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  Alexander Technique Cheshire

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How Many Lessons Do I Need?
April 2012
In this Issue
How Many Alexander Technique Lessons Are Right For You?
One Student's Lesson Progression
Events and New Location
Quick Links

 

Greetings!
 
Despite my concerns about Global Warming I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this year's early and generous spring weather and the colorful display of blooms it came with.
In the meantime the early yellows have faded, it finally rained, and I enjoy to see the lilac that steadily grew over the past years in front of my teaching room.

 

In a loose sense 'duration' is also the topic of this newsletter. Enjoy,

 

Michaela Hauser-Wagner

How Many Alexander Technique Lessons Are Right For You?

  • After 3 lessons: you will know whether you, your teacher and the principles of the Alexander Technique are harmonizing; you will feel if you want to go ahead with weekly lessons and trust that this approach is right for you.

 

  • After 9 to 12 lessons: you will begin to develop a refined sensory register for your body's messages; you will start to put more of the things you learn in lessons into practice: lying down when you feel tense or hurt; noticing changes in the way you carry out daily activities; asking yourself how your habit might contribute to your tension or pain and which part of it you might be able to release. It will be as if you had begun to hear more distinct elements in bird songs or acquired a more refined culinary taste, starting to detect a subtle spice. You will notice changes and feel better

 

  • After 24 to 30 lessons: Based on the experience of many teachers this is often considered a full Alexander Technique course. 24 lessons was also the teaching unit, that reduced chronic back pain significantly, as documented in a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2008. After that many lessons you will have incorporated a different body use in your daily life; you will have considerable practice in self-observation and the ability to stop harmful behaviors on the physical or mental level. You will have acquired a sound set of tools to help yourself out of most trouble.

 

  • What then? Many students start lessons wanting to accomplish a goal, like resolving a pain issue.  Once their goal is reached, they thank me and are on their way. Others do not want to stop the learning and experience of weekly or bi-weekly lessons. Some students work on their own but take some refresher lessons every few months. The people who have done best are coming weekly for at least one or two years. As we encounter what F.M. Alexander called "the habit of life" a compassionate hands-on teacher will continue to deepen your awareness and skills. It is part of my work to help my students to develop a rhythm that's right for them.
 

One student's lesson progression:

Dave has studied with me since June 2010 and has to date taken close to 60 lessons. He is a tall, athletic, outdoorsy man in his sixties who cuts logs, saws his own lumber, and makes furniture. He first decided to take Alexander Technique lessons to improve his posture and balance, especially for his safety outdoors on uneven ground. Fifteen years before a non-malignant tumor was removed from his spine, which luckily left him with no worse consequences than reduced and unreliable sensitivity in his feet.
Dave had 26 regular weekly lessons for about 7 months. After that our schedule became more flexible and reduced to about 3 lessons per month, eventually lessons were spaced out to every other week. This less frequent regimen lasted for another 28 lessons over one year. Since the beginning of this year Dave comes to see me regularly every 3 weeks.
I consider the following comment from Dave to be the most important one: I am paying so much more attention to the way I am doing things and to my body in general! He also puts his new skills in practice as he works and rests in Semi-Supine when he is tired or "over-did" it.

Exciting news!! I just found additional teaching space in Middletown at

Yoga in Middletown. Lessons need to be booked and scheduled with Michaela at m.h.w@cox.net or by calling 203-271-3525.

Back Health - Posture - Balance

Middletown Adult Education, 5 evenings, Tuesday, April 24 to May 22, 6:30 - 7:45

 

Think Young - Balance, Posture and Beyond

Osher Liefelong Learning Institute, UConn Campus, Waterbury

Wednesdays June 6, 13, 20, 27, 10:15 - 11:45

 

Free Intro Lecture: Posture - Back Strength - Balance

Elm City Market, Chapel Street New Haven, Thursday May 10, 6:00 - 7:30.