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Hi, Mio Here…

Long time no see, hear, teach…or even type! I hope this note finds you well.

Four years ago I began to experiment with a new approach to teaching the Alexander Technique. I call it Primal Alexander and more and more students and Alexander teachers are learning it to handle stress, habitual excess tension and to improve the way they do things.

Now the News…

A bunch of things have happened since we were last in touch…

I left New York City…I’m living in Oregon now and I’m loving the fresh air, the mountains, the ocean and the beautiful skies and trees.

I became a Grandfather…it’s the best!

I composed the music for two award-winning dance pieces and a musical…

I had a wonderful time as a Continuous Learning Presenter at the 2015 Alexander Congress in Limerick and I’m looking forward to doing the same at the Chicago Alexander Congress in 2018!

But, I think the biggest change that’s happened since we last spoke is that after almost 40 years teaching the Alexander technique just for the love of it…I’m now teaching full-time and loving it even more…

A couple of quick questions…

Do you remember the first time you experienced that lovely sense of lightness and ease that happens in an Alexander lesson? Do you remember what a surprise it was? I remember my first time some 40+ years later…I remember it like it was yesterday!

It was after my first lesson with Frank Jones. I just about floated back to my dorm room on what seemed like a cloud of effortless energy; experiencing a unique and intoxicating sense of well-being.

But what happened next…when I sat down and started to play,

THAT’s what GOT ME HOOKED…

I Finally Sounded Like a Really Good Drummer!

How about the first time you were in an Alexander class with a bunch of other people watching a teacher work on someone…

When suddenly, for the first time you realized that somehow, just by listening and observing, you were being changed by that lesson?

That happened to me during my first Summer Workshop with Marj. It happened near the end of one of those sweltering afternoon sessions we used to do at the Delta Upsilon House where we all stayed.

Marj was working with a woman who wanted some help with her singing. The woman admitted that she was not much of a singer but loved to sing despite barely being able to carry a tune.

It was hard to listen to at first, but then something amazing began to happen. As Marj worked with her, the woman’s body began to change a lot and that change was reflected in the sound of her voice. So much so that despite the fact that she was still singing way off key…

The sound of her voice was improving my Use just by my listening!

Finally…I’ll bet you remember the fun we all used to have at workshops in Nebraska despite the “serious business” of changing in some pretty significant ways.

I believe that was made possible by the fact that we, as teachers were able to tap into some measure of Marj’s clarity and spirit that lifted our workshops in Nebraska after her passing.

I want to share with you something she said to me during a lesson she gave me while I played the drums. It was just a few words but it’s been a huge influence on my Alexander teaching and on my life in general all these years.

In this lesson, I must have had one of those tense, super serious “trying too hard” expressions that lived on my face back then. Noticing this, Marj said firmly, but with a bit of twinkle in her eye… “You know, Mio…

“This is much too serious to get too serious about!”

Marj had a gift for finding that perfect balance between the depth of the work she was helping us to do and a lightness of spirit that made it fascinating fun.

Luckily, in 2013…I was invited by Jeremy Chance to teach in Japan at a “Barstow-Style” week-long workshop at Gotemba, a former YMCA facility in the foothills of Mt. Fuji. It was a wonderful week that transported me back to Marj’s Summer workshops of the 70s and 80s. We even had a No-Talent Show!

I loved teaching there and met many wonderful teachers and students some of whom expressed an interest in continuing to explore my approach to the Alexander Technique. So, as a way of keeping in touch with those folks, I began experimenting with teaching online.

What started out as a Facebook group soon became a weekly online group class across cultures and timezones.

Fast forward four years and over 1,000 online teaching hours later…I now teach:

Two advanced studies classes for certified teachers…

A part-time training class…

A full-time training class and…

Lots of one on one lessons.

But here’s the most surprising thing…

The students I’ve been working with online have been learning Alexander Technique faster and more deeply than they ever did with in person lessons and PLUS…they do it conveniently from the comfort of their own homes!

This new approach to teaching the Alexander Technique…

is systematic, progressive and easy to learn…

motivates students and empowers them in their learning…

creates a vibrant community online where help each other and it…

facilitates faster learning and more independence because there’s…

“HANDS-ON”

WORK!!!

The idea that you can actually learn FASTER AND MORE DEEPLY when you don’t receive “hands-on” may seem a bit counter-intuitive but the truth is…

THAT’S EXACTLY HOW ALEXANDER DID IT!

The Alexander Technique was created by Alexander solely through Imagination, experimentation and observation. In the beginning, “hands-on” was not part of either his learning or his teaching process.

In fact, for the first 17 years of his own work as a teacher, Alexander did not use his hands. He taught his students using verbal directions and guided them towards the kind of self-observation he had used to teach himself. Hands-on guidance came later as a way of trying to shortcut the process.

However, although “hands-on” is a powerful way to transmit information and which seems to jumpstart the learning process, in the long run, it has side-effects that ultimately impede students ability to do it for themselves which causes many to quit studying A.T. before they really “get it”.

My classes are rooted in what I call the “original” Alexander Technique. That is…the kind of original experimentation Alexander did as described in “Evolution of a Technique”. I teach people how to experiment similar to the way Alexander did himself. But now, more than a century later we have the benefit of the discoveries made by the great teachers that followed in Alexander’s footsteps so…

We can do it without mirrors…
Without “directions”…

By simply “sticking to principle” and asking…

3 Easy Questions is my version of what Marjory Barstow called “Constructive Thinking” and Alexander termed: Constructive Conscious Control.

It’s a simple a way of using the part of your mind you can directly control to start a process within your nervous system that lessens unnecessary tension and naturally gives rise to more ease, power and flexibility.

By asking three key questions while directing your attention towards the places of relative ease in your body, you can bypass your habitual responses, release unnecessary tension and improve how you do any activity.

3 Easy Questions offers us the same benefits we experience with the usual ways of applying the Alexander Technique But…what makes it unique is that…

You Learn How To Do it For Yourself…Immediately!

The students, trainees and teachers I’ve been teaching online are learning to apply Alexander’s discoveries…Faster…More Deeply and…With a much clearer understanding of how it all works because…

They Are Doing It For Themselves from Day One!

I’ve developed a curriculum that takes you step-by-step through a process similar to what Alexander himself went through to make his discoveries. You learn how to…

Recognize sooner when you’re using excess tension…

Know exactly what to do to relieve that tension…

Improve any activity you apply this to…

Share what you are learning with others…

Our Weekly lessons are supplemented by home study activities made up of explorations we call Études.

Traditionally, an étude is a short study used in classical music pedagogy that helps you to develop your musicality and your instrumental technique.

Our études are short exercises you do at home to develop your learning skills. You can think of them as simple ways to practice using your body the way a musician develops his or her skills on an instrument.

Spending a few minutes each day with these quick studies guides you gently towards being easier and more expressive because, as in music, the quality of your performance in any activity depends directly upon…

The Quality of Your Use

Marjorie Barstow 1983

For Me,Teaching Online…

These last four years, without being able to my hands, forced me to carefully re-examine how I understood and applied Alexander’s Discoveries.

When I Thought About What Originally Attracted Me…

To Alexander’s work, I realized I had always been fascinated that his discoveries hand grown out of his “self-experiments”. That he was able to solve his vocal problems simply by observing the effect different ways of thinking had on his body.

So I revisited “The Use of the Self”…

and I “went to school” on “EVOLUTION OF A TECHNIQUE”. Very soon I realized just how much my approach to the Alexander Technique was shaped by that chapter.

The intelligence, spirit and sheer determination…

that Alexander applied to his research inspired me to take what I had learned from his writings and combine it with things Frank and Marj taught me to see if there was an effective way for me to teach online.

More and more…

in my personal work as well as in my teaching, I’m finding that the key to consistent and ongoing positive change is constant self-experimentation.

That’s what really distinguishes…

the work that F.M., Frank and Marj did…They never stopped experimenting! Frank was always trying something new and every Summer, without exception, Marj was teaching differently and the new teaching was better.

Over the past four years…

in my own experimenting I’ve found that not only is teaching the Alexander Technique online possible but that…

If you provide students with…

the proper tools, timely guidance and simple ways to experiment on their own and then give them the chance to keep sharing what they’re learning in a group of people doing the same…

So…

If you value the way the Alexander Technique helps make your life easier and you’re curious about how deeply, enjoyably and fast

you might learn the Technique online…

Come Join Us...Beginning:

June 15th or 18th

For:

Primal Alexander is a unique, self-teaching method for Alexander students. It will take you step-by-step from problem to improvement to solution as you learn the nuts and bolts of how to improve the way you do virtually anything. It’s a basic training course for everyone from absolute beginners to seasoned certified Alexander teachers. It’s an easy to learn, intuitive method that will give you all the tools you need to improve and continue improving.

In Module 1, The ABCs of Ease you’ll learn a system of “Études” (studies) that we’ll do together in class and then you’ll do at home. The Études give you a means whereby you can turn down the volume of unnecessary tension and relieve the stress of unwanted habits. The Études are easy to understand, fun to do and require very little time to complete.

From the first class you’ll be developing Powerful Tools that put you in complete control of your own steady, day by day improvement. You’ll be able to identify and eliminate habits and lessen the stress that always seems to make everything more difficult. Additionally, as you find yourself doing things much more easily, you’ll be able to share what you’re learning with others…greatly extending the benefits of your getting more of what you truly want.

Here’s The Schedule:

Thursdays

8-9:30 PM…East Coast Time

June 15
June 22
June 29
July 6
July 13
July 20

Sundays

1-2:30 PM…East Coast Time

June 18
June 25
July 2
July 9

5. July 16

6. July 23

So…Let’s take a look at…

The Course!

Week 1: It’s A Problem Solving Technique

First and foremost, the Alexander Technique is a problem solving technique. The way Alexander went about solving his vocal problems has been called, by Nobel Prize winner, Nikolaas Tinbergen, “One of the true epics of medical research.” In this introductory lesson we’ll begin to explore how to move from the awareness of a specific problem to an evolving and expanding universal solution.

The healing power of problems

Alexander’s Technique

What is Primal Alexander?

How we got here

The power of attention

Week 2: The Primary Concern

In general, we evaluate the results of our activities solely according their impact on the world outside of us. We’re usually unaware that way we are choosing to do things now will make it more difficult to do things in the future. The Primary Concern is a simple way of understanding how observe the changes in the world without losing yourself in it.

Expanding the frame of your awareness

The power of ease

Explorations, Experiments and Études

Leave yourself alone!

What happens to me when I ______________?

Week 3: Self-Science

Alexander, through logic, invention and unwavering persistence was able to “jump over his own knees”. That is…through intelligence, perseverance and patience he was able to break free of his old habitual thinking and develop a solution his vocal problems. By experimenting in the laboratory of his own mind and body, Alexander used his specific difficulties as a springboard to discovering what has proven to be a universal cure! And can follow in his footsteps.

”A little bit of nothing”
Just one body

Just Yes or No

Three Easy Questions

Four Stages of Change

Week 4: Do or do not, there is no try!

Master Yoda was really on to something! He would have loved Alexander’s inhibition. You can only try what you already know. So…if you’re looking to do something in a new way…STOP TRYING! Your nervous system is teaching you non-stop. You just need to stop knowing and start learning.

Your “Inner Sensei”

Stop making sense

Stop thinking straight

Learn-How beats Know-how every time!

Questions instead of directions

Week 5: How To Jump Over Your Own Knees

Breaking habits is hard to do! Our nervous system is so adaptable that whatever we do over and over eventually comes to feel “right” even if it can ultimately be harmful to us. That makes our habits virtually invisible to us because we gravitate towards the safety of what’s familiar. It’s not our fault. It’s part of our survival wiring!

Why it’s so hard to change

What you do…does you!

You can’t know a thing by an instrument that’s wrong.

What you notice is what you get

The dance of non-doing

Week 6: Learning to Teach / Teaching to Learn

Part of the magic of studying the Alexander Technique online is how easy it is to share your learning with others. You’re part of a community with no geographical boundaries. In this concluding module we’ll explore how learning, by its very nature, is teaching and I’ll also show you how to share what you’ve been learning so far with your family and your friends.

Tribal Alexander

Viral Alexander

The Doctrine of Magnanimous Selfishness

Giving is Receiving

Now what?

SO…If you’re interested

in having some

Seriously…

Transformative…

COME JOIN US!

Not to Worry!

Class usually looks more like…

To see what my students have to say about the class…

Just flip the pix…

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Mio’s on-line class has really helped my confidence grow in the ‘Hands-Off’ area of AT teaching, which is incredibly helpful to me in group scenarios, and for on-line teaching, both of which I use in my teaching practice.

It’s also offered me more ways of being able to layer light and joyful qualities to the way I teach Alexander’s Technique. I like to make it fun as much as possible! My perspective has certainly widened and it’s been a lot of fun!

The class is a pleasure every time, and my learning has grown exponentially! I’m delighted and I always look forward to the next week.

Angela Bradshaw