Alexander Technique Site

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guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

Alexander Technique Site

I would like to recommend this Alexander Technique site website.

http://bodylearningcast.com/

Whether you are interested in the technique but have yet to find a teacher or have some experience and are interested in how other practitioners discuss their professional implementation of the technique this is an interesting website.

Or like me you might just enjoy listening to the podcasts whilst running.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 20 2013 8:16:08

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: AT site for Miguel and all (in reply to guitarbuddha)

Thanks, GB.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 21 2013 23:04:33

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: AT site for Miguel and all (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria

Thanks, GB.

You are most welcome Miguel. But as usual I am just pointing out someone else's hard work.

Robert Rickover seems like a really great guy with real love for his work. I was delighted to find his site. It seems to be a real labour of love and not just a marketing excercise as so many AT sites can be.

His guests have a variety of views and perspectives but he always treats them with respect and focuses on agreeing with the points he can wholeheartedly endorse. And there is always plenty of food for thought for anyone who, like me, wants to make the technique a bigger part of their life.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 21 2013 23:22:44

timoteo

Posts: 219
Joined: Jun. 22 2012
From: Seattle, USA

RE: AT site for Miguel and all (in reply to guitarbuddha)

quote:

I would like to recommend this Alexander Technique site website.

Am I missing something here? I don't see a URL ...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 5:35:58

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

Bodylearningcast.com (in reply to timoteo)

Woops

Thanks for drawing my attention to that Tim. Inserted and repeated here.

http://bodylearningcast.com/

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 9:54:04

Ricardo

Posts: 14822
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

Sorry but they have no clue what alexander technique really is.

just kidding.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 15:55:36

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo

Sorry but they have no clue what alexander technique really is.

just kidding.

You bring up a good point. But it doesn't really matter where I am at with the technique in my opinion or in anyone else's.

Finding a good teacher is a good idea for anyone who is interested.
I enjoy the podcasts and Robert has links to lots of teachers.

I note from his bio that he is a Physics graduate, I for one find that encouraging, if not defining.

But I suppose talking about AT online is a bit like talking about guitar. I remember when Deniz (now XXX ) was contributing (way back) and we couldn't agree on anything. And because we weren't communicating well I assumed he couldn't play and he the same of me.

Then just the other day Val gave me a link to a thread which happened in my absence and there was Dennis playing. And he was marvelous.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 16:17:13

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo
Sorry but they have no clue what alexander technique really is.

just kidding.

quote:

You bring up a good point. But it doesn't really matter where I am at with the technique in my opinion or in anyone else's.

"THEY", he said "THEY", not YOU!

quote:

Finding a good teacher is a good idea for anyone who is interested.

agree

quote:

I enjoy the podcasts and Robert has links to lots of teachers.

I haven't listened to any of them yet, so can't really comment, but I did look up Robert via the "Alexander Technique of Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada" link at the bottom.

From there I wandered around and ended up finding this article (honest, I wasn't looking for this, I was just curious and checking out the site) http://alexandertechnique.com/articles2/onyourown/

I don't really think it matters if you start with reading something, or start with a teacher, like Gerardo says in the picado section of his Encuentro vid, "Just start"

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 22:56:32

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to mark indigo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mark indigo

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo
Sorry but they have no clue what alexander technique really is.

just kidding.

quote:

You bring up a good point. But it doesn't really matter where I am at with the technique in my opinion or in anyone else's.
"THEY", he said "THEY", not YOU!

Busted

As to the article here is my experience. I study entirely on my own and have done so for the last seven years. When I reflect on where I was before having lessons I do not believe that I would have improved my use on my own but would have continued to focus on guitar technique as a solution to the pain that I had.

From my very first lesson my entire perspective of my body shifted fundamentally. I have always been a voracious reader so I read a lot too. I believe that for me without the first, and some unknowable number of the initial lessons, the reading would have been shallow and soon forgotten.

Most days I run ten mile and AT is my principle focus. I am very slow so that takes an hour and a half so that is an hour and a half six days a week. Plus half an hour on the floor after to explore any consequences of the run and the days practice.

I know that I have grown lazy and shallow in my thinking when the pain returns. But instead of getting worried I welcome the reminder to try and grow ever closer an understanding of the work. I do this on my own not only because I am skint but also because I like to take a pride in the things which are close to my heart.

It only strike me as merely honest to insist that my younger incarnation needed more than a book. There are lots of books and without the experience of hands on I would have moved to the next and the next and the next.

It is difficult to count the hours that I have invested in AT, probably more than the majority of members here have had the luxury of dedicating to the guitar. And of course to a certain extent I am doing it pretty much all of the time with varying degrees of focus and efficacy. To do that without having had a teacher would be like being deaf (or better having my ears jammed with wax) and trying to learn flamenco from a book having no recollection of having ever heard it.

Now maybe I would have been the next Evelyn Glennie or FM Alexander ........who knows. But there are really not so may Glennies or Alexanders in a given generation. The visceral experience of the lessons coupled with my exhaution from being in constant pain were the inspiration for the hard work, or the long work which followed.

So maybe there are loads of people reading right now who could get AT from reading a book alone. Well I wouldn't bank on it but here is a question to ask yourself if you think you have got it from reading a book. Have you spent thousands of hours dedicated to thinking solely about what it means ?
If the answer is no but it is something you would like to understand then find a teacher.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 22 2013 23:52:41

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

quote:

So maybe there are loads of people reading right now who could get AT from reading a book alone. Well I wouldn't bank on it but here is a question to ask yourself if you think you have got it from reading a book. Have you spent thousands of hours dedicated to thinking solely about what it means ?
If the answer is no but it is something you would like to understand then find a teacher.

there might be some.... but the point I have been trying since it came up in the other thread is not that Alexander's work can or should only be learned solely from his books, but that that is a possibility. You seem to see the issue in black and white. Books versus "Hands-on" from a teacher. A teacher can plonk their hands on a student, and maybe the student will turn off some of their cranked-up muscles, but then they walk out and turn them back on again. And many students become dependent on their teacher to "do" this for them. Unless the student actually learns the information contained in the books, either from the books or from a teacher, and learns how to apply it in practise, either on their own or with the help of a teacher, they won't really be getting the full benefit they could be getting from learning Alexander's work.

I have had a lot of lessons, and from different teachers. I still have lessons sporadically with a teacher. I am not arguing against having lessons from a teacher. I am arguing the case for reading Alexander's books, and I am arguing against the notion that Alexander's work can only be learned from a teacher (even if in practise it usually is learned with or from a teacher). I also don't believe that Alexander's work can be learned from simply reading his books. I think "study" was the word I used before.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 23 2013 13:32:24

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to mark indigo)

Mark , I regret contradicting your focus on FM Alexander's original texts. I feel now that I was too vigorously defending my own initial advice on the focal dystonia thread.

I have been enjoying our discussion and the perspective it has given me in pursuing the work. And it lead me to Robert's site and the podcasts which I am enjoying thoroughly.

It is good to know that we are actually in pretty good agreement and have gotten to know each other a little. I would of course value your input whenever AT comes up as you have shown passion and insight.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 23 2013 13:45:56

manicfingers

Posts: 47
Joined: Nov. 19 2011

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

You might want to change the thread title to AlexANder (not ..nader..), so it comes up in future searches.

I can't add much to the discussion itself, but I have done 6 AT sessions in Valencia, and it is *amazing*. Only 6 - I had to stop after that because I was in such a mess with my neck, but I recovered and continue practicing what I learnt.

The whole tension-feedback system of my central nervous system is now alive again, so I can detect any tension in my body without even thinking. Sitting, standing, walking.

And thanks to the floor techniques, I can now do it the other way around.. just tell my body to completely shut down all my muscles while lying down.

It makes me a couple of minutes in each position to release all tension, and I have 3 different positions.. one on my back, and one for each side.

Then after that, I am 'clear', I walk better etc., and the tension feedback mechanism is woken up again for the whole day. If I fail to 'release' myself each morning, then tension can creep in, and the feedback mechanism is less effective.

I can now play guitar without tensing the shoulder and arm muscles, so there is never any tension to take away afterwards. Just a quick 'release' session, just in case there is any tension there.

If I had known all this stuff 20 years ago.. you can just take all your body tension away by concentrating in a certain way. And without the tension, you don't get back/neck problems.

I couldn't speak spanish that well, so I think I missed out on a lot of the theory.. I just took what I could from it, which is the above.

Edit:PS: Feel free anyone to PM me on this.. I'm not an expert, like I said, and I suspect everyone's perceptions of the process are different. But I know that I am tension and pain free (for 3 years now).

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 29 2013 19:34:17

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to manicfingers)

quote:

ORIGINAL: manicfingers

You might want to change the thread title to AlexANder (not ..nader..), so it comes up in future searches.

Thanks and done !

And thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and hearty recommendation.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 29 2013 22:04:19

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexnader Technique Site (in reply to manicfingers)

quote:

You might want to change the thread title to AlexANder (not ..nader..), so it comes up in future searches.

quote:

Thanks and done!

oh, I was quite enjoying the typo, I was reading it as "Alex Nada"!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2013 12:13:19

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to mark indigo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mark indigo

quote:

You might want to change the thread title to AlexANder (not ..nader..), so it comes up in future searches.

quote:

Thanks and done!

oh, I was quite enjoying the typo, I was reading it as "Alex Nada"!

Enjoying ? For ten days ?

You find the satisfaction you 'gain' from other people's mistakes an 'end' of lasting value ?

How very strange.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2013 12:59:59

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

quote:

Enjoying ? For ten days ?

You find the satisfaction you 'gain' from other people's mistakes an 'end' of lasting value ?

How very strange.

this from the guy who complained about my "tone"

I found it mildly amusing that the typo of "Alexander" resembled the sound of the Spanish word "nada" meaning "nothing" - especially as we are on a flamenco forum. It wasn't the fact of the error that I "quite enjoyed", but the nature of it.

I found it mildly amusing each time I looked at the thread, so only a handful of times over the 10 days....

sorry to disappoint you but I didn't actually "gain" any great satisfaction from you making a minor error, nor would I consider that to be an "end" of lasting value.

Nice try to get the in a little accusation of the Alexandroid sin of so-called "end-gaining" (that's also a term that is not used much by the teachers I have studied the AT with).

sorry if you are feeling a bit touchy, but I am not actually out to get you.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2013 14:04:30

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to mark indigo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mark indigo

, but I am not actually out to get you.

Hey Mark I never claimed that you were out to 'get' me.

I suppose I have to live with the possibilty that, despite my wishes to the contrary, I get you.

Thanks for the definition of nada, that was great.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2013 14:41:13

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

quote:

Hey Mark I never claimed that you were out to 'get' me.

I suppose I have to live with the possibilty that, despite my wishes to the contrary, I get you.

Wait, so you didn't think that I was picking you up over making a typo?

You didn't think I got some kind of pleasure out of doing so?

You weren't offended by it?

And you didn't have a pop back at me for it?

I can't explain this

quote:

Enjoying ? For ten days ?

You find the satisfaction you 'gain' from other people's mistakes an 'end' of lasting value ?

How very strange.

any other way. No

to indicate you were trying to make a joke..... I don't know what else to make of it.

quote:

Hey Mark I never claimed that you were out to 'get' me.

No, but your reactions seem to indicate to me that that is what you might be thinking. That is why I repeatedly explain to you why I'm not "yanking your chain", being "adversarial" or "Enjoying... other people's mistakes" etc.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2013 13:55:04

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to mark indigo)

These guys really made history something I wanted to investigate.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2013 14:14:32

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Alexander Technique Site (in reply to guitarbuddha)

ha ha, most fun I've had on here since the AT first got mentioned, a whole seven and a half minutes of chuckle....

but is that what you think we're doing? petty, puerile point scoring?

do I have to labour the point over again, that that's not what I'm about at all?

I have at no point tried or intended to offend or insult you and I'm sorry if I have accidentally done so.

Discussion and debate are in my view entirely consistent with Alexander's work, and I have at all times tried to "play the ball, not the man" i.e.. discuss the Alexander Technique, and not to attack you personally for your opinions where they differ from mine.

I have also tried to explain as clearly as possible what I have meant where I have thought that misunderstanding has arisen.

But I also wonder if the discussions here on the Foro of Juan Martin vs. Paco de Lucia, old vs. new, Fakemenco, Ottmar Liebert, what to learn, how to learn, etc. etc. put anyone off flamenco? Or if the discussions in the luthiery section put people off making guitars? Or the current thread on guitar mics/pick-ups put people off amplifying their instruments?

If people want a long-term solution to back pain, neck pain, tendonitis, RSI, etc. etc. or if they just want to improve their co-ordination and performance, they should check out the Alexander Technique. There are different approaches and interpretations of the work, but there is benefit to be had from any and all of them.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 1 2013 23:38:32