A workshop on "Thinking in Activity – Group Work" with Lucia Walker

Thinking in Activity – Group Work

A workshop with Lucia Walker

Notes by Deena Newman

On January 17^th, 2015 Lucia Walker presented a workshop called “Thinking in Activity – Group Work.” The day was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Lucia and in the process, get an insight into the way in which she works with students individually as well as with a group. Below are some of my memories of the day and Lucia’s remarks in quotations, as accurately as I could reconstruct them from my notes. My notes are followed by Lucia’s flyer for the workshop and her biography.

Introduction

The day began with a circle, each student identifying either an activity of interest, or something that was on her or his mind. Afterwards, Lucia selected a few students with whom to work on their chosen activities, while the rest of the group either participated or observed. However, even before launching into any of the activities, Lucia’s responses to students’ comments were insightful.

One student confessed that she found it difficult to stay focused and in the present. To stay present, Lucia recommended letting her eyes be drawn to shapes and colours that are a reminder that she’s awake (“because when you’re not moving, your system can start to go to sleep.”) Lucia also suggested noticing the moments in which we feel bored or interested during the workshop. “Notice what happens when your heart beat races with anxiety at a thought or when it’s time to talk or someone says something and you have an idea. What do you do to bring yourself back?”

For the student who observed that she often delayed giving herself directions until a moment of convenience (i.e, at the end of reading a paragraph), Lucia shared that she had often done the same while watching television, only to realize that the thought of putting off doing Alexander took just as long as giving an Alexander direction.

When one student expressed concern about having prejudices, Lucia commented that “ of course we all have likes and dislikes. The question is what gets in the way and what supports us?”

Another student talked about her occasional nervousness when teaching. Lucia pointed out that our nervousness may stem from our own experience of the Alexander technique having helped us to be happier and freer. Yet, if our unconscious objective is to make our students happier, we may be setting ourselves up to be anxious because of the unrealistic goal.

One student spoke of the challenge of helping her father with an activity she knew nothing about (clay pigeon shooting) that was causing him shoulder pain. Lucia talked about setting up a similarly quick activity, and then slowing it down. She also suggested having him teach her how to shoot, `’because it gives insights into what he thinks he needs to do.”

 Activities

As we listened and took notes early on in the workshop, Lucia suddenly asked us to stop where we were. We remained in this position and observed ourselves. To take oneself by surprise in this way was instructive, and a good activity to do with beginners. Lucia sometimes uses this method with her dance classes, when she finds students hunched on the floor, cross-legged. She asks them to close their eyes and just breathe. “The breath is a good place to start. They become like flowers. They just open up.”

Among the activities that followed: One student led the group in yoga exercises, seeking a balance between doing the Alexander technique and providing enough challenge in the form of dynamic movements; another demonstrated how she warms up her students’ fingers before playing the violin by having them tap and slap out different musical rhythms with each hand while vocalizing (we all really enjoyed this activity and noticed that the rhythm making had a relaxing and energizing effect); we experimented with dropping a pen to the floor and picking it up (one student discussed her feelings of having cheated by turning it into a dance movement which led to an interesting discussion);  we explored rolling down and up from a seated position in the Dart way (of letting the eyes lead) contrasting it with a dance class approach of stacking each vertebrae one upon the other; one participant demonstrated an exercise that her physiotherapist had given to her that had previously been uncomfortable; another student wrote in a notebook and explored the feelings evoked by being observed; and one participant who had newly taken up playing the violin performed a piece and was invited to explore what it was like to receive appreciative observations from the rest of the participants.

Lucia’s comments throughout the day:

The very first step in teaching groups is to re-energize the quality of curiosity. We have to inhibit the impulse to correct ourselves.

When teaching, we may be in an adrenalized state -  even a little faster than the person we’re working on. Give yourself permission to slow down and not go so far.

As we teach, we’re allowed to read the air and see the atmosphere change.

Don’t inhibit the wish. We don’t want to kill the wish but we don’t want to endgain in a habitual way. The same with emotions. Don’t inhibit your emotions. Inhibit your habitual reaction to your emotions.

When a student has a lot of facility with the body, as a dancer does, she can have a tendency to put herself into the right shape. But good use is for a purpose. Ask yourself what you want? As a mover, you don’t always want flow. You want to be free to experience the full range of quality.

An indirect way to get someone to free the neck may be to ask “how’s the view?” Otherwise, the risk in giving an instruction to free the neck or in saying  ‘I wish to allow my neck to be free’ is that we quickly do an internal action rather than keep it a wish.

The eyes are a visible and sensitive part of the primary control. I often come to the eyes.

I do challenge people on the subject of fitness. Is extreme ability of muscle tone good? Fit for what?

[After breaktime, Lucia shared her process in evaluating the workshop thus far. While she questioned if she had done enough activities, she also observed that everyone had remained alert and present]. So it didn’t go as I expected.   Sometimes what we think about our performance takes precedence over what we experience or observe, but we can reverse that and let our experience and observations inform us. We can trust that. Once you judge something as good or bad, there’s nothing more to see.

If you feel anxious, include peripheral vision.

If you feel sleepy, allow yourself to be visually interested in your surroundings.

 

The danger is that we can get caught up in wanting to do things better and better.

One student observed that Lucia asks a lot of questions. Lucia responded that some students hate that. “They’ll say, ‘You’re the teacher. Don’t ask me!’ So I tend to ask, “is there anything you want to articulate, but it’s not compulsory?” How can we invite a dialogue? In a group, I’ll ask if anyone wants to say anything. Or I’ll make my questions more specific. I learned this from Barbara Conable. I’ll ask questions like “does it feel more comfortable or less? Is it easier or harder to breathe? Is there anything different in your seeing?”

What I like about working with an activity is that it makes an imprint and the student can take something with them.

People often ask, will I be able to do inhibition and direction unconsciously, because the idea of needing to think this much all the time is unbearable. I usually answer no, you will need to stay conscious, but the process will be quicker.

You can explore your own quality of attention. I shift to a more neutral, more curious space. I also shift to encouragement. If I get into judgement… I can miss things. As soon as you label something good or bad, you aren’t finding out what’s happening anymore.

We have to remember that what is so profound and exceptional about the technique is that it’s in here (pointing to the solar plexus) and it doesn’t have a form.

The closest thing we have to a form are the procedures. Some people respond to them really well. They can make a leap from a procedure to their real life. One conductor, for example, discovered that he could put a lunge into his repertoire.

An Interaction in Detail

One of the most interesting aspects of the workshop was observing Lucia working individually with participants. I’ll give just one example:

Lucia invited someone to volunteer who had the habit of standing with a forward pelvis. One student offered herself, even though it was her old habit. She demonstrated how she used to stand.

Lucia: Is there anything you’re aware of?

Student: Tension in my lower back.

Lucia: [To the group] So you can see the back has no support. I’ll often ask people to exaggerate the posture. [To the student, while doing ‘hands on’] Now, let the head lead and let the upper body come above the feet, rather than behind the feet.

[To the group] Then I’ll show them in the mirror what they look like, because many people feel they’re falling over, but when they look in the mirror, they’re upright. Or, they’ll say “it’s weird.”

So that’s an opportunity to introduce them to faulty sensory awareness. It’s weird because it’s unfamiliar. This is when I ask questions:

Do you feel heavier or lighter?

Does it feel easier or harder to move from here?

Is it easier or harder to breathe?

If they say easier, I”ll say, “easier to breathe sounds like a good exchange for weird.” Then I’ll invite them back to the old habit.

Remember, I’m there to offer a choice, not to tell people how to be.

Closing Circle

In the last moments of the workshop, each person was invited to share, in one word or sentence, what they had learned or been reminded of, or appreciated in the workshop:

Accentuate the positive

Be inquisitive

Curiosity

Balance, remedy, strength

Take enough time to observe

Observe oneself and the other

The usefulness of asking questions

Observing without judgment

“No buts”

Find out what’s happening before you try to change anything

Positivity

Possibility of stopping at any moment

Reenergize

Reading the air

Observation without rushing

Being kind to oneself

Integration, asking questions, encouraging explorations.

Some Reflections

I really enjoyed observing Lucia interacting with participants and how their dialogues organically led to further explorations. There was a great spaciousness to these dialogues and it was lovely to be able to observe their process.  Having observed Lucia’s thoughtful back and forth with participants, I came away with a strong sense of the value of dialoguing with our students, and the necessity of being very attuned and present while doing so.

I also found it interesting when Lucia reflected on changes in the Alexander technique over the years. By virtue of having grown up in a household of Alexander teachers, Lucia has a unique longitudinal perspective, and several times alluded to shifts in practice and thinking in the Alexander world. For example, she noted that it was once thought that group work was primarily a means of selling the technique, while real teaching could only be done one to one. This has changed and workshops are now seen as contexts in which students can learn. ”I believe I can share something in the group setting that can help people make changes…  by teaching observation, inhibition and direction.” The performance aspect in a group is important as well. “Some people will see change they can’t experience. But others can be changed by others’ experiences.”

She also suggested that in the past, there was an emphasis on “imparting one’s experience” to students, sometimes at the expense of other aspects.  “It was thought that it’s not our job just to be nice to people.  But as time goes on, I see it is our job to be nice to our students so that they learn how to be nice to themselves. It sounds trite. “ She went on to talk about the importance of practicing inhibition at the moment that we notice something in our students that we want to change. “You see a pattern and you want to show the pupil it’s not necessary. But for whose benefit? Instead, provide students with more opportunities to make discoveries and choose for themselves.” As one of her previous workshop participants aptly put it, “When I teach, I can now leave people alone to learn rather than push onto them my need and wish for them to learn.” Lucia summed up this philosophy succinctly and though it’s included above, it’s worth repeating: “As a teacher, I’m there to offer people a choice, not to tell them how to be.” 

Below is Lucia’s description of the workshop and her biography:

Workshop Info

Life activities are a strong stimulus to our psycho-physical selves and a rich source of learning and teaching the Alexander Technique. Through them it is possible to observe, inhibit and direct and influence the quality of the activity. I think it is important to stay clear with this learning and teaching objective. As learners we can notice the different responses arising from different stimuli. I enjoy creating an experimental situation with the pupil that allows for new possibilities of use to arise and illustrates Alexander principles in relevant ways.

We will look at the components of working with a group with activities and how to constructively support someone’s learning.  As AT teachers we do not have to ‘teach the person what to do” though we can help people discover more choice, ease and quality in their performance. Often they are already experts; musicians, parents, gardeners, therapists etc.

Please bring your curiosity and anything you need to explore a chosen activity; instruments, technology, materials. Last time we had activities from rock-climbing to chopping carrots, from martial art sword practice to using your mobile phone. Anything is possible! Lucia will design the workshop to suit the participants. Any stage of trainee is welcome. Participants will be asked to observe in new ways and maybe to observe through touch as well as seeing and listening. Everyone has a choice about how to participate in a way that supports their current stage of learning.

About Lucia

Lucia trained as a teacher of Alexander Technique in Oxford with her parents Dick and Elisabeth Walker. Since 1988 she has been teaching individuals, groups and on training courses. She came to Alexander Technique from a lifelong interest in movement, presence and learning and continues to work as a movement teacher and performer.

Enjoyment of the sense of vitality and well-being that arose from learning Alexander Technique, and a desire to support people to be more fully themselves and to express themselves more easily in their chosen life activities, stimulated Lucia to train as a teacher.

Lucia teaches the technique to individuals, groups and on teacher training programs and holiday workshops in England, France, Germany, US and Japan. After qualification she also assisted at her training school in Oxford for many years.  Study and practice of the principles of nonviolent communication (NVC) has been a great support to teaching and to deepening understanding of ‘psycho-physical unity’ Fascination with the relationship of vision and movement led to ongoing study and teaching with ALTEVI (Alexander Technique and Vision) with whom she led holiday study retreats and workshops. She is now running a training program for AT teachers in Johannesburg with Sharyn West and continues to be a STAT moderator.

In teaching Lucia likes to use games, discussion, touch, stillness and activity to explore Alexander's principles in ways that are relevant and enjoyable. She is fascinated by how to use the technique to become more conscious and more integrated in feeling, thought, action and purpose.

"Use Affects Functioning: Tracing Our Structure, Exploring Our Movement" with Dorothea Magonet

Presented by Dorothea Magonet

8^th November

By Andy Smith

Anatomy can be a dividing topic among the AT community. There are some wonderful teachers who rarely (if at all) refer to specific anatomy during their teachings, while there are some equally wonderful teachers who use anatomy as the foundation for their lessons. Likewise, some training courses cover little anatomy while others go into great depth. And of course, there are some pupils who respond very positively to learning about the body’s structures while to others find it a turn-off.

So this workshop, run by the very experienced Dorothea Magonet, promised to offer a fascinating insight into just why those teachers who refer to anatomy find it so useful.

There can be few people better qualified to cover this topic than Dorothea. An AT teacher for more than 30 years, she previously worked as a physiotherapist and is now assistant head of training at the Westminster Alexander Teacher Training Course. She is also a STAT moderator and has worked with music students at the Alexander at the Royal Academy of Music, and to top it all off, she will be presenting continuous learning sessions at the AT Congress in August 2015. So the group of AT teacher trainees and recent graduates who travelled to Euston in November were treated to a workshop full of expert knowledge of how an in-depth understanding of the human body can be applied to both learning and teaching AT.

Using activities to explore our own bodies, then referring to diagrams, posters and charts, we began to deepen our appreciation of how exactly the human body fits together and how it functions. Dorothea compiled a very comprehensive set of notes from a wide range of sources, of which we all received a copy, and the attendees took it in turns to read aloud, discuss topics and ask questions.

Areas covered included:

• The skeletal system, including the different types of bone according to both density and shape, and the process of how bone grows from cartilage.
• Our musculature, including the flexor and extensor systems, and our connective tissues (cartilage; tendons; ligaments and fascia).
• The development of the embryonic spine and how our ectoderm (skin, brain and nervous system), mesoderm (bone, muscle, connective tissue and some internal organs including heart and kidneys) and endoderm (gut and internal organs such as lungs and liver) begin to form from just the third week in utero.
• The structure and function of our joints (fibrous, cartilaginous, and synovial).
• The various types of movement: flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, circumduction, elevation, supination, pronation.

It was an in-depth morning of learning but Dorothea made it quite clear that the majority of the information she presented was included for our benefit as AT teachers, rather than to specifically pass on to pupils.

The idea was that once we had increased our knowledge of some anatomy fundamentals we would be better able to relate it to movement, body awareness and the primary control and therefore incorporate some of the learning into our teaching.

It’s a trap to only think of the skeleton, Dorothea stressed to us, because the muscles create a more active rhythmic process in our bodies. And as muscles work in pairs, if we only contract them then everything tightens. So to maintain balance, we want to think of one side lengthening as the other side contracts, then allow our muscles to come back to neutral.

We heard how there’s a constant interplay between the musculature in the front of the body and the back, and how there are two layers of deep back musculature that run up and down the spine like a woven plait to provide strength and support. We also covered some of the important muscles that go from the back of the body to the front, including sternoclydomastoid that becomes overactive in startle pattern, and iliopsoas which links the spine to the pelvis and is engaged into length when thinking the direction “knees forward and away”.

The intriguing topic of hypermobility also came up and we learned how we may need to consider hypermobile people differently in our teaching. Many who have the syndrome compensate for the extra joint mobility by becoming heavier in their movement and can therefore experience release in a different way. So more than ever, it is essential to see them as individuals and work with their movement patterns accordingly.

Over the course of the day, the workshop did contain of a lot of information and it hit home how important it is to carefully select which pieces of anatomical knowledge to pass on to our pupils, as it can be a little daunting to be flooded with information. But Dorothea was on hand with another piece of sound advice, which I guess is true for all teaching, whether anatomical or not, and that was to maintain a sense of liveliness. Non-doing and inhibiting can shut us down if we’re not careful, she said. So when we pause we should still be alert, calm and ready.

And being alert, calm and ready was a lovely thought with which to leave a very enjoyable and informative workshop.

Some key things I took away from the workshop

• AT teachers don’t need to have a vast anatomical knowledge to incorporate some anatomy into a lesson. Pupils will often benefit from just a simple understanding of the basics.
• Having a deeper knowledge can help tailor your teaching to better suit the individual as it can provide an anatomical understanding of their habits and potential aches and pains.
• The growth of the embryonic spine into the human body is fascinating (and far too intricate to go into here, so Google it if you can).
• For a series of excellent anatomy videos, visit www.anatomyzone.com

A workshop on "Use of the Eyes within the Use of the Self" with Brigitte Cavadias - Regina Stratil

On the 18th October 2014 I attended the Student Network workshop "Use of the Eyes within the Use of the Self" with Brigitte Cavadias and I am very happy to share my impressions and memories of it in this blog post.

Here is the official blurb for the workshop, Brigitte’s bio is at the end of this blog post:

WORKSHOP INFO

In this workshop we will address the following issues:

Can we / should we apply to vision improvement the Alexander principles of inhibition and direction? If so, how should we go about it?

Can our awareness of how we look at / see the world help us in applying the Alexander principles to any situation of our daily life?

By means of activities and games, we may, during these four hours, experiment together and find some answers.
Brigitte started out by asking us about any questions we might have, and there were many. I only remember one question now clearly, probably because it reflects my own situation: One participant said that the sight in one of his eyes is much weaker than in the other, and he has the impression that the stronger eye takes over most of the seeing. How could the Bates Method help? The answer was that the Bates Method can change your vision habits and so help to reeducate the ‘lazy’ eye to join in and do its part of the job - over time. This made immediate sense to me, especially coming from an Alexander Technique point of view, and with my own experience that my vision seems to be better on some days and worse on others.

That it is necessary to allow time for changes to happen was impressively illustrated by Brigitte’s own story. She had been wearing varifocal glasses constantly (“…just not for sleeping and not during a shower…”) for many years before starting with the Bates Method in her fifties. After two years of working on herself she was able to live daily life without glasses and after two further years read without glasses.

We continued the morning finding common grounds of the Bates Method and the Alexander Technique in relating quotes from Bates’s book to some Alexander Technique principles, for example regarding concepts such as psychophysical unity, non-doing etc.

The first experiment I remember was related to the universal habit of staring. Brigitte asked us to find a detail on our index finger, really stare at it and observe what happens. We stared the best we could, eyes drying and watering at the same time, holding our breaths, heads locked, and not seeing anything very clearly in the end. It was not surprising that we all agreed that a habit of staring is neither efficient nor comfortable and needs to be prevented.

A thorough tour through the anatomy of the eye followed. We located our own pupils and irises in pocket mirrors that got passed around and looked at a take-apart model of the eye. The most fascinating fact to me was that the only point of real clear vision is an extremely tiny spot on the back of the retina (at the back wall of the eyeball) opposite the pupil (which is basically a hole in the front of the eye). It is called the fovea centralis, and it is only at this very tiny spot that we have clear vision! So how comes that what I see seems largely to be in focus? The answer is that the eyes are scanning all the time and the brain puts it all together. Therefore eyes need to be free to move. But also the head needs to be free to move! At this point the concept of ‘Central Fixation’* was introduced: “Central Fixation is seeing best where you are looking.” We then experimented to look “with our noses”, meaning the nose points at what we are looking. One sentence I wrote down during the workshop with a big exclamation mark is “The first quality of good eyesight is the freedom of the neck!”

*Brigitte briefly explained that certain groups prefer the term ‘Centralisation’ over ‘Central Fixation’ considering the word ‘fixation’ as a ‘dirty word’. Brigitte then said in her lovely French accent: “But I am French, and I am NOT afraid of dirty words!”

We also learned that the side of the retina is better for seeing at night and that relaxation is important for good eyesight. A good way to give your eyes a rest is ‘palming’ – cupping your closed eyes with your own hands.

We explored all those elements and concepts with various games:

1. Holding up two differently coloured pencils and looking at one directly (with the nose!) to see it in focus, being aware of the other peripherally to get a clear sense of the difference between central fixation and peripheral vision.

2. Looking at an interesting picture (Brigitte brought loads and everyone could chose two of his/her liking) and painting one colour or detail with the imaginary magic brush at your nose, then closing your eyes and painting the same colour or detail with the magic nose-brush from memory. We all experienced some change afterwards: The colours seemed brighter, more depth to the whole picture, more detail, sharper, crisper.

3. We put on paper masks that only allowed us to use our peripheral vision and experienced how things appear to move backwards as we move forwards and how easy it still can be to navigate your way safely only using peripheral vision.

Photo by Liz Dodgson

Photo by Liz Dodgson

A set of games which was particularly interesting for us Alexander Technique trainees and teachers was as follows:

We experimented with three modes of vision: Fixed, peripheral and integrated. To get a feeling for these modes we had colourful toys all across the room and walked around using these modes, one after the other, in two groups (one group walking, one observing) and compared then the impressions of the observers and the walkers.

In the fixed vision mode we would fix the gaze on the toy of our desire and go for it. The experiences included feeling focused, determined, more tense, and it was observed as being fast, almost aggressive.
In the peripheral mode we would try to stay in peripheral vision all the time (not easy!) and felt a bit woozy, dreamy, not really interested in the toys and were observed as being slower, almost nobody touching a toy, but gentler, more open.

In the integrated mode we attempted to combine the two, so clearly fixing on something interesting, but keeping a sense of peripheral vision. We felt more present, connected to our surroundings, and we observed as being more coordinated, integrated, balanced.

These three modes were explored thoroughly with different games, alone and in pairs, until we had a good sense of them and were also able to judge which mode another person was in. We then paired up again, one being the receiver, standing with his/her backs to the partner who would put him/herself into one of the modes of vision, approach his/her partner from behind and touch their back. It was truly amazing what difference it made to the quality of touch! Being touched by a person in fixed mode could feel harsh, unsensitive, intrusive. Being touched by a person in peripheral mode could feel insecure, almost drawing you off balance, providing no safety or meaning. Being touched by a person in the integrated mode gave security, made you curious, and was a whole different experience. It seemed that the mode of vision of the person touching rubbed off onto the receiver.

I thought this set of games was particularly relevant and interesting to us AT trainees and teachers, for whom touch is such an important tool.

We finished the workshop lying in semi-supine while palming our closed eyes and being led through an imaginary journey through our eyes from the cornea right back to the visual cortex in the back part of the brain where the head touches the books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and took away a lot of useful facts and things to think about and work with. It was a lovely, welcoming group, and the workshop was well organized. Brigitte led us through the day with great expertise (and good humour!), which obviously is the result of lots of personal experience and work on herself and with others in both the Bates Method and Alexander Technique. Elisabeth Dodgson, also an Alexander Technique and Bates Method teacher, assisted during the workshop and shared generously from her own experience and knowledge. She studied the Bates Method with Brigitte in France (and in French!) and describes Brigitte as her mentor. It was a treat having her there as well.

Photo by Liz Dodgson

ABOUT BRIGITTE

Brigitte trained with Misha Magidov at his North London Teachers Training Course and with Miss Evelyn B. Sage in her North London School for teachers of the W.H. Bates Method. She qualified in both methods early 1992. Since then she has been teaching in Provence, in Paris, as well as in London, one to one lessons and groups.

From the beginning she has been keen on including the use of the eyes in the use of the self and devoting a special attention to the means of improving consciously and naturally eyesight and vision.

Within the frame of Altevi (Alexander Technique and Vision, www.altevi.com), she has run numerous workshops in many European countries and in New Zealand.

All theses years, she has never stopped teaching vision in AT Schools and, in the last three years, she has also co-run three Bates Professional Training Courses in France.

She is living and teaching privately in North London.

A workshop on Opposition with Avi Granit

Opposition: 'the small difference that makes all the difference'

Presented by Avi Granit at The Alexander Technique Studio, 6 Ravenslea Road, London, SW12 8SB

Sunday, 29^th June 2014

By Jacek Kaleta

In this write-up I would like to share some of my impressions and what I learned from attending the workshop on Opposition with Avi Granit. The workshop was attended by 17 trainees and 1^st year students and one visiting teacher, it was fully booked.

Here’s the blurb, Avi’s bio can be found at the bottom of this write-up.

Opposition is the vitally important direction that makes all the difference to the quality of our teaching.  It is essential that it is clear both in the pupil's mind and the teacher's. In this workshop we will explore and clarify the meaning of the term “opposition”, and how to use it in practice to improve the dynamic relationship between you, the teacher, and your pupils. We will see how it helps to create the “up” quality in the pupil to powerful effect. In this workshop I will provide practical tools, knowledge and ideas for teachers to use in their work. As my teacher, Patrick MacDonald, used to say, opposition is 'the small difference that makes all the difference'."

This wasn’t my first encounter with Avi and his way of working. We met for the first time about a year ago when he visited my previous training school. I must admit that that first meeting was quite challenging for me, in a good way. This is not a place and time for dwelling on details of that encounter, but I will just say: what a difference one year can make!

I very much enjoyed working with Avi again. This time his way of work resonated with me very clearly - I suppose receiving Madconald lineage transmission over the past year in my new training school prepared me for this.

Avi started his workshop with recalling the 5 principles of the AT as taught by Patrick Macdonald. I think it’s worthwhile to recall them here: Recognition of the Force of Habit, Inhibition and Non-Doing, Recognition of the Faulty Sensory Awareness, Sending Directions and Primary Control.

Photo by Jill Payne

He then asked for a volunteer to demonstrate working with a chair. One brave student came forward and Avi asked him to sit down and stand up – it’s not easy to be put on the spot like this, especially when other participants are invited to make comments! I noticed how much we also reveal something about ourselves when we give feedback about others.

UP

Avi used what arose during that experience as an opportunity to explain some important points in his way of teaching. One thing that stuck to my mind was the distinction between 3 different ‘Ups’.

1.     The first ‘up’ corresponds to the up in the head, as in the direction head going forward and up.

2.     The second ‘up’ corresponds to the lengthening direction of the back.

3.     And finally, the third ‘up’ corresponds to the vertical direction up towards the ceiling, the opposite direction of the force of gravity.

‘The Up’ is that special quality we’re after. Avi used the image of bubbles in a glass of water. No matter in what direction we move the glass,or change its angle, the bubbles are always going up. In the same way ‘the up should be in every cell of your body’. (Please note that all quotes in italics are Avi’s, unless otherwise stated)

There were some quotes attributed to Mr. Macdonald that related to that:

‘We have to learn the Art of Falling Up.’

‘Thrust your back up.’

‘Aim up, stay back under all conditions’

The next volunteer had the task of going up on their toes. In that particular case the challenge was: can I go on my toes straight up, without going forward first? I personally wasn’t clear why Avi made this request, so I asked for clarification: there’s nothing inherently wrong in going forward first, but is it really necessary? It’s possible to go straight up. It’s good to have an alternative (my paraphrase).
 

Photo by Jill Payne

Back and Opposition

We then moved to another core aspect of our Use: Back. Avi began with explaining that for him the back contains the pelvis and the neck. An image of a pentagon is helpful here. Two bottom vertices are hip joints, two middle vertices are shoulder joints, and the atlanto-occipital joint being the top vertex.

Continue to strengthen the ability to go back and up in front of the stimulus.

Avi shared with us how he works on himself everyday using the hands on the back of the chair procedure. This was also an opportunity for showing us how to work with opposition and where the most important oppositions can be found.

Here are some examples. Opposition between:

·         Me and the chair

·         Head and back

·         Knees and back

·         Hands and back

·         Elbows

·         Hands

·         Shoulders

·         Right upper arm and left lower arm

·         Left upper arm and right upper arm

There’s of course more…

Avi used the image of the hexagon (shoulders, elbows and hands being the vertices) All those dynamic oppositions within create ‘the power out’, or ‘centrafugalic’ force and are very important when putting hands on. I found this way of looking at it very useful and very much in tune with how I am taught the skill of hands on at my school.

Avi then showed us a possible extension of this procedure, always bearing in mind 3 important things:

Up – Opposition - Centrafugality

Or to put it in preventive terms: ‘we don’t want to fall heavy on pupil, loose the opposition and just work with the hands.’

Photo by Iren Laidma

The next step was to take it into putting hands on. There was a clear link between how we put hands on the back of the chair and how we put them on the person.

Photo by Jill Payne

Something interesting came up during this work that Avi felt strongly about commenting about. He saw something in one student that I can also recognize in myself: certain anxiety, fear and hesitation about putting hands on. He was very sincere and open about making it clear that it’s better to do a bit too much, and not be afraid of overdoing it. I valued his openness about it. He was clearly concerned and shared his advice from his heart.

I found it very beneficial to learn from Avi on that day. There’s something comforting in learning things outside your training school that are so much in tune with what I am learning from my HoT.

Avi’s style of teaching is very clear and direct. He’s quite clear about what Alexander Technique is for him and what is important in teaching it and he speaks about it with confidence and conviction. Also, he points out things in a direct way. My impression is that some of us get so used to receiving ‘nice’ feedback all the time, that when someone from a different, more ‘straightforward’ culture comes in with some straightforward comments it can be a bit of a shocker.

I’d like to finish this write-up with a quote from Patrick Macdonald:

“Opposition – it’s all what it is about”

Photo by Iren Laidma

 

Avi Granit’s Bio
Avi Granit studied the Alexander Technique with Patrick Macdonald in London; remaining an extra year after his graduation in 1983 and making regular return visits over many years to enrich his learning experience, understanding and powers of direction. 

Avi lectures and gives post-graduate AT workshops in Europe and all over Israel. He instructed Israeli Air Force pilots in the Technique for over a decade and has been involved in training teachers for many years. He currently runs his own training course in Tel Aviv, which he opened in 2006. 
© Jacek Kaleta 2014

Welcome to the AT Student Network Blog.  With the help of our fellow students we will aim to review each workshop we have and maybe throw in a few pictures.  This can help keep us all updated on what we are learning, especially those who are unable to attend the workshops.
Thank you for reading and if you would like to write something for the AT Student Network Blog then please just let us know!