News

No he doesn’t have Alexander lessons as far as I know, but his ‘use’ is pretty Alexandrian, isn’t it? And a great example of how change can occur. I hope he gets that basketball court to maintain his ‘up’, ( or an on-house AT teacher) otherwise I predict his height might lessen and a ‘two term in office’  stoop might manifest.

I’d love to think Alexander helped my student Peter win the Arvon Poetry Foundation prize this year with Shoreditch Orchid, but again, think that was all his own doing. The Daily Telegraph have it on line and there’s a link to it from www.arvonfoundation.org or google the title and there are loads of sites with it on. Congratulations Peter I love it! This is a picture of a bee or spider orchid I took last April in a field above Patitiri  in Alonnisos. Maybe it will be an orchid like this that one day will grow in Shoreditch….

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A recent study of 579 patients with Lower Back Pain has shown Alexander  Technique lessons to help long term.  In the study it showed that 24 lessons in AT lowered pain significantly - benefits still there after a year. Next beneficial was 6 AT lessons with GP prescribed exercise- half an hour brisk walking a day. There was no significant long term change using massage although it did give temporary relief.  The results are published online in British Medical Journal www.bmj.com or there’s s good article about it in the Guardian on line www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/20/health.healthandwellbeing

 I will be starting my next course of lessons in London from September 15th. Book now, either for a course of individual lessons (£45 a session)  or for my 6 week group course for 4 people starting Wednesday 17th September at the Bunhill Meeting House EC1, 8pm, (£90 the course.)

Pictures are of some beautiful backs on a boat in Alonnisos; my recent group in EC1, lying down in Balanced Resting State; and teachers sitting well and looking after their backs in Lugano…

I’m back from the International Congress in Lugano and reflecting on all the wonderful teaching I received there- such a meeting of minds, new and old friends. Coming down to breakfast in the hotel in the morning was extraordinary - even in early morning consciousness there were us Alexander Teachers sitting up and out and staying in the moment, and there were the one or two non-Alexandrians, sitting huddled and pulled down over their coffee and rolls. Eek! I use the title Life Force, as it seemed to be a word I heard more than once, to describe the ‘up’ direction…..something beyond the bodily tissue….when our head is going forward and up, released up off the spine then the Life Force is unblocked, available.

The first picture is of two master teachers working with each other…….Rivka Cohen in black in her 70’s who works all over the world, based in Haifa, Israel, and Elizabeth Walker, in her 90’s,  from Oxford, the last remaining teacher on the planet who was trained by Alexander himself.

The next picture is of Shmuel Nelken taking a master class. Shmuel, another master teacher, is based in Jerusalem and had two lessons with Alexander in 1955 just before he died. All of these teachers have certainly got that Life Force working for them .

If you would like to experience something of this Life Force with me, come over to Alonnisos, or book some lessons with me in London. I’ll be back after 14th September .

If some of you muggles notice there are no lessons available next week, this may be because your teacher , like me, is whizzing off ( in an exuberant but non-end-gaining way) to meet with fellow wizards at Lugano for our 4 yearly Congress. (What do you call a collection of Alexander Teachers? A unified field of teachers? An inhibition of teachers? email me with your suggestions on alexpen@onetel.com. ) There will be over 500 of us there,  exploring all the latest news in neuro science and back pain trials, and gently exchanging work and ideas and…well what a buzz. Anyone who has lessons with me after 18th August will be ‘upped’ in profound extraordinary ways I’m sure. I will be giving my presentation on the Higher Creative Self. I’ll write a paper on this so you can all read it here at a later date.
Meantime, here’s a picture of my last student resting gently on the table in my teaching terrace at Alonnisos…..still plenty of time to take off for a summer course in AT here on the island. I’ll be back by 18th August….. 

This is our workspace at the villa and we were experimenting in the shared engagement of teacher and student during a ’table turn’.
We did lots of other experiments too..the other pic is of me discovering how different the voice sounds in a Greek Urn….(there has to be a joke there, but really the image is quite funny enough!) I hasten to say it was not just I making this experiment……
So if you were hoping to join us this year on the workshops sadly they have gone and you are too late for this year, but we’ll be doing them next, and if you want to come over for a private course of individual lessons with me, I’m here till September 12th

What a great time we had last week! Diana, Shelley, Fiona, Lia, Shalinee, Jean all managed to leave - with some regret! -after a week of throwing balls at each other  , swimming with free necks, looking for dolphins, and coming into a greater awareness of self and the beautiful environment around. Clare and Lia played guitar and flute for us int eh forest, and Pakis on our boat trip sang Greek folk songs for Lia’s name day, after diving for sea urchins and teaching us how to eat them….
This week’s workshop for advanced students/teachers has already begun. We’re exploring our voices and walking and how to keep our attention wide even faced with such stimuli as students and cicadas…..learning how to inhibit and respond INSTANTLY if need be…
Althought it’s too late for a course, remember it’s still possible to come over to Alonnisos this summer for lessons with me individually. I’m here till 13th September.

Just finished a wonderful weekend with some great musicians in Thessaloniki The theme of my workshop was ‘coming back to the centre’, or ‘playing from the directed self’. One of our methods was to stand for 5 minutes and not do anything. I recommend this as a practice in inhibition and direction and non-doing. And we played the game of choosing whether to play or not, and to notice if the playing brought us out of the centre,  and if so to stop immediately and wait for the centre to return, and then play again….
Followed by an exciting trip to the sea side and nearby taverna with a table full of delicious food to stop and choose from …kalamari or octoupus? Sardines or gavros? Beetroot or tzazkiki? Mussels or chilli pepper?
Thank you Despoina, Costas, Alexis, Sapfo, and Maria for your habitual hospitality (one habit I hope you don’t change!) and see you all again in September for more exciting experiments with your music and movement.

I have been having a wonderful week swapping work with Pippa Bondy, a teaching colleague from my days when we trained in the Alexander Technique in North London. We walk down to a special bay nearby every morning for some swimming and Chi Kung and then walk back up the steep path. I find again that place of non-doing, where letting the legs go as I clamber up the hill moves me gently easily lightly…..in the water I let the arms go and as they automatically sink into the water beneath me, I find myself propelled forward effortlessly, no pushing, connected, conscious…..
Pippa has develpoed a shamanic healing practice and I recommend you visit her site www.ancienthealingways.co.uk - a very practised and sensitive guide.

There is an AlexTech Mailing list on Google Groups . There is a very interesting discussion at present on inhibition.
It is a personal story from Michael Mossey a Feldenkrais practitioner who describes the flow of movement he gets into when he pauses and waits during Tai Chi practice.
I quote :-

"So this pausing and waiting feels very close to inhibition as described by members of this lst. And there’s a sense that the difficulty in movement dissolves. Instead of grappling with or analyzing difficulties, I pause and wait for a fundamental shift to a new state where the difficulty simply doesn’t exist. And this can transfer to other actions and responses to things like emotions or anxious thought."

This is a similar discussion to the one I am having presently with a student here in Alonnisos. As i tap this under the pine trees outside a taverna (thank you for wi-fi guys!) overlooking the sea, wondering what to write next, I pause and wait and notice Niko-Costas affectionately pulling fur from the Alsatian dog who is moulting, Greek voices and laughter floating down from the souvlaki bar above the little shop where a family are enjoying a late lunch, a tourist in a red tee shirt looking out at the sea as he carreses his partner who has a red bag sitting o the bench……and I find it is written.

My group workshops in London just finished this week. Next ones due to start in September, so get yourself on the list as I can only work with 5 people at a time…Good time had by all, We learnt about our head and necks and a widened field of attention, and what it is to say ‘no’ to a stimulus, and for a moment be out of habit, and discovered the strength of our habits! And of course how delightful it is to lie down in semi-supine every day.  Ruth who arrived with neck pain and headaches is finding it much relieved….Paddy plans to boat over to Alonnisos for some classes with me and Pauline plans for private sessions when I return in the Autumn. Thanks everyone for your presence and openess to the learning process. A privilege as always to be your guide…..

What’s going on? I asked Justin as he paused perplexed for rather a long time during our lesson together this week. ‘mental gymnastics’ he replied. And we laughed because that’s exactly how it is - a brain workout.  Inhibition and direction:
  “Have a thought of walking, then say no, I’m not immediately going to walk, but I I’m ging to keep my directions going. Then ask yourself if you are free to sit in the chair.  If you are free to sit, then you are free to walk…..”

I love this- look at the splendid headneck back relationship and the whole ‘forward and up’ direction of the headdress. Yummy. It’s a photo by Hans Silvester from his book Tribal Decoration of the Omo Valley.

“At the still point of the turning

world .Neither flesh nor fleshless;

Neither from nor towards; at the

still point, there the dance is.”

 T.S.Eliot

Finding the still point, non-doing, non-interfering, ‘coming into our backs’., not end-gaining but staying present…..it’s at the heart of our work.

This is me working with Nick in Alonnisos year before last. As well as the set courses at the end of June, anyone is welcome to take lessons with me throughout the summer. Just get yourself a return flight to Skiathos, find a nice pension for a week or two and come every day for a lesson on my shaded terrace overlooking the sea and islands. It’s pretty cool….(in more ways than one!). One or two lessons a day will help you find your way to the heart of the work fairly rapidly and with the island helping you relax, it can be quite tranformational.  Email me on alexpen@onetel.com

After 20 minutes in semi supine on my table last night, I asked my student Mark how he was feeling.  After some thought, “Unwrinkled…”  came the reply. Love it.
And last Friday an acting student who I’d been working with for 4 terms on her terribly stiff neck and shoulders at last manged to let go. “I feel my head is turning on a ball bearing!” she gasped in wonder and surprise as she looked around the room and floated up from the chair…..

If you’re not sure if Alexander Technique is for you, come and have a one-off session to find out. Email me (alexpen@onetel.com) and we can organise a one hour session at a time that suits you.

In that session I will work with you in the balance resting state (as shown) and give you some tips appropriate to your particular balance patterns to improve your way of standing and sitting - something for you to go away with and start practising  immediately.  Although a course of lessons is strongly advised, there are occasions when some small changes can make a HUGE difference. Some years ago a woman came to me with continuous pain in the lower back. I could see how she was standing to create this problem. “Think of walking backwards” I suggested. As she thought of this, her balance shifted and her back pain ‘magically’ vanished……A one-off session is £50, with concessions available.

I will be running summer Alexander Workshops on the Greek Island of Alonnisos for the eighth year.

The workshops run between June 27th - July 11th 2008, are suitable for both beginners and advanced students/teachers of the Alexander Technique. They take place on a beautiful, quiet island in the Aegean. A few places still available
And if those dates don’t work for you, I am teaching individual courses of lessons throughout the summer which we can arrange to suit you. The picture is a view from my teaching terrace.
You can find out much more about the workshops at http://www.alexanderingreece.com/ or feel free to contact me at alexpen@onetel.com