We had a really wonderful summer workshop recently in Katoomba, so many lessons and insights. Everyone was enriched and inspired by the 4 glorious workshop days, Jan 2021. This is my pondering and wondering about one question which has been very alive for me since the workshop. You may be aware that what happens inside a workshop stays inside a workshop; it is important. In respect and keeping faith with all our students for this one lesson I’ll refer to the student as ‘Shirley’ – not their real name of course (& a bit of mystery is fun!) Shirley asked how to walk with friends and not get ..read more

We have a wonderful team at BodyMinded Alexander Technique. Dave Carr is one our teachers, we asked Dave a few questions, enjoy getting to know Dave… Tell us why BodyMinded Alexander Technique makes you smile? It doesn’t make me smile so much as it inspires a feeling of security and confidence. In applying Alexander Technique to whatever I’m doing I know I’m using all my resources and doing the best I possibly could, and naturally confidence and security come with that. It’s been really cool to stand in front of large groups, coordinate myself, and observe the confidence in my communication ..read more

This article was originally posted on Interlude. https://interlude.hk/bodyminded-thinking-for-dynamic-postural-support/ “Lighter”, “easier”, “freer”, “weird”. These are the sort of things musicians (and others) say as they improve the way they sit and stand to play. It is not unusual for a real change in postural support to completely change the way the instrument, the fingers or the voice feel, and the ability to play challenging things may become surprisingly easy. This is the second in our series of articles from BodyMinded in Australia, addressing questions of coordination and control in p ..read more

Did you know I’m a Puppeteer?  I work with small hand puppets in my creative engagement work in aged care (not a lot of this happening during COVID ) and also I’m so lucky to work with large scale illuminated puppets when asked by the wonderful company Creative Legends. The story I would like to share with you is about my last puppetry gig. It was a council-led local festival up near Lake Macquarie with kites, kids, boats, and was much, much bigger than they expected; the community came out to play! I got to work for most of the roving improvisational performance with a large gorgeous pe ..read more

This article was originally posted on Interlude. https://interlude.hk/bodyminded-thinking-in-the-performance-of-music/ Musicians contribute so much to the personal and cultural well-being of the community and play music because they love it. Given that, it is a shame that for some, a career and/or long-term love of playing is associated with levels of stress and discomfort – sometimes a great deal of stress and discomfort.  Some musicians have become so injured as a consequence of their playing that they have been unable to continue with their beloved music making. Thankfully that is not ..read more

Yesterday Greg taught a BodyMinded in person workshop. It was a joy to actually meet people in person!  Comments like ‘you’re 3 D’, you’re taller/shorter than I expected’ were the greetings as the small number of people met after sharing online workshops this year. (This was post COVID lock down) The experience was great. I’ve been Greg’s partner for decades and done a lot of workshops!  Yesterday reminded me, why I love workshops… people are so interesting. The questions and comments from others really get me thinking. The comment that has my mind in a marvellous whirl is when we we ..read more

“The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences, and Teflon for positive ones:” psychologist Rick Hanson. What an interesting idea… it really resonates for me. I just love the image of our minds being like velcro. So sticky! Have you heard of the negative bias we all have in laying down memories? This ease of remembering and ‘hard wiring’ of our neural pathways for negative experiences is supposedly to protect us from danger. It’s linked to the fight or flight response. Important for survival. Especially from drop bears. I mention drop bears ‘cos they are not real. Our dangers nowadays seem ..read more

Five Minutes Peace is a delightful story book by Jill Murphy. It was gifted to me decades ago by my sister-in-law, when our kids were young. In it, a busy mum, Mrs Large has 3 kids & the drama is how she longs for five minutes peace.  All parents know exactly what I’m talking about!  Parenting is about being interrupted!  And then being interrupted some more. Well actually life is full of interruptions. Have you noticed how different it is working from home during COVID. Less interruptions, except for people also working at home and home schooling at the same time! How has i ..read more

This holiday season, summer 20/21, I’ve been devouring a book about fungus, and learning so much about these living partners of all that we do. Devouring is a wonderful metaphor, taking within in a way that becomes a part of one-self. But my metaphoric devouring is eclipsed by the literal devouring of the author, Merlin Sheldrake, fungus specialist and scientist who celebrated the publication of this wonderful book by dampening the pages and eating the oyster mushrooms that sprouted from it[1]. Sheldrakes book is a timely reminder of the interconnectedness of all life, of our interdependence w ..read more

How can we use the Alexander technique to cope the Coronavirus (COVID-19)? One of my students asked me this last week, as the pandemic was just getting started here, or perhaps we could call it the pandemic :-). Alexander was a champion of human reason, he railed against “emotional gusts” and “prejudice”, and yet it is manifestly difficult to take a reasoned point of view when you have limited information about the real risk, especially when there are people reacting strongly around you. Our minds will use whatever heuristics [1]it can to decide on an attitude or course of action, and that oft ..read more