Tag: Alexander Technique

Weekly Group Plans

Standing firm

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

This week we move from sitting, to standing. And we will think of how we can stand with more ease and more enjoyment. One regular student of mine, after studying the Alexander work for some years said to me, ‘I know it sounds odd but I used to not enjoy standing and now I do’. Being able to stand in a balanced and easy way is a skill and a gift that is often overlooked and under appreciated – and it is good for us.

So we will look a little at the anatomy of standing, at the weight of the head and where and how it balances on the end of the spine. We will observe each other standing and see what we notice. We will observe and explore the act of standing in ourselves, too.

We may consider how we move between sitting and standing – and explore different ways of doing that with grace and ease. And we will develop a gentle standing warm up routine that we can do on waking or at any time of the day to gently wake up the body and get ready for the day or the activity ahead.

And we will discuss when, how and how much we stand on a daily basis and how we might apply Alexander work to all of that.

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Photo by Julian Jagtenberg on Pexels.com
Reflections on Previous Groups

Are you sitting comfortably? Reflecting on week 1 of this term’s groups

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

This week saw the start of new Alexander groups in Manchester and Macclesfield. Some students are completely new to the work, others have attended previous group courses or had some 1:1 lessons. I asked them all what they hoped to gain from our shared study of Alexander and why they had come.

Some folk mentioned improving their posture – how they stand and walk and sit. And we will work on those important topics. Others spoke of reducing pain and stiffness – and many people find that Alexander work achieves those things. Several spoke about movement – they had come because they wanted to move more easily, more gently, more enjoyably.

One spoke movingly of how her work in previous groups had increased her confidence, reduced her anxiety and pain (and medication!) and how this profound work had transformed her life. Sometimes it does that – we come for a bad back, we discover a lifetime’s study that can change how we are in the world. It can go very deep!

And we made a start by looking together at sitting and sitting bones, at sitting more comfortably. We discovered the joy of knowing that sit bones are also called ‘ischial tuberosities’ and resolved to use that knowledge frequently in the week ahead and to drop the phrase into conversations wherever possible.

My regular students and I learned Bruce Fertman’s ‘dolphin’ movement together. There was laughter, learning and, I think, a bit more freedom in movement by the end, for all of us. I was certainly smiling more, less tired, more optimistic. I LOVE working in groups šŸ™‚ My students are a reason to be cheerful. Ischium_02_anterior_view

Weekly Group Plans

Mindful movement

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

Next week our new Alexander groups start, in Manchester and Macclesfield, with a mixture of students, some completely new to Alexander work and wondering what it is, some people who have taken groups before. We are all students of this profound technique, all learning together.

A few weeks ago I spent 8 days in Dorset studying Alexander with one of MY teachers, Bruce Fertman. And because we are all, all of us, still learning I learned things about myself I didn’t know which I will share with my groups when we start back next week.

And I learned things about teaching the work to others that we will try out in my groups. The theme of much of Bruce Fertman’s teaching and writing is that the Alexander technique is about movement not posture. So I am going to take the theme of mindful movement for our first 5 groups. We will study the basic human forms of sitting, standing, lying, walking and transitioning – with a focus on how we move into and out of and during those forms. And we will help each other to find more ease, more fluidity, more comfort, more grace, more awareness, more enjoyment and even more beauty in those forms.

We will also think together about using the Alexander work when we are under stress – because we are late, because we are anxious, because we are irritated, because we are bored – which is another kind of stress!

And we will specifically apply the work to situations my students suggest for this term – whether that is singing, shopping, doing the gardening or even, as this photo of me on my own course shows, doing aikido!!

I am looking forward very much to seeing old friends again and making new ones. I love this work and I love sharing it. Thanks to all those who are planning to join me in this study in the coming weeks.

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