There is a phrase often used – ‘the issue is in the tissue’ meaning that we hold onto negative stuff physically. It’s good to remember the opposite is also true, there’s magic in the tissue. Alexander colleague Sandra Riddell, asked me to draw an image to remind students at the Edinburgh Alexander School to remember Alexander angel hands. I thought it was a lovely idea, an idea worth sharing. It works so well. Your body has the memories of those wonderful releases, incredible ‘aha’ moments, unbelievable experiences of floating freedom, shifts in conscious awareness, moments when you were 100 ..read more

This drawing is an attempt explain something about the anatomy of the hand in relationship to riding. For those of us who ride English style we have been taught to hold the reins between our fingers where the digits poke out from the webbing of the hand. But there is no joint at this point and therefore no true movement.  Joints are the main movers! Without a joint at the point of contact with the reins the conclusion must be that we are blocking out horses and the flow of energy forward! I believe it is really important to understand this.  Turn the palm face up. The joint is in the ..read more

Over the past eighteen months, due to injury, I’ve been neither teacher nor pupil. During lockdown I could have seized the opportunity to learn and teach online, but having appointments with my computer seemed a waste of an opportunity to stop, pause and reflect – core principles of the Alexander Technique. I started asking the question ‘what is the Alexander Technique beyond that of either teacher or pupil?’ I asked a few teachers. No-one seemed to know. So, after six months mulling, here is my answer. If you step out of the teacher pupil paradigm, what is left is self care and imagination ..read more

With lockdown I chose to allow myself to embrace the opportunity to switch off rather than zoom in. A conscious decision to see if allowing space and stopping really does allow balance and something extraordinary to happen, as we teach in the Alexander Technique. Some days it’s a challenge to keep coming back to allowing myself to dwell peacefully and simply be at home to my life in space. Being at ease with one’s self is not always easy, is it? Isolation seemed like an unbidden yet unique opportunity to deepen into an understanding of ‘I am what I am!’ Yesterday came chicken inspiration – Jin ..read more

This is the best thing I’ve made for my garden – a place to lie in semi supine aka constructive rest. Made from reclaimed decking with slates as a place to rest my head. I have my wooden bed and stone pillow sitting outside my studio and I use it a lot. If you have space outdoors I completely recommend a Flintstonesque bed to lie on. Let go, watch the clouds, let you intervertebral discs rehydrate, listen to the birds, let your muscles release into length, ease out, let inspiration find you, take time to be…. Wouldn’t it be great to have these in public spaces as a place for people to lie down ..read more

The command to ‘hurry up’  is used as a marketing tool. It creates anxiety and fear and is a pretty rotten way of manipulating people. Hurry up to buy or you will miss out on this amazing opportunity to have, to hold, to learn, to get rich quick. Urgh! Now more than ever we are being told to hurry up as the world frantically tries to sell. Or there is this ‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand  And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour’ From  William Blake, Augeries of Innocence  I know what I am choosing! Slowing down enough ..read more

I love a good turn of phrase and a friend came out with this one last week, slightly regretfully, in that he felt he hadn’t done enough during lockdown. ‘Thats brilliant! Conscious slobbing, I love it! That is enough. Thats more than enough, that’s extreme self care!’ I replied. One of the meanings of slob, is to behave in a lazy way. So many of us have such strong drivers – the high achiever, the workaholic, the should, the ought to and simply the demands of life that behaving in a lazy way can feel really uncomfortable. So I thought I would just share his phrase ‘conscious slobbing’ as it ma ..read more

I have failed as a teacher to do lockdown! A daft thought of course but I haven’t taught anyone on zoom. I haven’t learned online. I haven’t been to a zoom party. I’ve barely turned on the TV to watch marvellous inspiring people be marvellous and inspire and as for the news, thats a no from me! It’s been my choice to minimise engaging with life through a screen. But during the storm last weekend I put on Talking Pictures TV to watch old black and white movies whilst drawing and realised why I had made this choice as I found myself shouting at Steven Fry’s asking for money, many times repe ..read more

In the Alexander Technique world we have an expression – learning to work on your self. It is an odd expression as it is more about doing less and non doing than work. It can mean noticing stuff such as thinking or movement habits, getting out of our own way by inhibiting negative self talk, learning not to react fearfully to things, slowing down or stopping and simply lying in semi supine… This week a sentence has come to me over and over –  ‘slow down enough to see!’ On some days slowing down enough to see takes time! Slowing down enough to see is a commitment to disembark fro ..read more

Do we ever know where we are going? The world on the computer connecting for work or play, to teach or to learn, to party or to support, to fill time and stay busy, to fulfil roles and meet deadlines demanded. Talking heads. Extraordinary technology. A seed emerges from its hard casing. How did that happen? The condition is right to allow what was waiting to emerge. Time moves us forward… Alexander Technique hands-on allow right conditions to emerge. Having a teacher hold a space for you – present, awake, balanced in the connection with the space that holds us all, creates the opportunity ..read more