17/05/2026
has a long history of working with the Self, not only the instrument. The Alexander Technique has been a valuable part of the courses for over forty years. Many lives have been changed through it, and many discoveries made. There are countless beautiful accounts of people describing the ease, self-awareness, and sense of presence that Alexander teachers have so unexpectedly brought to their attention.
As an Alexander teacher, I would also like to represent those for whom gentle hands-on work and inner quiet may initially feel frightening rather than relieving.
Some Selves are more wounded than others. Personally, I almost never felt comfortable receiving Alexander work until several years after graduation, when something finally shifted. It simply took me longer, as I was working through emotional trauma.
On my first GC course this year, I felt deeply grateful for the trauma-informed training I received with Anthony Kingsley in London. In GC setting, I could fully experience the benefits of the work: resilience, self-connection, and the ability to regulate myself within an environment that previously would have felt highly intense, vulnerable, and emotionally overstimulating.
If there is even one person in the room carrying a trauma background similar to mine, it becomes important to approach the whole group with an awareness that fear reflexes may be more easily activated. Statistically speaking, there is almost always at least one such person present, and fear responses are often not difficult to notice.
From my experience, one simple way to increase safety is through clear communication. In Alexander settings, this might be as straightforward as briefly explaining that there will be gentle hands-on contact offered as a reminder or invitation toward awareness of the Self. The hands are not there to fix or correct, and there is no need for the student to physically respond.
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Photos: Frank Salama
