I thought this article in the Fall 2016 issue of AmSAT Journal by Ellen Buffa was spot on, and wanted to share a few excerpts with you:
 
“Don’t underestimate the power of a simple thought.  The Alexander Technique can teach you how to use conscious thoughts to change unwanted, habitual behaviors that create physical and emotional stress.
 
...From this different place I can approach any situation more peacefully.  The problem is that old habits are persistent!  Developing new skills to inhibit the old habits requires time and consistent practice, but I can call on these new skills any time, during any activity.  The more I do this, the more automatic this new response becomes.
 
… I can say with confidence that I live a more authentic, thoughtful life because the Alexander Technique allows me to feel sensations in my body, but to not react to them in frustration, fear, or anger.  … I share these experiences to encourage you to explore this path to self-discovery…”

Another amazing residential workshop at Serra Retreat in Malibu!  http://serraretreat.com/  
http://alexandertechniqueworkshops.com/
 
(See January 2015 blog for photos from last year’s retreat.)  

 
This is me enjoying Frances Marsden’s directions during our morning ‘walkabouts’ (photo by Harvey Wolfson, who photographed and videotaped much of the proceedings).

Again we were treated to inspiring talks by motivational speaker and prolific book writer, Michael Gelb.  http://michaelgelb.com/  Here is his diagram illustrating what he says are the 7 operational ideas of the Alexander Technique as laid out in his book, Body Learning.

Again I was so impressed with the entire experience and how it affected everyone – not just those with many years of experience – but even more importantly, those who had no experience at all with the Technique and discovered profound changes in themselves.
 
Another photo of me enjoying direction from Lyn Charleson-Klein during a workshop called “Monkeying Around” (again courtesy of Harvey Wolfson).

For something completely different - you can take a walk down the hill to where there are horses:

Or, you may cross the Pacific Coast Highway to the Malibu Lagoon:

To top it off, we were treated to an amazing array of talent at the New Year’s Eve Concert.  Here are two of the performers, Susan Greenberg and Margaret Bowles:

And then a party with lots of wine, cheeses, and an awesome chocolate cake:

Happy New Year to all and may you experience more awareness and uprightness in your body-mind!

Here’s another wonderful quote from the interview of Michael Frederick called “Inside Out:  The Journey of Michael Frederick”, which appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of AmSAT Journal.   

“Our work is psycho-physical-emotional re-education. It is not therapy even though there are obvious therapeutic benefits. When you’re well-organized, according to the Technique, all of your bodily systems are able to function more efficiently. When your circulation and respiration and the rest are able to do what they are designed to do with little to no interference, we naturally feel better. So what it really comes down to is the awareness of our “inner program”, our conditioned self and how we approach something, how we see the mechanicality that exists, the habit patterns that we’re locked into, and learning how to, without criticism, observe and move out of it.  All of this makes us feel better because we are learning how to change our state by changing our body posture. When we have proper use of ourselves, our whole chemical nature comes back to balance. This happens because we are empowered in that moment of choice. By moving from our habitual, known pattern into an unknown psychophysical awareness, our feeling is one of more integration. This feeling of awareness could be described as a Zen experience. There is no Self, only the thought that creates the self. Unless you have tasted something of no-mind, you cannot understand the paradox.  And hopefully the teacher will be able to help awaken that in the student! At least sowing the seeds a little bit. So what you are learning with getting in & out of the chair, is inhibition. You are learning to recognize the impulse to sit or stand, then by saying, “No!” to that persistent impulse to get it right, freedom of choice occurs. “

To my delight the AmSAT Journal (our professional organization) printed a wonderful article about Michael Frederick (the man in charge of the wonderful Malibu workshop I went to last December) called “Inside Out:  The Journey of Michael Frederick.”  When I told him how much I enjoyed it, he graciously sent me a copy, which I would be happy to pass on.  It’s also available on his website:  www.michaeldfrederick.com/

Because it’s a long article, I’d like to quote a few interesting passages.  First is on the way the Alexander Technique can help with our personal transformation:

“The Alexander Technique is a conscious, mindful process of looking at one’s own habit patterns (mentally, emotionally and physically). This involves intentionally inhibiting the unnecessary patterns of interference by stopping inside and saying “No” to these habits. In this way, you can allow something new to enter in and make a more mindful choice. So the transformation is one from mindless or unconscious habit to mindful, intentional choice. (I’m using the word “inhibition” not in the Freudian sense of repression, but in the neurological sense of creating a space between a stimulus and our response.)”

Michael has had a lot of tragedies in his life, but he explains how AT has helped him deal with bereavement:

“What you are dealing with in the A.T. is more than just postural re-education. You are dealing with the fight-flight-freeze response and learning how to be free from this reactional pattern.  The reason our posture worsens is that we are locked into this fear response.  Imagine a conflict between what’s actually happening to us and what we wish was happening, i.e. the important phone call comes while you’re in the midst of cooking a complicated dish. Your attention is pulled into two directions simultaneously and this activates a low-level fight or flight response. The Technique teaches that you can choose something else for yourself. You have to go to the root of that response. A lot of Alexander teachers are only concerned about leaves on the tree but they don’t go to the root of the tree.  What we are really dealing with is fear and “thought in its wrong place”. That is to say, faulty perceptions and the illusion of Self.  We all have thoughts of insecurity, inferiority or general negativity. The problem isn’t having those thoughts. What matters is how you react to them. You know, thought is useful. But if thought wanders into the arena of comparison, of doubt, or some sort of self-loathing, and you lock into that, then you end  up simply agonizing.  

The thing about the A.T. is that it is applied to the present moment and it gets you out of your fear-reaction pattern, allowing inner freedom.  That’s the crux of the Technique: mindful awareness in movement.  Your body and breath only exist now. There is no past or future with this.”

“It’s not that you don’t feel your feelings, or that I didn’t get angry and cry and rage and all that.  You give yourself the appropriate amount of time and then you let it go.”

There are more gems from this interview I’d like to share with you, but will wait for next time in order to keep this fairly brief.

Michael Gelb gave animated and inspiring talks every day during the Malibu workshop I attended in December.   Here are some of his key points. 

Qi is the formless fire of life.   Alexander Technique is qi gong.  Alexander Technique is the missing link for self knowledge.  Alexander Technique is a strategy for outwitting habit.  Working with a teacher helps us prevent doing the old habit.

In Michael Gelb’s first book,  Body Learning; an Introduction to the Alexander Technique, he lists seven basic ideas, which he says form the core of Alexander’s teachings.  These are:

Use and functioning – the way you use yourself affects the way you function

The whole person – mind-body unity, see yourself as whole

Primary Control – the first thing to attend to is the alignment of the head and neck

Unreliable sensory appreciation – (aka debauched kinaesthesia) – what we think we are doing is not what we’re really doing

Inhibition –noticing the space between stimulus and response is the first step in gaining control over our habits; abandoning what we were going to do

Direction – reinforcing the natural alignment of your body

Ends and means – focus on the means whereby rather than going straight for the end result; this allows you to consider yourself in the attainment of a goal

March 17, 2014

To anyone who has taken a lesson with me on Alexander Technique,

While touch is the primary way in which we communicate this technique, most of the ‘work’ we do on ourselves is in our thinking.  I thought it would be interesting to send out an occasional email with excerpts from some readings in order to enhance our understanding.  Let me know if you would prefer not to receive these emails.

The first few emails will be devoted an article by Frank Ottiwell (my first teacher – 26 years ago!) called “The Alexander Technique:  A Matter of Choice”.   (see Frank Ottiwell for entire article.)

“The Alexander Technique is notoriously difficult to explain.  Any discussion of it, including this one, has a built-in drawback; the technique can’t really be explained verbally; you can’t just tell anyone how to do it.

Almost from my first Alexander lesson, however I felt I had “come home,” much in the way I’ve experienced arriving at a new place and feeling unaccountably comfortable in what should have been an unfamiliar surrounding.  I think this feeling has something to do with the essential simplicity and rightness of the Alexander work.  My body was quite simply being encouraged to go in the directions and move in ways that are natural to its structure and being discouraged from repeating the patterns that were leading it (me) into a complex of physical constrictions.

Before long I began to see that these constrictions were not just physical but were psycho-physical and that in addition to the more obvious physical orientation, I could apply the process of the Alexander Technique to a variety of issues I had previously thought of as strictly psychological, such as a generalized depression.”

NOTES FOR JEANNE’S NCCAT GRADUATION TALK, JUNE 25, 2012  (A video of Jeanne's graduation talk is available.)

I never thought this day would come!  Training with George Lister and Sally Munro has probably been the most transformative period of my life.  Without George’s persistence and generosity, I never would have contemplated becoming an Alexander teacher.

ALEXANDER EPIPHANY
I believe I first read about the Alexander Technique in the Yoga Journal.  My curiosity led me in 1988 to my first teacher, Frank Ottiwell, who taught at ACT in San Francisco.  I loved how I floated out of the studio after his lessons, but felt I could never recapture the feelings on my own. 

Because of my schedule I could not continue studying with Frank, so he referred me to several teachers on the Peninsula – none of whom I found satisfactory.  From them I got the idea that I had to constantly give myself messages. One teacher even told me I was giving myself incorrect thoughts since it wasn’t working!  At that point I gave up and decided the Technique was too cerebral for me.

Instead I started classes in Kentro Body Balance from Angie Thusius.  At her suggestion I stopped Iyengar Yoga, which I had been practicing for 10 years.  The aches and pains in my back from working as a computer programmer gradually subsided.  However, Angie soon moved away and I still had a lot of neck and shoulder tension.

In early February of 2005 when my husband, John, was out of town on a ski trip, I decided to clean out some old files.  When I came across the folder for Alexander Technique, my first thought was to toss it out, since it hadn’t worked for me in the past.  But something made me stop to see if there was anything worth saving. 

As I looked through the Alexander folder, I came across an article by Frank Ottiwell, and something about it spoke to me.  I slowed down, gently touched the front of my neck with my fingers until I could feel the tension in my neck letting go.  Next I moved my fingers to the trapezius muscles on either side of my neck and lightly touched them until they let go as well. 

I also tried to slow down all my movements as much as I could and would make sure my neck and head were relaxed.  And, after reading more articles and books, I started to add the internal verbal directions as well.  Though they had never helped in the past, I now had the physical sensations to go with them. 

During the first days of working on myself I felt a huge release in my shoulders and neck.  I couldn’t believe I had so much tension.  It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from me!   I noticed how I wanted to go back to the old way, the old habit, because it felt comfortable.  But I kept trying.

I felt the physical relaxation permeate my whole being.  I felt as though I had plenty of time.  No need to rush around and create tension.  Do things slowly and with awareness.

Even in bed I would make sure my head and neck were relaxed and would sometimes chant the directions like a mantra inside my head.  I noticed I no longer woke up with a stiff neck and tight shoulders.  I also chanted the mantra to focus my mind while swimming.  

I realized I could apply AT not only to more physical things like walking, riding the bike, gardening,  and stretching but also to more common activities like sitting, writing, driving, typing at the computer, etc. 

But my real challenge was singing.  I was taking voice lessons once a week and performing in my voice teacher’s recitals.  I also sang in several groups.  In the beginning, AT didn’t seem to help. 

I couldn’t quite believe that I’d tapped into something on my own.  It wasn’t easy, and I lapsed often, but I could sense when things were wrong and didn’t like it.  It seemed to me that when the head and neck were relaxed/aligned (what was being called “primary control”), the body/posture fell into place with ease.  And by being aware and stopping yourself before making a habitual motion (what was called “inhibition”) you could prevent bad habits from recurring .

I was curious to see if this was really Alexander Technique since no one had put their hands on me!  So I called Frank Ottiwell and asked him.  He no longer accepted new students, so he referred me to George Lister.    I gulped, remembering my experience in the past with other teachers, but what choice did I have?  I contacted George and he agreed it was possible, and he was open to my coming to one lesson to verify my experience.  I went for my first lesson in March of 2005, and the rest is history!  

PRIVATE LESSONS WITH GEORGE – 2005
Once I started working with George, things Frank had told me over 15 years previously that I’d thought I’d forgotten came back to me.  I continued taking private lesson from George for about a year.  During this time I noticed some wonderful changes. 

I used to get sore from swimming and couldn’t wait to get under the shower to let the hot water relax my muscles.  Suddenly there was no soreness anymore. 

I had reached a new level where I realized I could let go of habits that were no longer serving me.  The habits were like friends – they’re comforting and meant well.  But I wanted to tell them I needed to move on and find new friends that would serve me better.

One night I awoke on my right side.  I thought about freeing my neck and suddenly I had an almost out of body experience!  I could feel energy radiating from my head down to all my limbs – ZING – it was that fast!  Also a wonderful feeling of lightness even though I was lying  in bed.

Even when I wasn’t as open as I wanted to be, I felt I had the choice to be so at every instant.  George said progress is measured by the amount of time we are conscious in activity.

TEACHER TRAINING 2006-2012
In April of 2006 George offered me the opportunity of taking the teacher training class daily for two weeks.  This experience made me realize how great the training program could be for me.

I remember the first time I put hands on someone quite distinctly.  Peter asked me to just touch his back while we both stood, and when I did so, I felt as powerful a lengthening as I had when George worked on me.  I couldn’t believe it!  But, it was tiring and eventually I had to stop. 

Once, when Sally wasn’t there, George took over the ‘voice’ lesson.  He had us read poetry.  When it was my turn, he noticed that I was rushing on without taking enough time to breathe.  He gently put his hands on my rib cage to make me aware of the movement, and somehow his hands communicated everything I needed to know!  I slowed down and waited for the breath to come in on its own and fill the ribs.

Another time George worked on me in front of the class and as I was standing there, I really felt my feet on the floor and energy radiating through them and into my legs making me feel taller.  It was wonderful!

In February of 2009 we went to train at the Constructive Teaching Centre, which was an amazing experience - like going to the Mecca for Alexander Technique!

In August of 2011 I started teaching two students and have learned so much from them, not the least of which is that I enjoy teaching!  Once when I was working with one of my students I really felt HER!  Suddenly I was so aware of her while my hands were on her that I could feel energy flowing through her.  It was so amazing that I just stayed there awhile to enjoy it.  I haven’t felt this sensation since, but I know it’s a possibility to look forward to.

And in February of 2012  when the class returned for more training to the Constructive Teaching Centre I told George that I felt I’d finally found my calling. 

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCES/ MORE CHANGES
My attitude and thinking have profoundly changed.  In other words, every aspect of my life has been affected by the Alexander Technique!   The changes can be so subtle that it can take awhile before it registers that  something has changed. 

My walking is completely different than before. 

And one day when I woke up, I paid attention to my breathing and was surprised and delighted to feel my ribs expand in a bigger and fuller yet relaxed way – sort of like a bellows. 

The swimming lessons with George, Steven Shaw and Glenn Kenreich have totally transformed my time in the pool.  Rather than going for speed I’m going for openness and ease.  I wanted to share this way of swimming with my family.  My first and most enthusiastic student was my father!

I was anxious to see how AT training would transform my singing, which used to be such a big part of my life.  Amazingly, as I let go of singing commitments as well as any goals regarding singing, I noticed my voice improving.  In 2011 I was pleasantly surprised to feel more space in my mouth where none had been before.  And then I read somewhere that the vocal apparatus cannot work well when the neck is pulled back.  Suddenly it all made sense.  All the things voice teachers had been trying to get me to do, I could never do because I was stuck.  Ironically now that I don’t care about singing and performing, my voice feels the freest, clearest and strongest ever.

RELATION TO BUDDHISM (From Fire Monks; Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara by Colleen Morton Busch)
Everything changes.
Everything is connected.
Pay attention.

Doesn’t this sound like what we practice as Alexander teachers?  Actually this is a distillation of Zen Buddhism!  I’m going to quote a few more sayings from this book, as they seem to capture the essence of AT.

Awakening can happen in a moment with the right words, the right conditions.  But it can’t be held on to.  It comes and goes.

The point isn’t to create some static state of permanent perfection.  The point is to be perfectly ready for whatever comes.

In Zen, “don’t-know-mind” is the only kind of mind that is true.  When you practice don’t-know-mind, you let go of the need for knowing and acknowledge how little you can ever actually know.

When we know something and rest in that knowing we limit our vision.  We will only see what our knowing will allow us to see.  In this way experience can be our enemy.

At the core of Zen is the practice of taking care.  It’s a particular kind of caring, free of rigid expectation, free even of hope.  Hope is fine as long as it doesn’t lead to inflexibility.  When you’re living in the present moment, you’re not so involved in hope or invested in a particular outcome.

Taking responsibility includes letting go.  You accept the consequences of your actions even as you realize that your actions completely depend on the totality of circumstances in any given moment.

KOGI – THE HEART OF THE WORLD
The Kogi live in the far north of Colombia and have preserved pre-Colombian culture and philosophy.  After centuries of deliberate isolation, the Kogi decided (in the 1980’s) that the time had come to speak to us, the younger brothers.  They call themselves the Elder Brothers of the human race, and are convinced that our ignorance and greed will destroy the balance of life on Earth.  They believe that the only hope is for us to change our ways.

The book I read about them, The Heart of the World, by Alan Ereira, is their warning and their message.  Some of their concepts relate to our work as Alexander teachers.

If work is undertaken thoughtlessly, and its full significance and effect is not considered, there is a strong possibility that it will have unforeseen consequences.  The health of the world will be disturbed.

The distinctive feature of the Kogi is the emphasis they place on the mind and on consciousness as the doorway between the physical and metaphysical worlds. 

QUOTATIONS FROM GEORGE
George said this is full time work; we always need to pay attention.

 ‘Leave yourself alone’.  Don’t get in your own way.  Trust the process.  All that openness and freedom is available as long as we don’t interfere. 

Releasing the body allows it to work in a much more coordinated way, so muscles are working differently. 

Connect the neck and spine – it’s one line, no separation.  The whole spine connects and supports the head, so the head can lead.

The hardest thing is to realize that we have the right to say NO; we’re pre-conditioned to say YES.

The more you get in touch with yourself, the better you can connect with other people.

You can let go of many things you think you must control.

A free neck is a state of being.

And a quote from Walter Carrington:  take all the time you need; the time is yours to take.

Several years into training I came up with my own definitions of AT:
Taking time to be thoughtful
The freedom to be who you are
A method of learning how to be at ease with yourself

THANKFULNESS                      
I am grateful to each and every one of my classmates and family.   My journey started alone but now I’m part of a wonderful community.  George’s dedication to this work has helped each of us find the best in ourselves.

I feel more comfortable with who I am than I ever have.  I no longer feel I need to prove anything to myself or to anyone else.  This is the first time in my life I truly feel that I am standing on my own two feet!