Body Learning: The Alexander Technique

Send us Fan Mail

(Audio begins in 15 seconds)

Marjorie Barstow was the first graduate of F. Matthias Alexander's first training course in 1934. This video from which this audio was taken was shot at one of her last workshops, in the winter of 1990/91, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Marj was 91 years old and the the effects of her osteoporosis were clearly evident - but her teaching was at it's finest.

 For more information about the Alexander Technique, visit alexandertechnique.com

 For more about Marj, including links to other videos of her, go to marjoriebarstow.com

 Longer version of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDCQEoyEf9c

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware in which we outline F. M. Alexander's understanding of the harm caused by one type of concentration, and the sequence of events he believes brought us to this sad situation: Poor Use of people today leads to Mind Wandering which then leads to Concentration.

 Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com

 Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com

 More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

 Below are the links to the series Introduction and the other three video conversations:

 Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJfYYzJmg4

 Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kO3UA6s7s

 Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1Ed4F3N1E

 Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kZtkvZFp0

Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:

Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introduction

Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1

Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2

Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3

Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware discuss F. M. Alexander's view of the underlying cause of the narrow focus concentration that is so prevalent today - namely our poor use of ourselves compared to that of "savages and wild animals".  Not an easy topic to talk about but very important if we want to understand Alexander's thought process.

Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com

Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com

More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

 Below are the links to the Introduction and the other 3 of our video conversations:

 Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJfYYzJmg4

Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loMyHGPU-w

Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kO3UA6s7s

 Part 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1Ed4F3N1E

Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:

Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introduction

Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1

Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2

Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3

Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware discuss the fact - and the implications of that fact - that most Alexander Technique teachers believe concentration is harmful, while most of the rest of the word think it's a good thing.

 Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com

 Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com

 More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

 Below are the links to the Introduction and the other 3 of our video conversations: 

Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJfYYzJmg4

Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loMyHGPU-w

Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kO3UA6s7s

Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kZtkvZFp0

Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:

Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introduction

Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1

Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2

Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3

Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware go into more detail F. M. Alexander's understanding why so many of us today are caught up in the harmful, narrow focus, type of concentration, and what the "solution" is in his view. Unfortunately it was next to impossible for most of his students to implement and moreover it disregarded the core principle that our body should be viewed as unified whole, not a collection of parts. It also reveals Alexander's misunderstanding of how our brain and nervous system work - not surprising given that he was writing a hundred years ago.  Nonetheless his "solution" continues to inform some Alexander Technique teaching methods today.

 Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com

 Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com

 More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

 Below are the links to the Introduction and the other 3 of our video conversations: 

Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJfYYzJmg4

 Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loMyHGPU-w

 Part 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1Ed4F3N1E

 Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kZtkvZFp0

Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:

Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introduction

Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1

Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2

Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3

Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware in which we introduce our four conversations about the two types of concentration, why it is important to distinguish one from the other, and what F. M. Alexander had to say about them in his second book, "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual". We discuss how this topic brings out aspects of F. M. Alexander's thinking - sometimes very good, and sometimes problematical - that have huge implications for how the Technique is taught today. We also discuss how potential Alexander Technique students may find that their concentration improves as a sort of "side-effect" of taking lessons for the usual reasons - back pain, stress, improving skill for performers and the like.

 Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com

 More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

 Below are the links to all four of our video conversations:

 Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loMyHGPU-w

 Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kO3UA6s7s 

Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1Ed4F3N1E

 Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kZtkvZFp0

Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:

Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introduction

Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1

Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2

Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3

Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

Send us Fan Mail

Rena Deveza, an Alexander Technique teacher in New York City, talks with Robert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska about her experiences with long COVID, and how the Alexander Technique has helped with the recovery process. Rena's website: https://alextechmanhattan.com Robert's website: https://alexandertechnique.com

 More information about the Alexander Technique: https:/alexandertechnique.com

 Resource suggestions from Rena:

 Patient-Led Research Collaborative - https://patientresearchcovid19.com/covid19-patient-led-research-team/

 #ME Action https://www.meartistsproject.com/ Articles: Fatigue Can Shatter a Person: Everyday tiredness is nothing like the depleting symptom that people with long COVID and ME/CFS experience. - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/07/chronic-fatigue-long-covid-symptoms/674834/

 One of Long COVIDF’s Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood: Brain fog isn’t like a hangover or depression. It’s a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard. - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/long-covid-brain-fog-symptom-executive-function/671393/

 Recent novel: 

There’s Nothing Wrong with Her - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLKZK173/?bestFormat=true&k=there%27s%20nothing%20wrong%20with%20her&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_k1_1_27_de&crid=1EW9HVQWNR57I&sprefix=there%27s%20nothing%20wrongwith%20

 Missy Vineyard's book: - How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live: Learning the Alexander Technique to Explore Your Mind-Body Connection and Achieve Self-Mastery-  https://www.amazon.com/How-You-Stand-Move-Live-ebook/dp/B00D0UYB3E/ref=sr_1_1?crid=D6Q1AZVR6O27&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.paY6qwMbdZqiVnA29TS3FCPI8PXNxXto2BBX0F7bKIs.naZaPvhKMKDC7Bd2Ewp3GwxL1dwpzgj7VOceMl5p48Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=missy+vineyard&qid=1757267906&s=digital-text&sprefix=missy+vineyard%2Cdigital-text%2C103&sr=1-1

Send us Fan Mail

Brief introduction to the Alexander Technique.

More information: https://AlexanderTechnique.com

Send us Fan Mail

Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone talk about Metronome Therapy and how it can be useful to Alexander Technique students and teachers. Robert is an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. Website: MomementCoaching.com Imogen is an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware. Website: BodyIntelligence.com 

Original video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQufcmCty-c

 More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com

Send us Fan Mail

(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about the implications of Inhibition, Alexander Technique directions for our understanding of our innate Body Wisdom. More information about Alexander Technique directions: bodylearningcast.com/teachers/directions Imogen's website:ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at posturepage.com/support

Original video version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/5aHNESdviiA