In this series, we will share excerpts from Idelle Packer's (ACAT, 1979) Training Journal, October 14, 1977 - Wednesday, December 13, 1978. The classes were taught by Judy Leibowitz, a founding member and the first Director of Training of ACAT from 1967 to 1981. Judy was the original Alexander Teacher in Juilliard's Acting Division, joining the program at its inception in 1968 by invitation from John Houseman. Judy taught in the Juilliard Acting Division until her death in 1991.

October 25, 1977: If you look at a drawing of a skeleton in profile, you can see the arm is hanging from the shoulder joint. The joint does not connect with the clavicle... The arms hang a little father out and lower than we usually think.

Many of the tensions we have are not purely physical, but emotional. [A trainee] felt immense emotional release by letting the tensions in the shoulders go. Alexander talks only about length and width. Judy uses the word "torso" since the body is three dimensional. Widening and lengthening together is an expanding into the whole body. [A trainee] said that he felt he can't change physically unless he changes emotionally. The process of giving up something we are familiar with, causes a feeling of mourning for what is being left behind. Directions can be given sequentially but what happens, happens all at once.

As an Alexander teacher, one would energize one's own arms. Relaxation is not a productive experience for anyone who uses the body. There is a difference between "release" and "relax".

IDELLE PACKER, MS, PT, mAmSAT, certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, has been creatively exploring its broad application for over 35 years. In her private practice, Body Sense, in Asheville, NC, she teaches the Alexander Technique in context of physical therapy assessment and rehabilitation. She authored the chapter on the Alexander Technique in Springer Publishers’ Encyclopedia of Complementary Health Practices (1999). Her current passion is Contact Improvisation, a somatic and athletic improvisation form, to which she has been joyfully integrating the principles of the Technique over the past fifteen years.

by Judy Stern

Barbara has taught me many skills on many levels—too many to list in this article. The "hands on" skill that stands out today, was learning to maintain the energetic space between my hands, my arms and my student while maintaining full contact. This allows students to sense the space for them to change (to move up and out). The energetic space makes it easy for students to discover and address habits without feeling imposed upon, or pressured to change. This is one of many skills that Barbara teaches our trainees today, just as I learned it when I trained at ACAT in 1987. Of course, now I also teach our trainees about the energetic space. It's an incredibly valuable and necessary skill that helps maximize teaching and learning.

Barbara has also taught me many psychodynamic skills. In addition to being an Alexander Technique teacher, Barbara is a trained Rubenfeld Synergist. This means she has particular interpersonal skills that enhance a students' ability to learn and the teachers’ ability to impart information. For example, let's say a student has a very slight limp that was due to a recent injury. Barbara wouldn't say, "Do you know you're limping?" Rather than pointing out the limp directly, which might make the student self-conscious (i.e.: startled), she would use an indirect approach. She would encourage lengthening of the torso on the opposite side of the limp, and eventually, the limp may decrease, even disappear, if it is due to habit.

50 Years of ACAT!

Barbara has brought so much to the ACAT community. She is THE Senior teacher/trainer in NYC and perhaps on the East Coast. To be called a senior teacher, one must have 20 years of teaching the Alexander Technique. Barbara has over forty years of experience! She carries the ACAT legacy passed on to her from Judy Leibowitz and Debby Caplan (both took lessons from F. M. Alexander) and Frank Ottiwell, as well as her mentors, Walter and Dilys Carrington and Elisabeth Walker, who were trained to be teachers by F. M. Alexander. It is an amazing experience to work with her, because she embodies all that she learned those teachers.

Barbara's many roles at ACAT since she trained in 1971 speak to what a remarkable asset she is to the ACAT Training Course and to the Alexander community at large. She has headed the ACAT training twice, first when Judy Liebowitz, our first and founding director, stepped down from the position in 1982. Then a second time, in 1996, when called upon by the faculty to lead once again.

I highly recommend the Alexander Technique Lesson at Home, a digital download in which Barbara narrates a compilation of the procedures Judy Leibowitz taught that are very helpful for practicing the Technique on your own. You also get an interview with Barbara, in which she talks about Judy (Leibowitz') influence at ACAT and on her own teaching. You can get the Lesson at Home by making a donation to ACAT.

Barbara is a treasure in our community, having touched so many of us with her gifts.

ACAT’s 50th Anniversary – Matching Challenge Grant

ACAT has received a matching grant of up to $10,000. Donate in honor of Barbara Kent and Jessica Wolf, and have your donation matched dollar-for-dollar. Whatever you give, your donation will be doubled. To thank you for your donation, we will send you a link to download an MP3 of ACAT's Alexander Technique Lesson at Home, based on Judith Leibowitz’s teaching and narrated by Barbara Kent. Go to acat50.org to donate and find out more. All donations to ACAT are tax deductible.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Judy-Stern-headshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]JUDY STERN is a senior faculty member at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT). She has been teaching the Alexander Technique for almost 30 years. She has a post-graduate certificate in Physical Therapy and a Master of Arts in Health Education from the University of Florida/Gainesville. She was a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Physical Therapy early in her career, and worked for 19 years as a traditional physical therapist. Judy has a special interest in the neurophysiology of the Technique. She has a private practice at her studio in Rye, NY, and specializes in working with people in pain. Connect with Judy at her website. www.judithcstern.com [/author_info] [/author]