like to do the activity?

If you don’t have any concrete answers, try the activity again a few times and see what you come up with.

Okay, now you’re going to put the pressure on your witness and ask for more details:

What was the first thing that you did to carry out your chosen activity? What part of you did you move first? When you moved, what happened to your neck? Did it get tense or was it easy and free? What was the quality of your movement? Was it rushed and effortful? Was it lethargic and slack? Was it easeful and effortless?

Let’s change tack here. You’re going to put on your forensic scientist hat and try some experiments.

Think about doing your activity again, but stop for a moment before you do it. Notice if you have tensed up in preparation. If you have, let everything soften, even if just a little bit, and try it again. What happens when you do it again this time?

Next time you do your activity, notice what you do with you head? Does it move in the direction you are moving, or does it seem to be heading somewhere else? What happens if you let it lead the movement in some way?

It doesn’t take much to go from rushing around mindlessly, oblivious to what’s going on around you, to having a bit more awareness of yourself and your environment and to start to change the way you do things. All it takes is curiosity and interest, and applying that to yourself. And if you need a little help, take an Alexander Technique lesson with a qualified teacher. You’ll never be bored again!