Alexander Technique - John Hunter

26/02/2025

17/08/2023

A big thank you to the six people who came to my first AT residential masterclass at my home in Hampshire. I’ve run many residential events before, especially the magical summer schools at Ma…

23/08/2021

We call it "going up". All animals and plants have some means of opposing gravity, but to do that consciously, to expand by an act of will - that's magical, that's the Alexander Technique.

13/08/2021

Finally back in Covent Garden. New space; somewhat spartan but well-ventilated, spacious and full of light.

27/05/2020

We are having a poll to decide the topic, date and time of our next workshop. Have your say! https://forms.gle/XvsfJBnBXM7PzUKo6

24/05/2020

Topic for today's study group. 2pm BST

22/04/2020

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I forget the exact sequence of events, but I think it was at the Manchester STAT Conference that Marjory Barlow invited Erika to come and visit her when she was next going to be in London. When tha…

19/04/2020

https://wp.me/p3lMZJ-wF

They will see it as getting in and out of a chair the right way. 1 The Chair! For so many teachers the sine qua non of the Alexander Technique. And, of course, we have all seen the little film of t…

09/04/2020

https://wp.me/p3lMZJ-we

So you’ve learnt how to direct – and perhaps you experience some expansion, integration and a flow of energy when you “give your orders”. You can inhibit some of your reacti…

20/03/2020

Why don’t we have embodied awareness naturally?

Perhaps if we lived more natural lives, we would. Our ancestors were more dependent on their senses for survival and thus kept certain pathways active in a way which – in the era of comfortable furniture, soft beds, sedentary lifestyle and 24 hour IT – we do not. Human beings have, one might say, evolved in a lopsided way.

How does Alexander Technique, or any Embodiment Practice, differ from fitness or posture training?

You can get an enhanced sense of well-being – and even improve your health – through any form of exercise but this does not cultivate the subtle connections between mind and body. Similarly one can learn a set of postures, ranging from ridiculous so-called “power-poses” to “deportment training”, but such approaches are guided more by outward appearance than inner sensitivity.

Is it like Mindfulness?

There are similarities and differences. Mindfulness was developed by Buddhist monks as part of their spiritual practice; centuries later certain elements of this practice were adapted by psychologists for therapeutic or developmental purposes. For many Westerners – and increasingly Easterners too – a meditation practice is not sufficient to connect them with themselves in an organic way; there are too many abnormalities in a nervous system which is partly over-stimulated (by lifestyle choices such as caffeine, alcohol, Facebook and other stimulants) and partly almost dormant (lacking sensory self-awareness).

The gentle “hands-on” element of Alexander work can cut through these patterns of thought, nerve activity and muscle tension to give one a direct experience of another way of being.