The Alexander Technique is about becoming conscious of our habitual reactions to things, and seeing instead whether we can encourage a set of responses that is kinder to us. You could say that, at any moment in time, we can either orient ourselves towards greater ease or towards greater tension. The choice is ours. What …
Continue reading “‘How do I keep it going between lessons?’”
In the summers of 2018 and 2019 I introduced the Alexander Technique to musicians on the Young Grittleton chamber music course at St Marys School, Calne. A Testimonial A brief overview of what I covered in the 2019 workshop is included below. But first, a testimonial from the course organiser: We were privileged to have …
I’m sometimes asked for advice on beds, mattresses and pillows. My standard reply is that it can be beneficial to practise active rest immediately before sleeping and/ or first thing in the morning. The latter can seem counter-intuitive, but our habits of misuse persist through our sleeping hours, and a conscious unwinding of these patterns …
Among psychologists there is a common distinction between two types of happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia. Roughly speaking, hedonic happiness involves immediate pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction, along with the absence of pain or distress. On the other hand, eudaimonic happiness involves long-term aspects such as meaning, personal growth, excellence and authenticity. Both hedonia and eudaimonia can …
My teacher trainer and mentor Peter Ribeaux has been teaching the Alexander Technique for around 50 years. Around fifteen years ago he gave a definition of the Alexander Technique which I still return to for its no-nonsense clarity. The definition includes Alexander’s own terminology and so it is only suitable for intermediate students and not …
Continue reading “A definition of the Alexander Technique – for intermediate students”
In November 2022, I presented a workshop for the sports and music scholars at City of London School for Girls, as part of their Aspiring Performers Wellbeing Programme. It was a great opportunity to introduce the benefits of the Alexander Technique in a fun and practical way, and I had some fantastic feedback. Below is …
Continue reading “Alexander Technique at City of London School for Girls”
There’s been a bit of a buzz this week about a new video introduction to the Alexander Technique, and it’s definitely worth the hype. It’s only ten minutes long and worth a watch!:- In my view, the following is what makes this video so great: it shows very clearly from the client’s perspective what it’s …
Continue reading “Excellent short intro to the Alexander Technique”
My colleague, Maaike, has updated her Alexander Technique app with some fantastic new audios. You can try out some of these audios for free via her website here. The four new audios (subscribers only) are described below: ‘Freeing up your shoulders – improve your body schema’ ‘Freeing up your arms – improve your body schema’ …
Continue reading “Alexander Technique ‘Think Up’ app – updated”
Back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide and in this blog I want to compare two solutions. First, a course of 24 Alexander Technique lessons. A Randomised Control Trial (RCT) published in 2008 showed that back pain sufferers reduced their pain levels from ‘every day’ down to only 3 in 28 days …
Continue reading “Compared: Two successful treatments for back pain”
Every Alexander Technique teacher has their own favourite descriptions of the Technique’s core concepts. Sometimes I come across an elegant new definition; here’s an example: Endgaining means ‘the downsides of over-focusing on our goals’. David Anderson Two further concepts – ‘Inhibition’ and ‘Non-Doing’ – are in a sense the antidote to endgaining, and I’ve recently …
Continue reading “‘Inhibition’ and ‘non-doing’: creative definitions”
