Alexander Technique

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Primary Control: An AT teacher guides the student toward learning to keep their neck free and access their "primary control" while moving.

With the Alexander Technique you learn to relieve and prevent pain and injury, improve posture, balance and coordination, increase range of motion, manage stress, improve performance in sports, music, singing and speaking. Everyday tasks become more easeful.

 Neck Free - Taking the Technique into Activity: An AT teacher's hands can be a gentle reminder to avoid the habit of pulling the back of the neck downward, while engaged in an activity like playing the clarinet.
Shoulders: With the aid of the AT teacher's hands, the student's shoulders look and feel wider after a lesson.

Charlotte Anderson is an AmSAT* certified Alexander Teacher – a professional trained in the art of observing movement habits and tension patterns. During the lesson, she will help you to understand how your habitual movement style may be hindering you.

 Clarinet Choir and Group Activities: It can be reinforcing to observe other's good use and to hear the improvement in their playing while learning about the Alexander Technique in a group setting. In the clarinet choir, the group is attempting to maintain their poise and good use while bringing their instrument toward them to play.
Constructive Rest: The "lie down" is everyone's favorite homework. It teaches us how to release our habitual patterns of unnecessary tension.

She will instruct you with words and with precise hands-on guidance, to enable you to approach movement differently and to respond with greater confidence, efficiency and ease to the wide variety of stimuli of everyday life. The experience is usually one of dynamic expansion.

 Where, exactly, does my head rest on top of my spine? If we know precisely where our head is, in relation to our spine we can more readily allow our head to "fall forward and up."
Chair Work: Getting into and out of a chair with help from an AT teacher is a simple exercise that can teach you a lot about your body/mind or "psycho-physical" self.

Since habits are unconscious, it takes a highly trained teacher to help you perceive and change your ingrained patterns. With a gentle, supportive touch, Dr. Anderson helps you notice areas of tension, make positive changes and experience your body in a new way. The ultimate goal is for you to then learn how to replicate what you’ve learned on your own.

 Table Work: The table is a good place to learn how to free one's joints and muscles.

Duration of study and length of lessons depends on your initial condition and personal goals. It usually takes 10 lessons to decide if the Alexander Technique is something you can incorporate into your daily routine. To enjoy the full benefit, a recommended course is 30 lessons.

See Services page for see schedule.

*AmSAT = American Society for the Alexander Technique

The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique

Getting "back into your back": Using the arms and hands as extensions of our back can help us do everyday activities from the simple to the complicated, with ease.

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