I have had a long association with the European String Teachers Association (ESTA) ever since I gave a one-day workshop for them in 2015. This workshop explored ’10 ways the Alexander Technique will improve your string playing and teaching’, and was very well attended. Working with string players and indeed all kinds of musicians is …
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“Everything is amazing, from the Technique to the teacher.” In the summer of 2018 and 2019 I had the privilege of working with some very high level young Romanian musicians at the start of their careers. I have also returned to work in Romania post-pandemic. The programme, called Ad Musicam, was funded by the Romanian …
This week I had the privilege of introducing the Alexander Technique to attendees of the Bryanston International Summer School. This is a residential course held every year at Bryanston School in Dorset, and is for students around the world of the renowned Suzuki Method of learning a musical instrument. Bryanston is an extraordinary course, consisting …
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On a recent radio show, a professor of hand surgery gave some surprising comments on the mind-body connection: If you sat and watched a film with your partner holding hands, you don’t need to talk about what’s on the film because you know what they’re thinking as they hold hands. It’s extraordinary that you can …
The Developing Self team has for a second year running curated a series of videos relating to Alexander Technique in education. Twenty presenters with intimate knowledge of the Alexander Technique in education share their ideas in the form of interviews and presentations. There’s great diversity among these videos, and anyone who wishes to deepen their …
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I’ve been teaching the Alexander Technique to young adult musicians for many years now at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in Greenwich, London. When the pandemic hit, as with many institutions, learning went online. Despite the challenges of learning online, my students at Trinity have come on in leaps and bounds, and this was brought home to …
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Almost ten years ago, Amy Cuddy shot to fame with her popular TED Talk on the ‘power pose’. This was the idea that adopting an expansive body position for a couple of minutes would increase testosterone, and thus help you feel more confident and even perform better. The classic example of the power pose was …
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You’ll find this quote all over the internet: 97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique. It is only a very small minority of back pain sufferers that require medical intervention such as surgery. Dr Jack Stern, spinal neurosurgeon I haven’t tracked down the source of this quote, but Dr …
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Seth Godin, one of America’s most famous marketing gurus and bloggers, has endorsed the Alexander Technique in a short Youtube interview with interviewer Zak Kuhn. He explained that he has been having lessons off and on for 16 years and then commented, I strongly advise people, go to two sessions and see whether it changes …
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The short answer to this question is ‘yes’. The longer and much better answer is ‘yes, but…’. In the Alexander Technique, we’re not learning the ‘correct’ way to sit, stand, walk or play the guitar, for example. As soon as you fixate on such a ‘correct’ way to move, you’re most likely inviting tension. In …
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