Current and future developments in Alexander Technique teaching

New developments in Alexander Technique Directing can be found here. Information about the influence of Francois Delsarte on F. M. Alexander and the Alexander Technique can be found here

Your Body and your Mind: More tightly knit than you could have ever have imagined – Part 1
Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about F. Mathias Alexander’s use of the term “psycho-physical” – why he used it, and the implications of the meaning he assigns to it.

This is the podcast that inspired our conversation: bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/313810-mind-body-unity-and-the-alexander-technique

Here is part of what Alexander wrote in his second book, “Constructive Conscious Control”, and which is quoted in the interview: I wish to make clear the sense in which I use the word psycho-physical. The term psycho-physical is used both here and throughout my works to indicate the impossibility of separating “physical” and “mental” operations in our conception of the working of the human organism. As I wrote in (my first book) “Man’s Supreme Inheritance”, “In my opinion the two must be considered entirely interdependent, and even more closely knit than is implied by such a phrase.” I am forced to use the words “physical ” and ” mental” here and throughout my argument because there are no other words at present which adequately express the manifestations of psycho-physical activity present at these various stages, not in any sense because the “physical” and the “mental” can be separated as such. I wish, therefore, to make it clear that whenever I use the word “mental,” it is to be understood as representing all processes or manifestations which are generally recognized as not wholly “physical,” and vice versa the word ” physical ” as representing all processes and manifestations which are generally recognized as not wholly “mental.”

Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com
Both Imogen and Robert also teach online. For more information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

Your Body and your Mind: More tightly knit than you could have ever have imagined – Part 2
Robert Rickover continues his discussion with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about F. Mathias Alexander’s use of the term “psycho-physical.” Their previous conversation was about why he used that phrase, and some of the implications of the meaning he assigns to it and can be seen here: youtu.be/b9NxHqCLuX8

In this video, they discuss specific examples of processes and activities that illustrate those implications. (As one point I mention an Alexander Technique and Physicist in Amsterdam, but I couldn’t think of his name at the time: Patrick Johnson, Phd. Website: smartbody.nl/alexander-technique )

Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Both Imogen and Robert also teach online. For more information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

Your Body and your Mind: More tightly knit than you could have ever have imagined – Part 3
Robert Rickover continues his discussion with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about F. Mathias Alexander’s use of the term “psycho-physical.” Our previous conversation was about why he used that phrase, and some of the implications of the meaning he assigns to it, and can be seen here: https://youtu.be/b9NxHqCLuX8 In this podcast, they discuss more implications that flow from Alexander’s concept of mind/body unity – specifically how an understanding of it can help us avoid one of the major obstacles faced by students – and teachers! – when self-directing and inhibiting.

“I wish to make clear the sense in which I use the word psycho-physical. The term psycho-physical is used both here and throughout my works to indicate the impossibility of separating “physical” and “mental” operations in our conception of the working of the human organism. As I wrote in (my first book) Man’s Supreme Inheritance, ‘In my opinion the two must be considered entirely interdependent, and even more closely knit than is implied by such a phrase.” (emphasis mine)

Here is part of what Alexander wrote in his second book, Constructive Conscious Control, and which is quoted in the interview:

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 1
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique. She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

This is the first in a series of her conversations with Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. This episode provides an overview of her findings. Subsequent videos will go into greater detail.

More information about Amanda: https://amandacolemezzo.com/
More information about Robert: https://alexandertechniquenebraska.com More information about F M Alexander: https://alexandertechnique.com/fma More information about Professor John Dewey: https://alexandertechnique.com/dewey More information about Marjorie Barstow: https://marjoriebarstow.com
More information about the Alexander Technique: https://alexandertechnique.com

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 2
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique. She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 3
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique. She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

This is the third in a series of her conversations with with Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. This episode is primarily about the gap between Alexander’s stated hopes for the future of the Technique, and his actual behavior.

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 4
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique. She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

This is the forth in a series of her conversations with Robert Rickover about her discoveries. Robert is an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. This episode focuses primarily on the Alexander Technique principle of inhibition, and the diverse ways it is understood.

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 5
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique. She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

This is the fifth in a series of her conversations with Robert Rickover about her discoveries. Robert is an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. This episode focuses primarily on the influence of Professor John Dewey’s influence of Marjorie Barstow’s group teaching.

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

Newly available documents about Alexander Technique developments from the 1940s – 1980s: Part 6
Amanda Cole, an Australian academic researcher, writer and performer, is the author of “Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique – Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy.” She is also a long time student of both the classic and Barstow-inspired versions of the Technique.

She draws on multiple sources, including a significant collection of written correspondence between F. M. Alexander, Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones and Professor John Dewey that provides a new, and very different, perspective on the history of the Alexander Technique.

This is the sixth in a series of her conversations with Robert Rickover about her discoveries. Robert is an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. In this conversation, Amanda and Robert discuss the importance of this new perspective for Alexander Technique teachers and students today.

Information about ordering Amanda’s book from Amazon: https://marjoriebarstow.com/book

The Poise Project – Bringing the principles of Alexander Technique to new populations
Robert Rickover talks with Monika Gross, an Alexander Technique teacher and Executive Director of the Poise Project, about the project and it’s first Initiative: “Alexander Technique and Parkinson’s.” The Poise Project website: ThePoiseProject.org Monika teaches in Asheville and Charlotte North Carolina. Monika’s website: FormFitnessFunction.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com Learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Teaching the Alexander Technique in a Corporate Environment
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and trainees.) Sabine Grosser, an Alexander Technique teacher in Duesseldorf, Germany, talks with Robert Rickover about her experiences teaching the Technique in offices, and how she markets her work. Sabine’s website: Ikos-Grosser.de Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Robert’s website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More general informaion about the Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

360 Degrees of Awareness with the Alexander Technique
Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska talks with Eileen Troberman about the usefulness of a wide field of awareness. Robert’s website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska Eileen is an Alexander Technique teacher in the San Diego, California area. Eileen’s website: AlexanderTechniqueSanDiego.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

It Really IS the Use of the Whole Self!
Debi Adams, an Alexander Technique teacher in the Boston area talks with Robert Rickover about the power of her self-discovery and the nuances of an attitudinal response. Debi’s websites: DebiAdamsAT.com and TheWellTemperedPianist.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com Learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexanderTechnique.com/support

Is there any Future for Alexander Technique Teachers?
Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher and web designer in Wilmington, Delaware, talks with Robert Rickover about F. Matthias Alexander’s 1910 dream of a world without Alexander teachers. Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com Learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

The Future of Alexander Technique Teaching
Alexander Technique teachers Michael Frederick and Robert Rickover talk about the state of Alexander teaching today, and what the prospects are for the future. Michael teaches in Los Angeles, California. Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com. More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com

The Thorny Question of the Foot Plant
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students but may be of interest to others.)Malcolm Balk, an Alexander Technique teacher and runner in Montreal, Canada, talks with Robert Rickover about the importance of how our feet contact the ground in standing, walking and running. Malcolm’s running/Alexander Technique website: TheArtOfRunning.com Robert teaches the Alexander Technique in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Robert’s website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com. More general informaion about the Technique: alexandertechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Alexander Technique: Teaching or Facilitating Learning?
Robert Rickover talks with Neville Shortt, an Alexander Technique teacher in Glasgow, Scotland, about this important distinction and some practical steps Alexander teachers can take with their students to promote learning. Neville’s website: FlowCoach.me Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com Learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Evolution of a Technique: FM’s three-act Play
Robert Rickover talks with Neville Shortt, an Alexander Technique teacher in Glasgow, Scotland, about the first chaplter of F. M. Alexander’s third book, The Use of the Self and about Neville’s understanding of that chapter. Neville’s website: FlowCoach.me Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com Learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

F. M. Alexander’s 4 Book Titles: An interpretation of what they mean, and how they relate to each other
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students. Zoom was acting up during this recording and there are some audio glitches in Robert’s side of the conversation.) Alexander wrote 4 books: “Man’s Supreme Inheritance”, “Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual”, “The Use of the Self’, and “The Universal Constant in Living”. Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone discuss the meaning of those titles, and their sequence. There is also a reference to “The Authorized Summaries of F M Alexander’s Four Books” by Ron Brown. You can learn more about, and order, Brown’s book, here: mouritz.org/library/database/item/authorised-summaries-of-f-m-alexanders-four-books Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska. Website: AlexanderTehniqueNebraska.com Both Imogen and Robert also teach online. More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

Why are so many Alexander Technique Teachers having a hard time making a living?
Richard Brennan, an Alexander Technique teacher and training course director in Galway, Ireland talks with Mary Derbyshire about some of the reasons Alexander teachers may fail to attract students despite having a great deal to offer. Richard’s website: www.Alexander.ie Mary is an Alexander Technique teacher in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Mary’s website: MDerbyshire.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Movement…Served with a Twist
John Macy, an Alexander Technique teacher, physical therapist and Certified Pilates Trainer in Omaha, Nebraska, talks with Robert Rickover about the implications of the asymmetrical pulls exerted on us by our viscera and how we can prevent them from interfering with efficient movement. John’s website: AlexanderTechniqueOmaha.com He is also the owner of Great Plains Pilates and Physical Therapy in Omaha. Website: gppandpt.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com. More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

An Eye/Head Movement Mystery in Search of a Solution
Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about a puzzling relation between eye and head movements. Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Alexander Technique Distance Learning Groups on Facebook: Facebook.com/groups/AlexTechDistanceLearning Alexander Technique Forum on Facebook: https://Facebook.com/groups/AlexanderTechniqueForum More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

How important are a teacher’s hands for effective Alexander Technique teaching?
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students) Mark Josefsberg, an Alexander Technique teacher in New York City, talks with Robert Rickover about whether a teacher’s hands are crucial for teaching the Alexander Technique. Mark’s website: markjosefsberg.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com List of Alexander Techniquie teachers who use Skype: alexandertechnique.com/teacher/distancelearning More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com

Why do some students take one or two lessons and then quit even though they – and others – have noticed major benefits?
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students.) Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada, talks with Mark Josefsberg about this phenomenom. Robert’s website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Mark teaches in New York City. Mark’s website: markjosefsberg.com Gereral information about the Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Is the Alexander Technique Really Good for Everything? – Part 2
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students.) Jo Ann Widner, an Alexander Technique teacher and nurse living near Richmond Virginia, talks with Robert Rickover about this question, how it relates to the credibility of the Technique, and the implications for how best to describe the Technique. Jo Ann’s website: jowidner.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

A New View of the Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique is often seen as a way of letting go of harmful habits. In his Keynote Address at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, John Nicholls proposes a view of the Technique as a forward-looking, life-long process of developing our potential. In his view, it is a practice of embodied mindfulness in which we choose to embody our deepest aspirations and attitudes in the fullest sense of those words. (Error Correction: near the end of the talk a line of poetry quoted is wrongly attributed to Robert Graves’ translation from an inscription at the Temple of Delphi. It is in fact a common translation of lines supposedly from legendary ancient Greek poet Orpheus.) John teaches, and trains Alexander Technique teachers, in New York City. John’s website: johnnichollsat.com More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com

What do Alexander Technique teachers do when they teach?
Mary Padilla, a teacher in Armonk, New York, talks with Robert Rickover about her study that, in part, was designed to answer the question: “What are we doing to people when we teach them the Alexander Technique?” Mary’s website: alexandertechniqueinarmonk.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com

Different Styles of Alexander Technique Teaching
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students.) Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada, talks with Mark Josefsberg about the different approaches to Alexander Technique teaching that a student might experience. Robert’s website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Mark teaches in New York City. Mark’s website: markjosefsberg.com Gereral information about the Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

F. Matthias Alexander’s lost “Fifth Book”
Richard Brennan, an Alexander Technique teacher and author in Galway, Ireland talks with Robert Rickover about “Conscious Control in Relation to Human Evolution in Civilization”, published by Alexander in 1912 and although rarely seen since, is well worth reading. Richard has recently re-published the book in a paperback edition. The book is available through Richard’s website:alexander.ie Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at AlexTechExpress.com/support

Imagining an Alternate Reality for the life and times of F. Matthias Alexander
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students) Mark Josefsberg, an Alexander Technique teacher in New York City, talks with Robert Rickover about what Alexander’s work might look like if Alexander had been born in 1969 instead of a hundred years earlier. Mark’s website: markjosefsberg.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com.

The value of reading all four of F. Matthias Alexander’s books
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers and students.) John Macy, a physical therapist and Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Robert Rickover about what he learned from re-reading Alexander’s books. John’s website: alexandertechniqueomaha.com Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com. More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com

The Sociology of the Alexander Technique
Dr Jen Tarr, the author of Educating with the hands: working on the body/self in Alexander Technique, talks with Robert Rickover about her study of the sociology of the Alexander Technique and it’s implications for the future of the Technique. Jen is a researcher at the Methodology Institute of the London School of Economics and her paper was published in the February 2011 issue of Soclology of Health and Illness. 2011. You can read her study here (PDF download) Jen’s website: www2.lse.ac.uk/methodologyInstitute/whosWho/Tarr.aspx Dr Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada. Website: alexandertechniquenebraska.com. More information about the Alexander Technique: alexandertechnique.com.

The Explosion in Online Alexander Technique Teaching during the Covid-19 Crisis
Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about the dramatic increase in Alexander Technique distance teaching, what it means for Alexander teachers, and for the future of the profession. Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Alexander Technique Distance Learning Group on Facebook:Facebook.com/groups/AlexanderTechniqueForum Alexander Technique Forum on Facebook: Facebook.com/groups/AlexanderTechniqueForum You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at alexandertechnque.com/support

Covid Economics for Alexander Technique Teachers
Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about the dramatic increase in Alexander Technique distance teaching, what it means for Alexander teachers, and for the future of the profession. Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Alexander Technique Distance Learning Group on Facebook: Facebook.com/groups/AlexanderTechniqueForum. Alexander Technique Forum on Facebook: Facebook.com/groups/AlexanderTechniqueForum You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at alexandertechnque.com/support

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Current and future developments in Alexander Technique teaching

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