A fortnight ago, I published my summary of a recent landmark scientific study of the Alexander Technique. It’s on my AT science page, and gets straight to the point explaining the latest thinking on how the Alexander Technique works.

Since then, a much longer summary of the same scientific paper has been published on the Alexander Technique Science website. For anyone who wishes to delve further into the science behind the Alexander Technique, I’d therefore recommend it as a ‘second’ starting point. In particular, it gives further details of how the Alexander Technique influences movement, balance, emotional regulation and pain reduction.

The link to this second summary is here.

I’ve been asked once again to teach at the European String Teachers Association summer course in 2021. It’ll be held at the University of Chichester from 8-13 August.

My series of workshops is entitled Wake up to Natural Movement, and that’s not just because it’s the first slot after breakfast!

Underlying everything we do is the potential for natural movement. Stray from natural movement and our actions get harder, more tense. Approach it, and movement becomes easier and free-flowing.

I’ll be introducing these principles for natural movement in a very practical way so that participants can really ‘get’ them in the body. They’re based not only on the Alexander Technique but also the discoveries of the great string playing pedagogues as evidenced in the treatises they’ve written.

The week is going to be a great journey of discovery for everyone – myself included!

I’ve updated the Alexander Technique (AT) science page on this website. Why? A landmark science paper on AT was published this autumn. The paper proposes a model for how AT works based on the latest research into AT and related disciplines.

It’s no understatement to say that this is the most important publication on AT in decades. For the first time we have an explanatory framework for AT that’s based on modern scientific method and which can help inform theory, practice, debate and public discourse.

The original paper is of course detailed and complex. However, on my AT science page, I’ve summarized the model and the research findings it’s based on. I hope it’s a pretty approachable (and short!) read.

In the October half term I ran an online course for young people entitled Discover Musical Wellbeing. It was aimed at teenagers who play the piano, violin or cello, and consisted of three similar but separate courses which participants could attend depending on their instrument.

The course addressed aspects of wellbeing most relevant to musicians. These included avoiding aches and pains and playing with ease, but also the emotional side which includes dealing with performance anxiety. Despite being an online course, it focused very much on practical activities. All the understandings and techniques we looked at had to the potential to reach beyond the musical sphere and aid young people in their school and everyday lives. In that sense, the course had a holistic philosophy behind it.

Feedback from the course was really positive, and has encouraged me to run the course again in Spring 2021. You can find out about the course here. I leave you with some of the wonderful feedback from attendees below.

I would definitely recommend this course as it was easy to follow and helped guide me through techniques which brought awareness to struggles that all musicians have regarding posture and performance.

Eva, 15

I liked the analogies such as the starfish and the dinosaur tails as well as being more tree!

Sonny, 11

I found it very helpful on ways to try to free up your body and release tension which I can now take into my playing.

Daisy, 14

I found the stage fright meditations and talk most helpful as I frequently get stage fright or performance anxiety.

Maya, 13

Report after report emphasizes that the wellbeing of young people in the UK is in jeopardy.

The Alexander Technique offers real solutions to this worrying trend. That’s why I’m delighted to announce that over this October half-term (Mon 26th to Wed 28th Oct 2020) I’m running an online course for young people: Discover Musical Wellbeing.

The aim of the course is to empower young people to look after themselves both in their music-making and beyond. My approach is based on the principles of the Alexander Technique which is used by music conservatoires worldwide to promote the mental and physical health of their students.

The course is actually three separate specialist courses for violinists, cellists and pianists aged 11-18. Fun and engaging activities will help young people:

• avoid aches and pains when playing
• deal with stress, anxiety and stage fright
• discover principles of natural movement
• explore efficient learning and practice techniques

The course draws on a decade of experience teaching the Alexander Technique to young people in music conservatoires in the UK, specifically the Royal College of Music and Junior Trinity Laban, where I am in charge of the Alexander Technique programme.

For more information and to sign up your child, please visit my Courses page.

A hugely important scholarly article on the Alexander Technique (AT) is to be published this autumn in the prestigious journal Kinesiology Review, and I’ve had a sneak preview.

It is undoubtedly the most important paper on the Alexander Technique since the randomised control trial study into Alexander Technique and back pain published in 2008.

This study is, however, altogether different since it collates the most comprehensive research yet into ‘how AT works’. It’s title is Potential Mechanisms of the Alexander Technique: Toward a Comprehensive Neurophysiological Model . Below is the abstract of the paper, and I will be looking into its implications over the coming months.

The Alexander technique (AT) has been practiced for over 125 years. Despite evidence of its clinical utility, a clear explanation of how AT works is lacking, as the foundational science needed to test the underlying ideas has only recently become available. The authors propose that the core changes brought about by Alexander training are improvements in the adaptivity and distribution of postural tone, along with changes in body schema, and that these changes underlie many of the reported benefits. They suggest that AT alters tone and body schema via spatial attention and executive processes, which in turn affect low-level motor elements.To engage these pathways, AT strategically engages attention, intention, and inhibition, along with haptic communication. The uniqueness of the approach comes from the way these elements are woven together. Evidence for the contribution of these elements is discussed, drawing on direct studies of AT and other relevant modern scientific literature.

This week I had the privilege of working at Bryanston International Summer School, run by the London Suzuki Group. It’s an annual residential music course for string players and pianists aged 3 to 18 years old.

The course is vibrant and ambitious, and has a large number of families attending from all over the world. The 2020 course was understandably rather different, with an online version taking place instead – the Virtual International Summer School, or VISS for short.

So, how do you teach the Alexander Technique online to young people of such diverse ages and backgrounds? My two watchwords from the start were simplicity and fun, with a good dose of self-deprecation thrown in.

I really enjoyed putting the programme together. Participants’ very first introduction to the subject was through an ‘Alexander Technique fable’ which I devised. This meant that within minutes, students as young as seven were able to talk about the Alexander Technique in a way that was immediately accessible and meaningful to them.

A violin-playing heroine, an adventure in the woods, an encounter with a monster and a mysterious character to the rescue… What’s not to like?

The Alexander Technique is so useful for young people in that it establishes the best possible mental and physical conditions for their playing and learning; that is, it’s a way for them to replace stress and tension with ease, poise and balance no matter what activity they’re engaged in.

It’s therefore part of my mission as a teacher to share the benefits of the Alexander Technique with as many young people as I can.

Despite the success of the online Bryanston course, everyone is looking forward very much to meeting in person again next year.

On Sunday August 16th I have the privilege of hosting an Alexander Technique online workshop for violinists. It’s part of the Bach Challenge for Amateur Violin Players digital course run by Tamaki Higashi, violinist of the Villiers String Quartet. Do get in touch with her if you’re interested at tamakihigashi@icloud.com.

My programme for violin players is packed full of insights, fun and practical know-how. We’ll spend half of the time looking at five principles of natural movement with direct application to the violin. The second half of the workshop is short introduction to the Alexander Technique, and how this method stops you interfering with natural movement patterns.

Below are a few preview snapshots from my slides to entice you!

Myself being hypermobile, I cannot think of not doing an action right now – such as for example lifting the shopping in the supermarket or lifting a bag – without applying the Alexander Technique consciously because the dangers that can happen if I don’t do it are too many.

Roxani-Eleni Garafalaki

Hypermobility is the ability to move joints beyond the normal range of movement, and is most common in young people, women and in those of Asian and Afro-Caribbean heritage.

Hypermobility is now recognized as a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum it causes no symptoms; but at the other end are conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which can have serious complications. In between these extremes are various other hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSDs).

Hypermobile people are more prone to dislocate their joints and to injure the soft tissues around the joints. Their balance, coordination and proprioception are likely to be impaired, their skin can be thin and stretchy and they are also more likely to have digestive problems. Mental health can also be affected; including, for example, increased levels of anxiety.

The Alexander Technique can help. Recently, as part of the Alexander in Education online conference, Roxani-Eleni Garafalaki was interviewed. She is an Alexander Technique teacher who is a strong proponent of its effectiveness in helping her with her own hypermobility. The interview with her explores her own experience, how hypermobility can adversely affect children in their school environment, and how the Alexander Technique can help.

You can watch the interview here.

New government Covid guidance for ‘close-contact services’ came into force this Monday 13th July. The Alexander Technique comes under this category and so, while I am still teaching online, I have also resumed some in-person lessons at my studio.

There are some provisos, though. I am wearing a visor during sessions, and clients who attend must wear a mask and wash their hands on arrival. There are also sufficient gaps between appointments.

For the time being, I am also only teaching outside in our courtyard space. It is wonderful to teach outside of course – but it is also weather dependent, so both myself and my clients will need to be a bit flexible on lesson times.

I certainly feel that the Alexander Technique is an especially vital skill during these difficult times. To mention just two aspects, Covid has brought about mental health difficulties for many people, and our increased screen time has taken us more than ever out of embodied awareness. The Technique has so much to offer in the face of the challenges posed by our current predicament.