Michele Arsenault, MSEd, graduated from ACAT/NY in 1987, a few months after the birth of her first child. Almost immediately, she began working with children in the classroom in a funded project in a New York City public school. This work culminated in the self-published curriculum, Moving To Learn: A Classroom Guide to Understanding and Using Good Body Mechanics, 1998.  Since that time, she has continued to focus upon the needs of children—offering workshops for classroom teachers from an Alexander Technique perspective, searching for answers to her son’s autism diagnosis, starting a special education school in Manhattan, pursuing a Masters degree at the Bank Street College of Education, and teaching and working with some of the most fragile members of our society, including a child with Joubert Syndrome.  

For this interview, Michele will join me in discussing the last two decades of her work in the Alexander Technique and in education—work that continues to provoke and open conversations around the appearance of what is most certainly a deepening crisis in our schools and in our societies.  Michele hopes to share with the Alexander community a number of startling insights into optimal human functioning—insights that evolved from countless hours of carefully observing children with challenging behaviors in the classroom. She offers what she considers to be an emerging new paradigm that may explain the exploding epidemic of children and adults with so-called dis-orders and dis-abilities. This paradigm, which she believes is compatible if not instigated by the particular understandings of the Alexander Technique, flies in the face of the various models and solutions offered by the established medical profession. It is a paradigm that she believes teachers of the Technique are in a unique position to understand and to embrace. 

 If you would like to join us, click on "Live Interviews" on the left of this page for full details.

Yep! I don't mind one bit if you share the audios...it's important that we spread this valuable info amongst the teaching community, but also the wider community also.

In every audio is a story of how the Alexander technique teacher found the technique, why they decided to train and what motivated them to pursue their particular niche in teaching. If you have students you'd like to inspire to train, then get them to listen to some of these inspirational people who have decided to make a difference in the world with the Alexander work.

I had a conversation with Gal Ben-Or yesterday afternoon in my "mobile office". I'd just jumped out of the surf at Rainbow Bay...one of the most beautiful right-handers on the Gold Coast and called Gal in Israel. Amazing times.

Anyway, we talked about how he's been working with kids using the Alexander Technique for 20 years and has a book nearly ready to publish. I will be interviewing him later in the month...be sure to tune into that talk to learn how he works with children...I'm looking forward to that interview very much.

The big take-away from my talk with Sue Merry was this...and it's something that every Alexander technique teacher should take heed of; Sue said the main factor getting in the way of the Alexander work reaching kids is Alexander teachers themselves! Teachers are too insecure to just go out there and start working with children. They think for some reason that their knowledge isn't enough, or they won't be able to do it, or children are too tricky to work with etc etc. But if you really do want to try this, Sue has already published a plethora of materials to help you get started. Just go to her website (click here) and navigate your way to the page with all her books...many of which are free to download!

As far as the Schools of Thought issue goes...it's coming together, all articles are in and editing is well underway. 

Would you like to know the one thing that NO training school I've contacted includes in their course? Apart from all manner of mind and body education governed by FM Alexander's four books and decades of handed down methods for training teachers, there is one thing that is NOT covered in any training school and it's a glaring omission.

If you would like to win a free subscription to DIRECTION (valued at $97USD), just post what you think is the answer in the comments to this blog. The first correct answer wins. I will publish all answers... but let's just see if anybody is actually aware of the single most important skill in teaching the Alexander Technique that not one training school I've contacted (and there have been a selection around the world of 20!) has even mentioned.

If you would like to receive a copy of Schools of Thought Issue, make sure your subscription is current, otherwise you'll be paying $29.95 for it as a back issue as soon as it is published in mid-March. Please check with me first if you're not sure whether your subs is current before you throw more money at DIRECTION! A few people doubled up last subscription drive and we had to refund their payments. SUBSCRIBE HERE

More soon.

PC

Sue has specialized in teaching children the Alexander technique since 1993 but also works with riders and horses. Her training also includes diet and nutrition using the BEST machine, she's an ordained Minister of Spiritual Peacemaking and most recently has been working with Metamorphic Technique.

Sue has appeared on Sky News and London Today. Her book "The Labyrinth of Gar" was published in 2004 and her new offering, "The Song of Mother Divine" is available from Findhorn Press and is the basis for a new programme of group-based work.

Join Sue and I on Tuesday 2nd February, 2010 

...as we talk about bringing Alexander technique back to where it can do the most good. Yes! Let's help the next generation change the world so that humanity doesn't keep making the same mistakes from it's habits.

 Principles for Teaching Kids (Quoted from http://www.ed2k.org.uk/Ed2kindex.htm)

- Education should first and foremost address the needs of the individual child.

- Every child should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe, loving and supportive environment.

- Every school day should include a period of "Quiet Time" when teachers and children have an opportunity to allow their bodies and minds together to come into a state of harmonious balance.

- Every school should understand the principles of the Alexander Technique and how to apply them to the school environment and to every school activity.

- Every child should leave school with the ability to choose good use of the self whenever they want to.

If this sounds like an impossible dream you might be surprised to learn that this is all happening now at a school in the UK: Educare Small School 

The course was seen as pioneering at the time and among the innovations were the inclusion of specialist Movement sessions and a personal approach to the study of Anatomy.

From London, Jamie moved to the Netherlands and was involved with the Amsterdam training course. When Don Burton moved to Cumbria, North West England, Jamie became a regular visiting teacher and eventually returned to England, eventually taking over the training course after the untimely passing of Don Burton in 1996. Since then, he has worked with co-director Michael Hardwicke at Fellside Alexander School,  Kendal Cumbria.

Jamie is a keen amateur singer and belongs to two local choirs. He's also on the Board of Directors of the next International Congress in Lugano, in 2011.

Join Jamie and I on Thursday 21st January, 2010.

All details are available by joining the Live Interviews list on the left of this page. Our talk will be recorded and posted in the Audio Archive for Subscribers.

But Tommy's extended bio is even more interesting...

He has acted in or directed over 200 productions, is the co-founder and first chair of Alexander Technique International (ATI) and a former Assistant Professor of Drama and Managing Director of Tufts Arena Theater at Tufts University.  Tommy has also lectured and given workshops at Harvard, Brandeis and Cornell Universities, New England Conservatory of Music, California Institute For The Arts, School at Jacob's Pillow Summer Dance Festival, Expanded Dance, Harvard and Bates College Summer Dance Festivals, La Canal Danse, Institut de Pedogogie Musicale et Choreographique, American Dance Guild,  The Institute for Advanced Theater training for The American Repertory Theater, Cambridge and Children's Hospital, Boston.

He is also the co-author of Scientific and Humanistic Contributions of Frank Pierce Jones and co-founder of the Frank Pierce Jones Archives and the F. Matthias Alexander Archives, housed in the Wessell Library at Tufts University, and was the organization's director for six years.

Join me as I pick his brain on teaching, training and the future of education.

A great response from one of our subscribers on the Audio Interviews...

I’ve really been enjoying the audio interviews.  John Nicholls, whose refresher course I took this past year, was particularly engaging.  His thinking about group teaching is right on the mark for what I am facing right now.

I’ve been giving intro workshops to staff at my university, under a wellness initiative. These are people who are not paid that well to begin with, and because of the economic mess in Maryland, we’ve all had salary reductions.  Some of these people’s spouses have lost their jobs, so stress is very high. They are so appreciative for anything that makes their lives a little simpler. And now a number of them want to take a group [Alexander technique] class, because they couldn’t possibly afford private lessons.  I was struggling with the decision, knowing that they could move ahead so much faster with individual lessons, but I weighed that against the possibility of their getting no training, and thinking of that, it was obvious that a group class is the way to go.

It will also pull them together as a community in a positive way, rather than their connection being through the terrible anxiety about money and the possibility of losing their jobs.

I am coming up on a break this January, and I’m looking forward to listening to some more of the Carrington talks and reading more of the Congress papers.  Thanks again for all your work to keep this vital journal alive.

Best regards,
Wendy

Paul's note:

Thanks Wendy. I too am looking forward to seeing how group Alexander technique work develops as demand increases over the next few years. The Group Dynamics Issue will hopefully open a discussion on the necessity of this medium to share Alexander's discoveries with many others, create communities, increase support for our work and to help Alexander teachers make more than a living. There are many brilliant group facilitators in our community to learn from and I've brought just a handful of them into this latest issue. Keep a lookout for a new section on this website dedicated to group work, we're in the process of structuring it for the benefit of all teachers and students.

PC

Well, that's all for me for another year. There are lots of things planned for 2010, so make sure you're signed up to the Interview Notices list to get into the latest live interview. I plan to record one every fortnight. Also I'm working on a media watch/quick response idea with another friend, so keep your eyes open for that. Seems like the media is picking up Alexander technique more and more...2009 saw Oprah and Victoria Beckham give it a mention. They might not be completely accurate descriptions of what the Alexander technique is (Victoria is "fighting" poor posture, Oprah's magazine describes a therapy with subtle exercises), but then even "accurate" descriptions, sanctioned by a society and lovingly crafted by an educated person are often misunderstood by the reader anyway!

The moral of the publicity story? Bring the client/pupil in the door first, then allow them the opportunity to learn the relevance of Alexander technique to their own life. 

Yours in Alexander always, Paul

Image courtesy JustJaredFor Alexander technique teachers who have battled to communicate with the general public what it is they actually do (or not do), this is a golden opportunity to learn the language of the mainstream. Yes, it's all very kosher in our profession to use the right terminology for what we teach, to not misrepresent the work itself, but as has been the case for the last 50 odd years, the rest of the world don't have a clue what we're talking about!

Michael Gelb put it well in our interview back in June (listen to it here) when he said that he wrote Body Learning in an effort to explain our complicated understandings and definitions for lay people, something that had been done so terribly by teachers in the past.

But now that Victoria Beckham has been reported to be unhappy with her rounded shoulders...and no doubt not very comfortable with her bunions from high heeled entrapment for so many years, let's watch how this major celebrity transforms as she learns the Alexander technique secrets to poise that so many professional actors have known for decades. (not to mention long term back pain sufferers who have solved years of pain and repetitive therapy)

So, if you start getting phone calls from people wanting to be just like Victoria asking to (as Marie Claire magazine puts it)  "strengthen core muscles and re-align the spine" just go about your normal practice of sticking to principle. Who really cares what brings new students through the door afterall? So long as they keep coming, the explanation they get when they arrive will soon sort the ones who want a quick fix from the enlightenment searchers.

And if you haven't yet checked out the new issue Group Learning, we've built some supplemental pages for the articles in the magazine with bonus live interviews. Here's one here for the article The Company You Keep.

PC

However, her perseverance and ingenuity has now paid dividends. She is now their permanent Alexander technique consultant to the company across all departments (this role accounts for 20% of her workload) . It is a truly inspirational story. In our new Group Learning/Teaching issue, we examine what Priska had to go through to evolve the relationship and negotiate her way to being in full control of her workload.

Soon I will speak with John Baron, another AT teacher who has put our work on the world stage by securing a teaching role at Google. Rated as No.4 in Fortune Magazine's top 100 employers in 2009, Google certainly sets many trends in the world today. Could this breakthrough open the door for many other AT teachers to follow into corporate America? I'll let you know how my chat with John goes.

Check out the new recording of John Nicholls in the subscription vault and also a new Walter Carrington talk on "defective inhibition" among other things (as always).

Subscribe now to keep abreast of the contemporary news in Alexander Technique.

PC