I’ve called it ‘Before and After’. Thanks guys! Quite a transformation in their presence, posie, confidence. As I stated on YouTube, they have also been unfluenced by their other classes such as dance, voice etc, but nonetheless quite a good record of the change that can occur after 18 months. :-)
|The following was written by Marloes Gies, from Amsterdam, a regular student of mine in the summer on Alonnisos.
‘Well folks, listen to someone who’s been practicing yoga for over 26 years…..I centainly believe that yoga can be harmfull. I’ve made almost every mistake you can think of. Had lower back as well as neckproblems for years through yoga. Th…e problem was: I listened to my teachers too much and believed everything they said, I wanted to be the perfect student. I wanted to be good and please them too. If it hadn’t been for the Alexandertechnique I would have been very frustrated and probalbly would have stopped. My advice: don’t be too fanatic, don’t push yourself into poses you are not built for, get an experienced teacher and for god’s sake do not believe everything your teachers tell you. If they cannot admit they are students and seekers themselves and seem to be dogmatic, stay away from them. Follow your own path. It is your body, it is your life. Take it from one who knows. It might also be very helpful to have some Alexander -technique-classes. Know yourself. Know your body. If you keep that in mind practicing yoga can be beautiful and very beneficial. (Ofcourse you can come to my classes too)’ www.yogastudio-flow.com
It’s such a beautiful island. The daily schedule for the workshop is to walk down a mule track, fragrant with sage, to the local beach in an Alexander meditiation, swim across to the jetty for some Chi Kung, play with some snorkelling, then return to the beach for a ‘constructive rest’ and walk back up the hill to the village for showers and individual lessons on my shaded terrace. In the evenings we will meet again there for a group session before going out on the town! (well a gentle walk to a local taverna…) Workshops last a week and go from June 15th – 22nd, June 29th – July 6th, July 13th – 20th, and Aug 31st – September 7th. but if these dates don’t suit you or you would prefer individual lessons, then you can always book a personal schedule of sessions to fit in with your holiday plans….
Above is a photo i took on the beach we walk down to every mornng, with one of the particpants taking a moment. Below is the village
It is not true that as AT teachers we are anti-exercise, but HOW we exercise, and some of the those savage ham string stretches before a football match may well be what causes the torn ligaments.
“stretching somehow increases tolerance to pain – that is it has an analgesic effect. It does not seem prudent to decrease one’s tolerance to pain, possibly create some damage at the cytoskeletal level and then exercise this damaged anaesthetised muscle.” (Ian Shrier)
Gentle easy warm ups are the answer then.
‘So we tell our pupils that before they start exercising it is a good idea to stop and get rid of whatever tightening and pulling down they are doing, and allow themselves to lengthen and widen. This brings their muscles into a state of lengthened and balanced equilibrium which is the best state to be in for doing the next thing.
And if they are going to the gym or going to play squash or tennis, they should certainly go through a gradual warm-up to whatever level of activity they want. And they should do this by gentle movement rather than violent pulling at themselves in static stretches.’ Gerald Foley
I have started a competition for the best photo of semi-supine on my facebook group ‘I like lying down in semi supine’. The prize is the clock shown here, supplied by STAT. All you have to do is join the group and put a photo up by December 1st, and you may win! My theatre students said it would be like ‘planking’ …..and plan to take pix of unusual places to lie down in…could be fun!
is a review of restaurant that mentions Alexander Technique if you keep reading….I clearly would be OK to sit in these chairs since I’ve been working with AT for 36 years now….we get more flexible as we get older! Yippee!
Click on this to find out all about a new research protocol about to start comparing AT with acupuncture regarding neck and shoulder pain, funded by Arthritis Research UK. Since it’s only just starting, it will be quite some time before we find out the results, but I am very hopeful and it will add to the growing evidence of AT as a useful tool to fighting muscular-skeletal disorders. I am personally interested as my Dad had rheumatoid arthritis and died before I was qualified to try and help him……