Maria McGivern, The Mindful Body - Alexander technique for the whole person

13/02/2026

As I haven't been on here in months, I thought I'd let everyone know that I'm not dead. 😉 I'm still teaching the Alexander technique and taking on new clients/students. I've just been busy beavering away creating resources for clients on a variety of topics (including on mindfulness and around encouraging transformative learning) and looking into different aspects of pain management. I'm also slowly putting together a number of different pain-related resources and a detailed pain management webpage, which I will share eventually. 😊 In the meantime, if you are interested in lessons/coming to see me, do get in touch on maria@themindfulbody.co.nz. I'd love to hear from you! 😊 You can also check out https://themindfulbody.co.nz/ for more info.

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23/09/2025

Your physical posture, or how you inhabit your body, does very much change your mood. 😊Beyond that, changing how you inhabit your body very much changes how you feel about yourself in general. I'm not on Facebook that often at the moment, but if you are interested in trying Alexander technique, do get in touch (maria@themindfulbody.co.nz). 😊

Find out how to take advantage of interoception to elevate your emotional state.

02/07/2025

In this video, a neurologist talks about how the Alexander technique can benefit patients in terms of helping with movement. 😊

Dr. David Griesemer taped this video as part of a presentation at the 4th Annual Carolinas Integrative Health Summit, October 4, 2017, given by Monika Gross,...

20/12/2024

I'm just wishing everyone a happy Christmas and a lovely New Year break. Here's hoping for a happy, prosperous year in 2025!
Note: I'm not taking Alexander technique clients over the next couple of weeks, but will be available again from the week of the 6th of January. I'll look forward to being in touch with you then. 😊

09/12/2024

The Alexander technique can physically move you out of your story of 'who you are' and repeating negative life scenarios by changing how you habitually react to life, allowing you more freedom, and placing you on a new more positive track. 😊 Learn more:

Learn about the Alexander technique and what happens in an Alexander lesson here. Find out what the Alexander technique is and how it can help you overcome pain and stress, and help you change harmful habits and posture, improve your responses to stress, and be more mindful in daily life.

10/11/2024

So I've just finished a pain management course recently and have been looking at all the new science around pain as part of that. (I'll admit that I am still going through all the reading and assimilating everything I've learnt. 😏) I'll be writing a pain management page for my website over the next few months. 😊 In the meantime, there's been a new scientific paper published looking at the mechanisms by which the Alexander technique helps reduce pain. The abstract and paper are available from the journal: https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/krj/13/4/article-p548.xml. (The paper can also be freely accessed through ResearchGate at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384745432_Modern_Pain_Science_and_Alexander_Technique_How_Might_Alexander_Technique_Reduce_Pain).

This article brings together research from the fields of pain science and Alexander Technique (AT) to investigate the mechanisms by which AT helps reduce pain. AT is a cognitive embodiment practice and a method for intentionally altering habitual postural behavior. Studies show that AT helps with va...

01/09/2024

For one reason or another, a lot of us didn't have the best childhoods growing up. The Alexander technique can be helpful for those of us who have been through traumatic experiences/have post-traumatic stress where our nervous systems are freaking out and for those of us who have difficult family backgrounds.

When we come from difficult family backgrounds with unreliable parents, it can negatively affect our sense of self and we often don't feel safe or like we can fully rely on others at a deep level and this can negatively affect our relationships with other people. (We can end up with what they call 'insecure attachment' styles.) Because the Alexander technique mirrors early developmental processes (eg, it uses touch and helps the way someone moves as a parent would help a small child), if you get enough consistent boundaried Alexander touch, it can help 're-parent' you in a way. (It did this for me personally.)

Over time, the touch can help you feel cared for and safe at quite a deep level and can change any insecure attachment to more secure attachment, and this helps how we can feel about ourselves and our relationships with others. It can 'undo' a lot of our crappy childhoods, basically. I have a page on trauma and the body that talks about some of this stuff. I'll link to it in the comments.

Theo von and trauma expert have a discussion about early childhood traumas. from This PAst Weekend #495

01/08/2024

I'm going to be volunteering at the People's Health Alliance East Auckland Community Hub on Saturday. If you are in the area, come and see us. 😊 (Suggested koha: c$20 per treatment session.) The East Auckland PHA's page can be followed here: https://www.facebook.com/EastAucklandPHA