My Story

 

I started dancing at an early age, and I have explored many different forms of dance and movement over the years. I encountered the Alexander Technique briefly in 1987 by way of modern dance (Ohio State University Dance Department) and personal curiosity. From there I moved to New York to pursue a dance career and began taking private Alexander lessons shortly afterward.

 

My first Alexander teacher in New York had absolutely no dance experience, yet she understood how the body worked in movement better than any teacher I had ever known. The lessons were enormously helpful and the process was fascinating. I learned simple, practical tools that helped bring out the best in me as a dancer and in many other unexpected ways. Chronic aches and pains from years of dancing started to melt away, and to my surprise, some physical limitations which I had thought were structural and unchangeable started to change too.

 

What I was actually learning in those lessons was how to restore my own natural capacity for ease and freedom in movement and "effortless uprightness" in posture. I learned that this capacity was built right into my nervous system, as it is in all of us. It had been working quite beautifully in me when I was a small child, as it does in all of us, but I had unknowingly been interfering with it since then, as we all do.

 

What I learned made sense, and seemed important, not just for dancers but for anyone who wants to function in a more balanced, light and free way in all their daily activities. How many of us actually experience that on a regular basis? I wanted more of that for myself, and I wanted to be able to share it effectively with other people. I decided to go through the 3-year, full-time training required to become a qualified Alexander teacher, and I obtained my certification in 1993 from the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) in NYC.

 

Since then a lot has happened! I moved from NYC to Mahopac, NY several years ago and started developing a teaching practice here. I met a wonderful man named Joe and became his wife. I discovered the delightful world of contra dancing (see video below – that's my husband on drums), became an avid quilter, started a vegetable garden, and became part of a faith community.

 

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The Alexander Technique continues to be the most valuable practical method I have ever found for helping me engage comfortably and effectively in the activities I like to do. It helps me to sit at my computer and sewing machine without discomfort, and to dance and garden with ease. I am certain it has helped me prevent injuries. It even helps me maintain more calmness and think more clearly under stress – at least some of the time!

 

How can one technique do all that, especially without exercises? The Alexander Technique is different from any other method because it teaches the fundamental principles that govern all good posture and movement. Those principles apply to virtually all activity. They can be easily learned. They are simple, practical, and have scientific backing. I have seen them make a huge difference in peoples’ lives over the years. I can teach you how to apply the principles of the Alexander Technique in your own life. I invite you to join me in the adventure of discovering what that can mean for you.