Alexander Technique and Mental/Physical Health   Listen in as I dig into a variety of Alexander Technique topics with composer & musician Michael Hollis. Make no mistake, this talk is for EVERYONE; not just musicians and singers. You are your instrument. Topics covered   who was F.M. Alexander and how did his Technique take off? what the Alexander Technique is & what it is not. how I found AT, why I trained to be a teacher, & why I stayed. who usually comes to learn Alexander Technique. why Alexander work is used as a compliment to talk-therapy (especially aro ..read more

Stress, Tension, and AT (part 1)  “Stress” Is Not a Four-Letter Word  …knowledge concerned with sensory experience cannot be conveyed by the written or spoken word, so that it means to the recipient what it means to the person trying to convey it.  -F.M. Alexander, The Use of the Self (1941 edition) Brain Wave (wood & bone), Skull Bali As a Literature major, a prized possession was my dad’s worn office thesaurus. Okay, technically, it was his possession. True! But, the point is that the demands of my undergrad focus made reader-response reality obvious to me: no matt ..read more

Alexander and Breathing  The Big Picture  The Human Hamster Wheel Lee, 2006 (Bristol, England) As we all start to "come down" off of the Pandemic cliff or hamster wheel (or the hamster wheel that's ON a cliff ? pick your metaphor!), many of us also are coming into awareness around how we've been holding our individual/collective breaths as part of coping during crisis.   The hormones of Fear interfere with our breathing. The relationship between hormones and breathing is part of our autonomic nervous system's design for survival; humans are not meant to live with the long ..read more

Alexander Technique for Musicians  Alexander Technique & the Musical World  Almost as renowned as the Alexander Technique’s association with Acting and Voice is its use by professional musicians. The Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and Julliard (for example) all have included private and group Alexander classes in their instrumental music curricula for more than 60 years, and for good reasons. Watch my talk & mini-lesson with cellist Sasha Ono of the Lotus Chamber Music Collective (skip to approximately 4:30):   Musicianship, Musicality, and Re ..read more

A little more backstory…  Chairs & Waves  In chronic back pain, a full 9 months before I knew the Alexander Technique existed, I bought a signed print of Ellis Felker’s Union Terrace Chair.  A former dancer on a Creative Writing Fellowship in early 1994, I remember being drawn to the image’s poetry: its visceral, tactile qualities and the dynamic movement suggested by the colors, light, and water. Soon after, I found the Alexander Technique, and it became clear that AT and Felker’s photo actually had found me. I often point to Terrace Chair as a visual representation o ..read more

Online A.T. classes  Alexander Technique & Touch Hands on...Hands off The Alexander Technique often is associated not with the actual principles behind it, but with the skilled, gentle touch a teacher traditionally uses in Alexander classes to clarify the Technique's ideas for students. Yet historical records suggest that Frederick Matthias Alexander did not incorporate much touch regularly with pupils until approximately 10 years into his teaching career. Until COVID-19 created an enormous need for Alexander lessons to exist virtually, most instructors (like me) avoided te ..read more

My Journey   When I was 23, I woke up one morning and could barely turn my head.   Me, age ~16 Without excruciating neck, shoulder, and upper back pain, I couldn’t lift a pot of coffee or brush my hair. I’d been a professional ballet dancer, so I took pride in my strength and flexibility; this shouldn’t be happening to someone of my age and fitness, I thought. Doctors told me the extreme pain was due to stress, told me to relax (eye-roll), and recommended prescription-strength Ibuprofen. Within two weeks, the pain had faded to gone. Great! Four months later, it was back. For th ..read more

What to Expect  What Will You Learn in Your First Alexander Technique Class?  That everyone has unnecessary tension patterns in their body they may be experiencing (or may be unaware of) and how you can move out of yours. How the head-neck-back relationship effects how we feel and function (well or not so well) in our daily lives. How thought impacts our bodies and vice-versa. That we can choose response vs. reactivity. How to become aware of everyday movements like sitting, standing, walking, and reaching. How your awareness in these simple activities (and your dec ..read more

Alexander Technique and Acting  How did the Alexander Technique Start? The Backstory is Your Story Young Australian actor F.M. Alexander faced a serious, concrete problem that had to be solved to save his career: While performing, he kept losing his voice. A big deal in 1892 when you have no mic, a passion for Shakespeare, and aren’t flush with cash. Strangely, voice-loss doesn’t seem to have been an issue for him in any other area of his life. Talking to friends? No problem. Acting? Problem. When Alexander followed medical advice (vocal rest for two weeks and prescribed medici ..read more