Hello friends,

I want to tell a story today about what entrances me about this work that I do.

It is gratifying to help people and a blessing and a gift to help people out of pain.

But it is the sense of wonder that keeps me endlessly fascinated with this fabulous method. While in training to be a teacher, it mystified me that it worked. “Of course it works!” exclaimed my teacher. And it does…

I first came in contact with the Alexander Technique in 1983, when I began taking lessons in Tel-Aviv, Israel. All that I can remember from my first lesson is a Zen-like experience as I floated down the street, afterward. Although the streets were noisy and bustling, a sense of peace and inner quiet accompanied me home.

That experience is at the core of what entrances me with this Work. I have often wondered, what is this Alexander Technique, anyway? How can we talk about something that is often known for posture and pain, yet affects people so profoundly in their spirit?

I finally came to realize that it might be helpful to return to what Mr. Alexander used to say. He called it, “the Work.”

He also said that we are psycho-physical beings.
I would add, that we are psycho-physical-spiritual beings.

The conventional description is that the Work helps people undo postural patterns that are often at the root of pain.

However, the Work is not only about body mechanics. It is a skill to undo habit patterns that have put us wrong, over time. That is as true for habitual reactions to emotional stimuli as it is for physical patterns in how we move our bodies in daily life.

Physically, the premise is that the way we carry ourselves, affects how we function.

On a deeper level, I believe that this work helps to open the flow of Chi and wake up our Consciousness.

To me, this is where the deeper challenges lie…the development of human potential….the Work.

Namaste,
Dana