FROM MARCH 2014: What We’re Reading: Evolution of a Technique in "The Use of the Self" by F. M. Alexander

by Brooke Lieb and Jessica Santascoy

Many students benefit by reading books about the Alexander Technique, because it helps elucidate concepts and ideas when taking Alexander lessons. Brooke Lieb, the Director of the American Center for the Alexander Technique and a teacher with over 20 years of experience tells us what she recommends for students, and how she uses it in her teaching, and shares F. M.’s 5 step process that you can use on your own or with a teacher.

SANTASCOY

What do you recommend new students read?

LIEB

In recent years, I have been asking my students to read the chapter “Evolution of a Technique” from The Use of the Self by F. M. Alexander, who originated the Alexander Technique. I give it to them sometime during their early lessons, depending on when I think they have had a clear enough practical experience in lessons to relate to the concepts and F. M.'s self-experimentation.

SANTASCOY

Why do you recommend this chapter to new students?

LIEB

I find this chapter particularly helpful in illuminating the idea that the student is actively engaged in the process, applying her or his thinking to influence what happens during the practical work in the lesson. There is a great deal of intellectual participation involved in learning, which can sometimes escape students when they first start to study, because of the tactile aspect of hands-on work.

Hands-on instruction is unique to Alexander. The intent and degree to which touch is used in the hands-on cuing in yoga, exercise, dance or movement instruction, or sport instruction, is completely different to Alexander. Also, hands are used so much less in those forms of learning.

I also recommend this chapter because it tells Alexander’s story, in his own words, and takes the reader on the journey of why and how F. M. made his discoveries, some of the pitfalls he had to overcome, and a simple 5 step process to explore.

I would encourage any student to seek the assistance of a teacher to demonstrate the process, but in conjunction with lessons, I have found that this piece stimulates many questions and interest in the work in my students. I find their questions, and their confusion has contributed to how I have refined and simplified how I illustrate these concepts through activities, the explanations and the analogies I use.

SANTASCOY

What kinds of responses have you gotten from students who have read the chapter?

LIEB

I recently sent this to a new student, after her fourth or fifth lesson, and she came in the next week with great interest in the ideas and concepts in the chapter, and also some extreme confusion about the 5 step process. Once I understood her confusion, I was able to explain the practical process, and how we were using this process in the lessons. She was confused by the fact that he talked about speaking a sentence, so I explained he was probably referring to a line of text, and that being an actor, he would be deeply invested in being “right” and successful when speaking text. Her question gave me an opening to talk about endgaining - the tendency to keep our mind and actions focused on an end result whilst losing sight of, and at the expense of, how the result is achieved.

I also refer to the fact that after Alexander saw what he didn’t feel in the mirror - that he was pulling his head back and down, he then assumed since he had now seen it once, he could rely on his feelings and was no longer pulling his head back and down. He returned to the mirror after a period of time, and realized that he was still pulling his head back and down, and acknowledged his faulty thinking: if he couldn’t feel it in the first place, why had he thought that in one moment of recognition, he had repaired a lifetime of not feeling it and could suddenly trust his feelings? This illustrates the force of habit, and that we’re not often doing what we think we’re doing. I find this revelation in F. M.'s story helps students begin to question how much they do or should rely on how things feel.

Some students begin to relate the practical work to ideas they remember from the chapter on their own, even if I have never articulated how the activity we are exploring relates to the concepts.

SANTASCOY

Do you refer to this material in lessons or relate your practical teaching to this material?

LIEB

Most definitely. I often reflect after the experiential part of a lesson, that what we were emphasizing was inhibition, direction, awareness, or the unreliability of how we interpret our kinesthetic sense. Having read this chapter, I find the student is more inclined to make connections to what we are doing in the activities we explore in the lesson to the practical application of the concepts they have read about. It is where the idea becomes a concrete, lived experience.

I often use the 5 step process in early lessons to teach a student how to receive my hands-on work, and to recognize the difference between allowing me to guide her or his movement, and how the student can initiate movement on her or his own. Students are able to understand the idea of doing less in upright work, and thinking more actively and participating more in table work after reading this chapter in The Use of the Self.

The 5 Step Process Applied to Public Speaking

Let’s imagine that you are going to give a presentation next week. You’d like to appear poised, elegant, and connect with the audience.

Think of a sentence that you might begin the presentation with, such as “My name is…”

1. Pause before you speak the sentence. Don't say it yet.

2. Instead, say the Alexander Directions to yourself: I free my neck to allow my head to balance delicately at the top of the spine, to allow the torso to lengthen and widen.

3. Continue to say these directions until you are fully engaged in the intent and purpose of the directions, and more committed to this new state in your system than achieving the result of speaking.

4. Then say to yourself, “I might say my first sentence, I might not.” The point is to recognize how the thought of giving a presentation may tighten your neck (and the rest of your body), and the first sentence may act as a stimulus (a trigger), that starts the tightening. But, just the thought of giving a presentation might make you tighten, so if you tell yourself you might or might not start, you are gently persuading yourself to not go into habitual tension.

5. Decide:

a. not to say the sentence and continue to direct b. to do something completely different, like “lift your hand instead of speaking the sentence” and continue saying the directions c. to say the sentence and keep saying the directions

Practicing these 5 steps will help you notice your habits, and decide to replace them with the new, efficient habit which is more easeful. When you’re easeful, audiences connect with you more because they sense that you are enjoying yourself. (These directions and the 5 steps have been modified by Brooke Lieb and Jessica Santascoy. The 5 steps as written by F. M. Alexander are on pages 45-46 in The Use of the Self.)

What other habits can you work with using this 5 step process?

N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification from 2008 until 2018, when ACAT ceased operations, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com

JESSICA SANTASCOY is an Alexander Technique teacher specializing in the change of inefficient habitual thought and movement patterns to lessen pain, stress, anxiety, and stage fright. She effectively employs a calm and gentle approach, understanding how fear and pain short circuit the body and productivity. Her clients include high level executives, software engineers, designers, and actors. Jessica graduated from the American Center for the Alexander Technique, holds a BA in Psychology, and an MA in Media Studies. She teaches in New York City and San Francisco. Connect with Jessica via email or on Twitter @jessicasuzette.

Training Teachers: Lesson/Session - The continuum of Alexander Technique

by Brooke Lieb (originally published at brookelieb.com)

One hallmark of the Alexander Technique is that it is educational. People who study will be learning independent skills that they can use any time, any where. Autonomy and self-directed mastery are a main goal of the work. The method is a set of principles that inform skills of self-regulation, decision making and problem solving.

The “user” chooses the strata they wish to explore and how they want to apply the work. It can remain in a very physical realm addressing coordination, alignment, form and comfort. It can be used to improve performance in daily and specialized skills. It can also be used to observe and change belief systems, narrative, identity, emotional states and mental processing.

I have been teaching private students, and training teachers for over 30 years, and each individual I teach has her own set of values, goals, desires and reasons for learning and utilizing the Alexander Technique. As a teacher of the Alexander Technique, I am also a client, since my self-work is the frame inside of which I teach. Over the years, my own interests and those of my students have taken me on a journey that inspired me to learn about many disciplines, conditions, and topics I might never have been drawn to.

These days, I am fortunate to work with many teachers in my private practice. Providing ongoing support for my colleague’s professional development is an inspiring lens to view my own work.

Recently, I find myself starting lessons asking my student what they are working on, interested in, needing help with; and choosing how much “education” they want that day, and how much they’d like to work in a less linear, intellectual way.

For the most part, my students have been varied from lesson to lesson and within the lesson about what is relevant for them.

In some lessons, we explore swinging a golf club, or finding a more comfortable set up for working at the computer or sleeping. In other lessons, spontaneous conversations come up about life events, personal or work interactions.

It took my a decade or more of teaching to realize no one is looking over my shoulder grading me on my choices; and there is no Alexander quality control board who’s going to come and weigh in on my teaching choices and style. I came to recognize my own belief systems about whether I would meet with approval from some anonymous Alexander jury of peers and was able to free myself up to be more and more responsive and in service to the person standing in front of me.

I was inspired when I heard a teacher quoted as saying “I don’t teach the Alexander Technique, I teach people.” People literally put themselves in my hands, and I feel the best way I can assist them is to offer them support in the way that is most helpful in the moment. I offer instruction, or my mere presence, and everything in between.

N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com

Alexander Student, Alexander Teacher, Alexander Teacher Trainer - What's the difference, and why does it matter?

by Brooke Lieb I have been taking lessons as a student of the Alexander Technique for over 33 years. I still take lessons to this day.

I began teaching 27 years ago, and have been training teachers for the last 25 years.

My greatest passion is training teachers, though I will take lessons for the rest of my life, and I get deep satisfaction teaching my private students.

I thought it would be useful to me, my students and the teachers-in-training that I work with, to consider what is different about each of these roles: student, teacher, teacher-trainer.

STUDENT

When I take a lesson, my attention is on myself. I gratefully accept the objectivity of my teacher as she uses her hands and words to engage me in learning. My learning takes place on many levels.

My teacher's hands are giving me information and experiences that assist my ability to observe and know how much excess tension I may be generating in my being. I am using my lessons to enhance the benefit I gain in my daily life when I bring my Alexander Technique tools to bear.

Sometimes the excess tension arises in response to a muscular demand, in activity, involving motion. We might explore how I carry out the activity of getting in and out of a chair, use my handheld device, or move into and out of downward dog during yoga practice.

I might observe excess tension in the context of my inner dialogue. Thinking about my workload, administrative tasks I have yet to complete, my response to someone's actions.

Any and every activity, mental or physical, can be material for the lesson.

Whatever I am exploring, I am interested in my own skills. I allow my teacher to be my guide and to educate me about myself and how I can best use my Alexander skills to access the efficiency and intelligence of being a human.

I have no focus whatsoever on assessing my teacher's use or process, I trust she is my guide. I am grateful and appreciative for the support and benefit I receive from the lesson and her teaching.

TEACHER

In contrast, when I am the teacher, my level of awareness is expanded to observe how my student is progressing, as I observe how I am teaching.

What skills might she benefit from learning or deepening during this lesson?

How can I use the hands-on component of the work to help guide her into a more integrated and poised state?

Private students (including me) take lessons for self-benefit, so they are focused on applying the Alexander principles to aid them in their lives. They are not planning to teach the work to anyone else. Their attention is NOT on the teacher.

As the teacher, I manage my end-gaining, and apply the principles to myself in the activity of teaching (hands-on work; choosing where to put my hands; what concept I may emphasize in the moment or in the lesson; speaking; and utilizing instructional aids, such as pictures of anatomy and videos). I use Alexander's means-whereby to teach, i.e., I am using the very same skills I am teaching in order to teach effectively.

As a teacher, my attention is on my student, her goals for learning and applying Alexander Technique to solve her own problem. That dual attention leaves me less time to wander around in my own mental chatter, so teaching becomes an activity that supports me in inhibiting my own habits on multiple levels.

I also benefit directly in my own self from working with Alexander principles, even if I am the "teacher" in this situation. When I give a lesson, I get a lesson.

My work is as healthy and beneficial to me as it is to my student.

TEACHER TRAINER

In this role, I am adding a level of assessment for how self-sufficient the teacher-in-training (trainee) is when working on herself, and as she reaches a high level of competence, I assist her in applying her means-whereby to teaching.

On our training course at The American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT), our trainees regularly put hands on faculty members as a tool for training. This approach is educational on multiple levels:

1) Faculty members all have a high level of competence at applying means-whereby to activity, so in the same way we use our hands on our trainees to convey inhibition and direction, when our trainees put their hands on us, we are still transmitting that information through our whole bodies. As the trainee progresses through the three-year training, she recognizes what she is witnessing under her hands, and with her eyes and ears. She has worked with classmates, and practice students with less skill, and can compare and contrast what she has observed under her hands. This gives her a sense of the kind of changes and progress she may observe in her students, so she knows that learning and change really are happening over time.

2) When a trainee works on a faculty member, we give specific verbal and hands-on cues so the trainee can observe how a change in her system facilitates a change in the teacher she has hands on. Sometimes the change is towards enhanced poise and efficiency, sometimes the change is towards increased strain, effort or tension in muscle tone. Either way, observing the change allows the trainee to consider her own internal state, use her developed skills at self-work, and observe the change in the teacher-trainer she is working with. This is the means-whereby of teaching in action.

3) As the trainee works with faculty, she realizes we all have habits of use that interfere with our full potential for poise and efficient coordination. The trainee can provide valuable instruction to the trainer, and can also understand that a teacher's use need NOT be perfect for a teacher to be highly skilled and effective in our teaching.

I theorize that when a teacher has hands on and is working with her skills to inhibit and direct in herself in order to communicate that to her student, that process is discernable to the student. It may be so subtle the student is not yet aware of how the teacher's use is facilitating ease and poise, but the intention comes through. So even if the teacher is sometimes tightening her neck in moments, she is ALSO freeing her neck and using inhibition and awareness. That intention is picked up by the student, who is also providing inhibition and direction in the lesson. Student and teacher assist each other in this process. Both startle and pull down in moments, but both ALSO apply inhibition and direction to antidote startle and pull down.

In Closing

In some ways, the same means-whereby is in play in all three distinct roles, but there are clear differences in the short-term outcomes for learning and how this is accomplished in these three roles.

This post was originally published on brookelieb.com

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.acatnyc.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brooke1web.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com[/author_info] [/author]

New Group Class: Experiential Anatomy and Alexander Technique

Experiential Anatomy and Alexander Techniquewith Witold Fitz-Simon

Tuesday Evenings (see dates below)

Learn to see, understand and talk about anatomy with an Alexander Technique twist. In this 10-week class, we will learn about bone, its physiology, function and use as a support structure and foundation for movement, with a special focus on the head and spine. This class is part of the American Center for the Alexander Technique's teacher-training program, the longest-running program in the US, but is open to anyone interested in the body and the way we use ourselves. Excellent for teachers of dance, yoga or other movement modalities, and for anyone interested in how their bodies work.

Class Day/Time: Tuesdays, 7:55 pm to 9:15 pm Class dates: September 13, 20, 27 October 25 November 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 December 6 Class Fees: $400 for 10 classes; $45 per drop in class All fees are payable by cash or check to “ACAT” To register for the whole series: send $400 payment in full* to ACAT, 39 West 14th Street, Room #507, between 5th and 6th Avenue or click below to pay via PayPal (processing fees apply) Buzz #507 to enter the building *There are no refunds for missed classes