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Teacher
Biographies
Peter G. Anderheggen
I completed my
teacher training at
the Alexander
Technique School New
England (ATSNE) and
am certified as an
Alexander Teacher by
the American Society
for the Alexander
Technique (AmSAT).
In addition to my
training with ATSNE,
I have had lessons
with a number of
eminent, senior
Alexander Teachers.
I currently teach
the Alexander
Technique in
northwestern
Connecticut in the
town of New
Hartford.
My introduction to
the Alexander Technique occurred during trainings I had in
the 1980s with Jean Houston and Ilana Rubenfeld. I did
not, at that time, begin Alexander lessons. But the power
and value of the Technique stayed with me during my years of
teaching literature, writing and public speaking in colleges
and universities in New England. During those years I also
studied and taught both hatha yoga and Feldenkrais exercises
and throughout that time I often contemplated studying other
forms of body-mind work.
Only after I
retired from teaching and one day heard myself recommending
Alexander Technique lessons to my daughter did I seriously
consider the Technique for myself. I only took lessons to
treat a slightly annoying, but chronically painful, neck
which I had had for twenty years and regularly but
temporarily relieved with chiropractic adjustments. But,
when the neck problem did not return after less than a month
of Alexander lessons, thoughts of teacher training became
serious.
In addition to my
many years of classroom teaching, I bring to my Alexander
teaching: experience as a competitive runner, a competitive
swimmer, a choral singer, a builder, an actor in university
and community theater, a facilitator for Receptive
Listening workshops and as the director of such diverse
programs as college student disability services and The
WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine.
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 Pam
Bartlett
I had my early lessons in the Alexander
Technique while I was a student at the Hartt School of Music
in Hartford, Connecticut, and at summer chamber music
festivals. I was impressed by the subtle and profound changes
that I experienced in lessons, brought about by the gentlest
guidance of a skilled and observant teacher. A surprised
friend remarked after one particular lesson that I looked
different. I could see in the mirror that I looked the way I
felt: more open, more relaxed, more lively, happier and
taller! Years after those first lessons, and after becoming
established in a career as a violin teacher and performer, I
began training to become an Alexander Technique teacher. I
graduated from The Alexander Technique School of New England
in 1995. I now teach in and around Northampton, Massachusetts,
and have continued my studies at ATSNE as well as at the
Constructive Teaching Centre in London, and at workshops
throughout the United States.
The changes I experienced in lessons and
training were essential to me as a musician: freedom from
stiffness and chronic back pain; and improvements in violin
technique, concentration, and sight reading. Over time, I
began to see the Alexander Technique in a broader sense as an
important tool for personal growth and change. The Alexander
Technique teaches us how to pause before we react habitually,
and to consider a new direction. For me, the beauty of the
Alexander Technique is in entering a realm of possibility,
recognizing another way of doing something, or another way of
thinking about something. I have recently rekindled an
interest in painting and have discovered that I am able to be
more present, more patient, more observant, and more creative
than before.
As a teacher, I enjoy working with people
with a variety of interests and life circumstances: those
whose work involves sitting at a computer desk, women
experiencing the challenges of a changing body during
pregnancy, those whose passion in life involves specific
skilled activities such as music, the arts or sports, or who
want to enjoy their daily activities more fully.
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 Margaret
Boyko
I grew up in Edinburgh,
Scotland, where I received a B.A. degree from Edinburgh
College of Art. After graduating I created a textile design
company, in partnership with my husband, which grew to become
international in scope. I also owned and ran a designer
knitwear shop in central Edinburgh in partnership with another
textile designer. In 1995, my husband and I sold these
businesses and moved our family to Massachusetts. I trained at
ATSNE graduating in 1999. In addition to assisting at ATSNE
and building a private practice, I am currently pursuing
doctoral studies in Education at the University of
Massachusetts. I also hold a part-time position as Executive
Director of English as a Second Language for Top Floor
Learning, Palmer Library, MA. I am also a Teaching Assistant
at the University, and run workshops designed to help aspiring
teachers pass the Massachusetts Teacher Educator Licensing
exam.
I have been interested in the Alexander Technique since the1970's when I read Wilfred Barlow's book, which pointed out the extreme perils of habits of thinking that consisted of end-gaining (and gave no consideration at all to the process of how to get to that end). I had Alexander lessons intermittently for several years but teachers in my area were few.
After a disabling experience with a chiropractor, followed by frustration with the medical profession, I decided to take the Alexander Technique more seriously in my effort to break the cycle of pain, anger, and dependency on outside practitioners to 'fix me.' I knew I had to take responsibility for myself---my own pain and my own recovery. I found two teachers who started me on the long path of re-education. From being in chronic pain and finding walking very painful and difficult at the lowest point of my life, I now live pain-free and am in a much stronger state of equilibrium emotionally and mentally. In addition to the physical and emotional benefits I have experienced, I have noticed that I have much greater clarity of thinking and control over my intellectual development, which has been of tremendous use in advanced graduate study. The most remarkable benefit from studying the Alexander Technique has been the growth of self-awareness, and the realization of the emergent potential that lies within us that can be tapped and developed by using the powerful tools of inhibition and direction.
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 Alana
Cox
I graduated from ATSNE in
2004. In the same year I retired from my job at the Donahue
Institute at the University of Massachusetts to pursue my new
career as a teacher of the Alexander Technique.
I discovered the Alexander
Technique after twenty years of making the rounds of the
medical profession searching in vain for diagnosis and
effective treatment for my debilitating headaches and joint
pain. I consulted an array of doctors who prescribed physical
therapy, cortisone shots and drugs. I experimented with
chiropractic and alternative medicine such as Homeopathy,
Reflexology, Acupuncture, Chinese herbs and Feldenkrais. I
slept on magnets and took shark cartilage. After years of
searching I was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia and
tempero-mandibular joint problems (TMJ) but nothing I tried
gave me any relief.
Then I did a computer search and discovered the Alexander Technique. From my first lesson, it drew me like a magnet. I have always been an avid walker but often suffered with lower back pain and would frequently trip and stumble. I could not walk up the slightest incline or a flight of stairs without gasping for air and reaching for my asthma inhaler. After several months of lessons in the technique, I stopped tripping and stumbling. And I haven't used my inhaler for several years.
I also have a genetic,
progressive hearing loss and, as with most hearing loss, I
experience tinnitis. When we cannot hear we strain and tighten
our muscles unconsciously, somehow believing that this will
help us to hear. But all this does is create more intense
ringing, muscle tension and strain. The technique has also
helped control the ringing in my ears.
The Alexander Technique
teacher training has been a life altering experience and one
of the best things I have ever done for myself. By learning
how to address the deeply ingrained, unconscious muscle
tension habits that led to my various problems, I have found a
powerful tool for helping myself (where no one else could),
and have experienced enormous relief from both physical and
emotional pain. The Technique gave me a choice I had not
realized I had the choice to learn how to control pain and
change how I felt about myself. Because it has helped me so
much, I am passionate and enthusiastic about the Technique and
have committed myself to teaching it to others, especially
those who have experienced chronic pain as I have. Alana's
personal website is:
www.alexandertechnique.com/ma
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 Katherine
Glatter
I graduated from Kent State
University with a BA in English in 1985. At that time, I
planned to pursue a career teaching literature, but my life
circumstances led me to an earlier passion and I took up the
study of massage. In 1988, I received my degree from The Ohio
College of Massage therapy.
I first encountered the
Alexander Technique in 1990, while studying pregnancy massage.
As I leaned over the massage table in my usual manner, my
teacher put her hands on my back. Her touch was unlike any I
had experienced, and it transformed the way I stood and felt.
I had a sense of freedom and expansion throughout my body,
free from pain and stress.
I was so taken with this
experience that I began to study the Alexander Technique
whenever possible. For ten years, I worked with many teachers
from a wide range of approaches to the Technique, a situation
that gave me broad insight into different teaching styles.
After a time, however, I came to realize that I needed to
dedicate myself full-time to the study of the Alexander
Technique, and that to do so required a more unified approach.
I moved to the Pioneer Valley in August 2000 to study with
Missy Vineyard at the Alexander Technique School of New
England, graduating in 2003.
Before moving to Amherst with
my husband and two daughters, I ran a successful massage
therapy practice in Kent, Ohio for 12 years, specializing in
treating athletes; women in all stages of pregnancy, labor and
post-partum; chronic pain sufferers; and people recovering
from injuries. I loved my work as a massage therapist, but
after many years of providing primarily deep tissue massage,
my own body began to suffer÷low back and hip pain became
chronic. The Technique proved to be the most effective way for
me to address how I was giving massages so that I could
prevent further injury and interrupt the habits that were
causing my pain in the first place.
Since beginning my teacher
training, I have returned to many interests I had when I was
younger. I can now approach these abandoned pursuits with a
fresh perspective and greater insight, whether I am walking,
swimming, running, or doing yoga. I have also been involved
with singing and performance for my entire life. The Technique
has given me new tools for singing powerfully, without fear,
and without straining my voice. I urge any and all who love to
sing to take Alexander lessons!
For me, the Alexander
Technique bridges the gap that exists between the desire to do
something-- whether it be an artistic or athletic endeavor or
an everyday task -- and being able to carry it out with
success, confidence, and freedom. The Alexander Technique has
allowed me to address and change many of my unconscious
habits, unlocking some of my own unease and pain. I have no
doubt that all individuals can benefit from its study.
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 Tully
Hall
I am a member of the first graduating class of
ATSNE (formerly the Northampton School of Alexander Studies), and was certified as a teacher by AmSAT in 1990. In addition to my private practice in Ashburn, Virginia, I teach regularly at Stetson University music school in Florida, at Shenandoah University's music degree summer programs, and as guest faculty at
ATSNE. I've studied extensively with master Alexander teachers in London and the U.S. and have presented the Technique in a wide variety of educational, institutional and corporate settings. I wrote the Adjudication Procedures for AmSAT's professional Code of Conduct and currently serve on AmSAT's Professional Conduct Committee. I'm also a member of Alexander Technique Teachers of Greater Washington.
After receiving a music
performance degree from the University of Wisconsin, I played
the French horn professionally for many years, including
several years with a German opera orchestra and many seasons
with various symphony, chamber and opera orchestras in New
England. Currently, I study voice and perform with the Master
Singers of Virginia, and am a frequent Alexander teacher for
both private and university vocal studios. I've also studied
riding and given Alexander lessons and seminars to
equestrians.
I was first attracted to the
Alexander Technique by its fascinating concepts and
possibility for personal growth. It transformed the way I
thought of behavior and the choices we make, as it transformed
my overall coordination. Soon after completing the teacher
training, I found myself able to hike effortlessly up a
mountain with an ease that my previous career as an aerobics
instructor had never afforded me! Since then I've been lucky
enough to teach in an increasing number of situations where I
can use my music experience to inform my work. Now I find I
have something special to offer performers-- an invitation to
let the Technique help them discover and open new channels
within themselves for communication and self-expression.
Tully's personal website is:
www.alexandertechtully.com
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 Katarina
Hallonblad
A native of Finland,
Katarina Hallonblad studied at the Alexander Technique
School of New England (ATSNE) under Missy Vineyard and
received her teacher certification in 1999. She assisted in
the ATSNE teacher training program for several years,
completed the faculty training program in 2006, and is now
on leave from the faculty while teaching in Helsinki.
Katarina currently
teaches the Technique to musicians in the piano music and
orchestral performance departments of the Sibelius Academy
and to actors at the Theatre Academy of Finland. She also
maintains a private practice. Her pedagogical interests
include facilitating ease and grace in daily activities,
promoting occupational health and well-being, enhancing
personal growth, and developing self-expression.
Katarina’s work as
a teacher of the Alexander Technique is informed by her
training and experience in meditation and movement studies.
She is particularly interested in exploring the Alexander
Technique as a practice of mindfulness of movement. She has
practiced meditation for over 15 years and is qualified in
Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction (MBSR), an
empirically-validated health care application developed by
Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical
School. She also trained as a group facilitator in
Authentic Movement, a contemplative dance practice based on
Jungian depth psychology, under Alton Wasson and Daphne
Lowell. Katarina has additional experience with
applications of mindfulness in hospice work, as a leader of
body-awareness groups, in the practice of yoga, and as a
parent.
Katarina holds a
Master of Arts degree in linguistics from The University of
Helsinki, where she was a lecturer in the graduate and
undergraduate programs. Her background includes institute
training in classical music theory and performance (piano,
violin and cello). She created the ATSNE continuing
education program, taught the Technique at Smith College in
Northampton, Massachusetts, and presented at the 2004 AmSAT
Annual General Meeting. Katarina is a member of the
Psychophysical Psychotherapy Association of Finland and
currently serves as the Secretary of FinSTAT, the Finnish
Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.
***
Katarina Hallonblad valmistui Alexander-tekniikan
opettajaksi Alexander Technique School of New Englandista
(USA) vuonna 1999. Hän kävi lisäksi ATSNEn monivuotisen
jatkokoulutuksen ja pätevöityi Alexander-opettajien
kouluttajaksi vuonna 2006.
Katarina asuu parhaillaan Helsingissä, jossa hän opettaa
Alexander-tekniikkaa Sibelius-Akatemiassa ja
Teatterikorkeakoulussa sekä antaa yksityistunteja. Hänen
pedagogisia tavoitteitaan on liikkeen ja olemisen helppouden
lisääminen arjessa, työhyvinvointi ja stressinhallinta,
itseymmärryksen kasvattaminen sekä ilmaisun vapauttaminen.
Katarinalla on suomen kielen maisterin tutkinto Helsingin
yliopistosta, jossa hän on toiminut lehtorina.
Muusikkokoulutuksensa hän on saanut Länsi-Helsingin
Musiikkiopistossa (viulu, sello, piano). Hän on suorittanut
Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction ohjaajakoulutuksen
University of Massachusettsin lääketieteellisessä
tiedekunnassa sekä 2-vuotisen ohjaajakoulutuksen
jungilaiseen aktiiviseen mielikuvitukseen pohjautuvassa
Autenttinen liike -metodissa.
Katarina on Suomen Psykofyysisen psykoterapian yhdistyksen
jäsen ja toimii parhaillaan Suomen Alexander-tekniikan
opettajien yhdistyksen FinSTATin sihteerinä.
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Teo
Hannum
I graduated from ATSNE and
received my AmSAT certification as an Alexander Technique
teacher in January 2003.
I have a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA, 1988. I studied, performed and taught dance in Seattle and New York City. I'm a licensed massage therapist (since 1998).
I am presently living in
Seattle Washington and teaching private lessons and group
classes in the Alexander technique and I am the local
Alexander teacher for The Seattle Guitar Circle.
I started taking Alexander
lessons in 1990 when I lived in New York City and had a very
rigorous dance schedule that included taking dance classes,
rehearsing and performing. My lower back was in constant pain
and I had tried a lot of different techniques to help it.
Alexander Technique was the last and most effective technique
for me that I tried. My back pain went away and my dancing
improved immensely and now, fourteen years later I am not only
still practicing and using the Alexander Technique but also
teaching it.
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 Lisa
Harvey
My first love is for
teaching. I started out in early childhood education, teaching
preschool and working with new parents. My path led me to
teaching in a number of settings, including the museum
education department at Old Sturbridge Village, Pioneer Valley
Therapeutic Riding Program and the equestrian program at Smith
College.
My second love is for horses.
I have been teaching, riding and training for twenty-two years
and it is through the horses that I found the Alexander
Technique.
At the age of twenty-five, I
was experiencing severe back and knee pain, as well as
sciatica. I was dealing with my situation with chiropractic,
acupuncture and massage. I was able to avoid the use of drugs,
I got temporary relief from the pain and I was able to keep
active with this combination of work. Then I experienced the
Alexander Technique through a riding clinic held at our farm.
For the first time I realized that I could change the things
that were creating my problems rather than continually going
to someone to "fix" me. It was the most empowering feeling I
had ever had. When your body is in pain and you don't know how
to help yourself, it can be a very depressing feeling.
Discovering that I had within my self the tools for change was
a truly life altering experience. It was in fact the greatest
gift I have ever received.
After studying for several
years and applying the principles of the technique to my work
with horses, I was so convinced of the importance of this body
of work that I decided to train as a teacher. Since then I
have taught people from all walks of life, some of whom have
come because of discomfort and many who have come because they
want to improve performance in some activity. I am
particularly skilled at working with riders, as this is an
area that I have been involved with for most of my life. No
matter what I am doing, the Alexander Technique is what I use
to tune myself÷body, mind, and spirit. And the learning never
ends!
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Michaela
Hauser-Wagner
I am a Certified Teacher of the Alexander
Technique, living in Cheshire/CT, serving New Haven and its
surrounding communities. Before I came to the United States
in 1991 I had graduated from the University of Tübingen in
Speech Language Pathology and worked as a speech therapist
and voice teacher in Germany and Austria. Being a therapist
for people of all ages with neurological and developmental
disorders strengthened my medical background and fostered my
compassion for the disabled and sick. Very early in my
career I had to overcome my own vocal problems. As a
consequence healing overstressed and misused voices became
my passion and area of expertise. Today I am teaching the
Alexander Technique and continue to work with people who
want to improve or heal their voice.
I found the Technique when I was looking for ways to
supplement my daughter’s scoliosis treatment. While I
observed her lessons I assumed that my voice therapy
background had prepared me thoroughly for experiences of the
body involving ideas of posture and breath. But when I
finally had my own first lesson I knew that I had never felt
anything like this. The depth and subtlety of the Alexander
work was a completely new physical and mental experience.
This work has changed me in so many ways. I learned to
address the effects of my differently long legs and to
manage the resulting myofascial and sciatic pain. Beyond
these physical aspects it was surprising to me as a learner
in mid-life that I discovered new mental abilities. My
approach to writing and presenting changed and my memory
improved. Also, I have learned to deal more effectively with
daily stress and worries around parenting and family issues.
My ability to sleep through the night and my improved
digestion are two areas of change in mental and physical
health. All in all I am a much happier person today.
Accepting my self more deeply also brings ease to my
relationships with others. It is as if the Alexander
Technique has given me space within and around me. I enjoy
teaching individual students and in small group settings.
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 Priscilla
Hunt
I am an AmSAT certified
teacher with a private practice in Amherst. I also give
group lessons and lecture-demonstrations throughout the
Pioneer Valley. During the Spring of 2006 I will be
continuing to give a group introductory course at the Bangs
Community Center in Amherst through Leisure Services. In my
private practice I have worked with a diverse group of
students including people with postural concerns, repetitive
stress injuries, problems due to injuries and chronic pain.
I also have worked with athletes, musicians, tai chi
players, and people who are suffering from physical and
mental stress due to work, extensive driving or other
causes. I have traveled to England and the West Coast of the
USA to study with master teachers and specialists in
equestrian riding and voice. I assist in the ATSNE teacher
training course and took a yearlong (2005-6) advanced teacher training course with master teacher John Nicholls. I am also serving on the Board of Directors of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) from 2005-2007.
My own personal path to the Alexander Technique began in my teens when neck and arm problems forced me to give up a possible career as a flutist. I then pursued an academic path, receiving my PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Stanford University. I have taught at Amherst College, Brown University and the University of Massachusetts and enjoyed a research career specializing in Russian spiritual, literary and iconographic tradition. However, I suffered from both back problems and headaches, which limited my participation in music, and active sports, especially tennis. The Alexander Technique offered me a path of recovery, with unexpected benefits. As my lessons progressed, I discovered that the Technique addresses the very questions concerning personal responsibility, personal transformation and the wholeness of Being that I was dealing with in my academic life. It taught me to "think in activity" and has enabled me to undertake a path of constant improvement. The Technique has granted unprecedented freedom, lightness and optimism, and an improved coordination in whatever I do. It is a privilege to initiate my students on to a similar path, and to witness their growing self-understanding, improvements, and unexpected benefits as they realize their potential more fully. I am enriched every day by the challenges and courage that they bring to their study. Their ongoing insights and transformations bear continuing witness to the validity of F. M. Alexander's understanding of the way to psychophysical wholeness.
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Tova
Malin
I had my first Alexander Technique
lessons in Jerusalem in the late '70s. They left an
indelible impression and to this day I remember the
lightness and freedom I felt while walking at the end of a
lesson. A state of being that I only knew as a potentiality
was glimpsed through this experience.
I continued to take lessons
periodically for many years while working and raising a
family, and time and again discovered how powerful the
Technique can be in enhancing a sense of well-being and at
times in resolving a physical problem.
When a combination of stress and a
significant amount of cervical spine
degeneration caused
crippling pain that no other modality, both allopathic and
alternative, seemed to have much lasting effect on, I
returned to the Alexander Technique, this time to take the
training course to become a teacher of the Technique.
Although the condition of my cervical spine may not have
changed I now have the knowledge and skills to use my body
and move in a way that does not activate the same symptoms.
I bring this experience of overcoming
physical difficulties through the practice of the Alexander
Technique to my teaching. Just as the Technique has
influenced all my activities and pursuits, I also bring to
my teaching the benefits of other enhanced practices,
including many years of meditation, as well as listening
skills and the ability to communicate my knowledge and
understanding to others. I offer private and small group
lessons in my home near Brattleboro, VT and, depending on
circumstances, in students' homes.
I have lived in southern Vermont since
1985 where I served as the Executive Director of the Yellow
Barn Music School and Festival for fourteen years. Prior to
moving to Vermont I worked as a teacher and counselor in a
variety of educational institutions in the US, Japan and
Israel. I have a BA in English and history and an MA in
counseling psychology. I am a member of and certified by the
American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.
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 Sara
Miller
My training was completed at the Alexander Technique School New England and I am certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). I also have a B.F.A. in dance The Ohio State University.
I came to the technique as a dancer who spent long hours dedicated to this physically demanding art form.
However, my body was not always willing to withstand the pressures I put on it and, as the demands increased, so did the pain, injury
and diminished
performace. In an effort to improve my skills as a dancer I became interested in various body/mind modalities such as yoga, somatic education and the Alexander
Technique. I began supplementing dance training with A.T. lessons
and during my first year of lessons I grew to understand my body as I never had before. As lessons continued I began to understand that the A.T. could not only help me with my dancing, but
could help me with virtually every aspect of my life. This led me to my decision to train as an Alexander Technique teacher.
Currently I am on
the faculty of
The
University of
Hartford's, Hartt
School Community
Division, offering
the technique though
the dance
department.
I teach a wide array
of group classes
through the town of
West Hartford, Menla
Holistic Health and
Saint Francis Care.
I also teach the
Alexander Technique,
dance and yoga at
Watkinson School. I have been a guest
speaker at Central
Connecticut State
University's music
department and
Branford Hills
Rehabilitation
Center. I also
maintain a private
teaching practice in
West Hartford
with fellow ATSNE
teacher and husband,
Eric Miller. My experience and accomplishments as a dancer, yoga instructor and Alexander Technique teacher equip me with the skills necessary to address musculoskeletal pain syndromes, injury and performance issues.
I teach the principles of the Alexander Technique in a simple, clear manner, bring to my teaching the highest level of care, openness and respect for my students.
Sara's personal
website is:
www.millerAT.com
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Eric Miller
My training was completed at the Alexander Technique School New England and I am certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). I also have a B.M. in film scoring from Berklee
College of Music.
I began studying the Alexander Technique to overcome arm pain due to my guitar practice. It was the only thing that helped, having also tried physical therapy, massage and acupuncture. After a few lessons, I began to notice that I was moving easier, thinking more clearly and writing better music. As lessons progressed, I realized that I was not only learning skills to help with pain, but also skills to develop myself more as a person and a musician. This led me to my decision to train as an Alexander Technique teacher.
I am currently on
the faculty of The University of Hartford's, Hartt
School Community Division offering the technique though the
music department. I teach a wide array
of group classes through the town of West Hartford,
Farmington, and have been a guest speaker at Central
Connecticut State University's music department. I also
maintain a private practice in
West Hartford
with fellow ATSNE
teacher and wife, Sara Miller. Today, I draw from my
experience and specialize in working with performing artists
who suffer with pain and injury, and who want to improve
their technical skills.
In addition to teaching the Alexander
Technique I am owner/composer of Miller Music, LLC and
specializes in original music for film and television. I
have written over two hundred scores for different
productions throughout the United States and have received
several awards for my work. Eric's personal website is:
www.millerAT.com
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Chris
Mincer
In an attempt to address the tendonitis I had developed in both arms from long hours of guitar practice, I began studying the Alexander Technique in 1989 while getting my Masters in classical guitar performance at Southern Methodist University. The Technique enabled me to resume playing and I finished my degree in 1991 free from tendonitis.
Aside from helping me overcome my tendonitis, the technique yielded other benefits I hadn't been expecting. I no longer woke up with a stiff neck and shoulders in the morning. My ability to listen to more than one musical part at a time increased. I found myself emotionally maturing and becoming more responsible. Social discomfort was being replaced with increasing self-confidence. As my fear of making mistakes gradually subsided it gave way to an increased ability to learn new skills and make fresh observations.
In learning the technique, time and time again I've come face to face with the fallacy of some of my beliefs about myself, and this has given me a much more open mind with which to listen to others better and to see things I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.
The technique had such a
profound affect on me that in 1993 I went to England to
undertake the three-year, 1600-hour teacher training course
with John Nicholls. I was certified to teach in 1996. In 1999,
to further improve my teaching skills, I began a post-graduate
three-year training at ATSNE that I completed in 2002. I have
been in private practice since 1996 and am currently teaching
in Shelburne Falls and Amherst.
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 Christine
Olson
I received my teaching
certificate from the Alexander Technique School New England in
1997 and have maintained a teaching studio in Northampton
since then. I have presented the Technique in various colleges
in the area and teach a class for musicians at Smith. As a
member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique, I
served as chairman of the organizing committee for the 1999
national annual meeting held at Amherst College. For several
years I have assisted at the training course of the Alexander
Technique School of New England.
My undergraduate and graduate
training was in piano performance at the University of
Colorado and the University of Redlands, respectively,
followed by Doctoral studies in music theory at the University
of Michigan. During college I was drawn to many forms of dance
and movement including: Rolfing, Skinner Releasing Technique
and Authentic Movement, as well as the Alexander Technique.
This began my life-long interest in movement and the
connection of mind and body as a resource for well-being,
technical development at my instrument, and personal and
artistic expression.
In 1985 I moved to
Northampton with my husband and two children. At that time I
was immersed in my career of piano teaching and performing. I
had a full teaching studio and was active in the community
producing educational concerts and creating an organization
for independent keyboard teachers. Unfortunately my career was
curtailed due to an overuse injury in one arm. My first
response to the physical and emotional pain was to blame an
external agent (my piano had recently been rebuilt) and try to
find
something "out there" that could fix my arm. I dismissed the
Alexander Technique, believing I had already been there and
done that. However, when I failed to get much help from other
modalities, I was persuaded to try it again. Fairly quickly
the pain in my arm began to melt and gradually I gained
awareness of my own tension patterns. This was tremendously
empowering and allowed me to take responsibility for my part
in the problem (instead of blaming my piano). With the
guidance of a teacher I was able to return to the piano by
learning better movement coordination, which involved not just
my arm but also my mind and whole body.
Even better, I discovered that motor coordination is not just an isolated physical event--it is an expression of one's whole self. So enhancing my overall coordination has meant having more of myself: more depth, more clarity and intelligence in whatever I choose to do.
I teach this effective and
empowering work to people of all ages and professions, and
specialize in work with instrumentalists. Since you have found
your way to this website, my advice to you is try some lessons
and find out for yourself what the Alexander Technique has to
offer.
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 Cheryl
Pleskow
I bumped into the Alexander
Technique one summer afternoon sometime in the mid-1970s, on a
bus going from a dance class in St. Paul, MN, to a rehearsal
in Minneapolis. I had run into a friend and fellow dancer on
the bus. She announced excitedly that she was going to London
to study something called "the Alexander Technique". The
combination of her level of exuberance, my ignorance, and that
it just sounded "too good to be true", left me silently
worried that my dear friend was going off the deep end and
joining a cult.
Little did I know that I
would eventually become an Alexander teacher myself one day!
Between that fateful encounter on the bus and today, the
thread that has pulled me forward through my experiences as
both a student and teacher of the Alexander Technique has
always been a sense of discovery, open-ended learning,
unfolding curiosity. This is what I enjoy most about
teaching÷sharing that "Aha!" moment when a student discovers a
new ease in breathing, or a different way to balance over the
feet, or a sense of lightness and well being in moving through
the activities of the day.
I believe that anyone can
benefit from studying the Alexander Technique. I view myself
as a "generalist" in my approach to teaching, with an interest
in meeting all kinds of learners÷from those people coming with
chronic pain, to those seeking to prevent injury or to enhance
skills, to those interested in personal development.
My enduring interests revolve around the processes of learning and creativity. As a dancer, choreographer and arts educator in Minneapolis/St. Paul, I taught and performed in elementary and secondary schools, university and professional theatre settings. I was a founding member of Caravan Dance Collective and the Minnesota Independent Choreographer's Alliance (MICA), contributing to the resurgent vitality of the dance community of the Twin Cities in the 1970s. Moving to New York and Boston in the 1980s, I studied with Hanya Holm, Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais, and continued to create and perform independently. I enjoy dancing, improvisational theatre, Tai Chi, fencing, writing, working with visual media, singing and playing the piano. The tools of the Alexander Technique provide an ever-evolving internal reference guide in all my creative and kinesthetic journeys.
A graduate of the University
of Minnesota (Bachelor of Arts) and Boston University (Masters
in Education), I have also worked in the fields of
instructional design, media production and organizational
management.
I graduated from the Alexander Technique School of New England (ATSNE) in 1994 and have maintained a private teaching practice in Northampton, MA, since that time. Over the years, I've assisted in the training of new teachers at
ATSNE. I have taught occasionally in the Berkshires, and currently travel in Western New York to present workshops and lessons. I am a Past Chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), and was awarded AmSAT's Distinguished Service Award in June 2004.
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 Ruth
Rootberg
I teach the Alexander Technique in Amherst. As a designated Linklater Voice Teacher and Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst (CMA), I also offer voice and integrated voice-movement studies. (I hold a Master's Degree in Music.)
Before deciding to become an
Alexander teacher, I taught voice on the faculties of Yale
School of Drama, the Theatre School of DePaul, and Northern
Illinois University. I have given a number of workshops to
voice and movement teachers in the US and South Africa. As a
writer I published the monograph Teaching Breathing:
Results of a Survey (www.movingvoices.us)
and have published peer-reviewed articles in The Voice and
Speech Review.
Earlier I sang opera and
recitals, mostly in Switzerland and Chicago, and acted in
Chicago area theatres. For a short period I toured the states
as a puppeteer and clowned around the streets of Chicago.
My first lessons in the
Technique were with Alexander teacher and scientist Frank
Pierce Jones at Tufts University. My second encounter came
several years later while studying acting. While on the
faculty at Yale, I succeeded in hiring an Alexander teacher
for the actors÷first in master classes, and then as an adjunct
who came weekly.
After I observed several of these classes, I knew I wanted to acquire the Alexander teacher's hands-on skill for myself. I moved to Amherst with my family to train with Missy Vineyard. My goal was to use the teacher training to enhance my voice teaching. However, I soon discovered that I had been ignoring my own problems of misuse÷my knees were hurting and I walked downstairs sideways to protect them. I became worried that I wouldn't be able to teach. But during my second year of training my knees improved so much that I resumed playing racquetball, which I hadn't played in over ten years. My voice and breathing continue to change and open in new and wonderful ways. I have found the skills I had wanted and so much more. The Alexander Technique has become my way of gracefully moving through middle age.
It is important to me that
people in my community learn that the Alexander Technique
exists and that it can help them in a variety of ways. I have
happily given several lecture-demonstrations at local high
schools, colleges, and community centers. As a private
teacher, I love to teach the skills for growing÷growing out of
pain, growing into higher skill levels, and growing as an
individual÷through the Alexander Technique.
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 Christine
Stevens
I graduated from the Northampton School of Alexander Studies (now
ATSNE) in 1992. I currently teach the Alexander Technique as a member of the faculty at the Brown/Trinity Repertory Consortium--a three-year, professional actor-training program in Providence, RI. I have also taught the Alexander Technique in the theatre department at UMASS, Amherst, and as part of an acting class at Marlboro College in Marlboro, VT. I have presented workshops to actors and to the general public, as well as to Alexander teachers at AmSAT's Annual General Meeting. Since 1992, I have maintained a private teaching practice in Amherst for people from all walks of life. As an actress, I also helped to found the Hampshire Shakespeare Co. and am a founding member of DramaWorks Interactive, a consulting group that uses theatre as a tool for organizational change.
I first discovered the
Alexander Technique while majoring in theatre at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. After moving to New
York City in 1983 to pursue acting, I met an Alexander
Technique teacher and decided to take lessons, since I knew
actors often studied it to help increase physical freedom.
After about a year of lessons, I noticed that I no longer
suffered from end-of-the-day low back pain.
In 1988, my husband and I
moved to Amherst, MA. After a year of lessons with Missy
Vineyard I joined the training course. At that time my
husband, Timothy Holcomb, and I started a theatre company
dedicated to performing Shakespeare outdoors in the summer.
The first year we performed outdoors in the courtyard of an
Inn, where we were competing vocally with air conditioners,
barking dogs, airplanes and generally poor acoustics. (We
nicknamed ourselves "The Shouting Shakespeare Co.") By then I
had completed my second year of training but this was still a
strain on my voice. The next summer, however, I discovered
that it was significantly easier to project my voice yet still
bring color and emotion to the words. And each succeeding year
it became easier to use my voice--thanks to the skills I was
learning through the Technique. But more than the technical
aspects of acting, the Technique has deepened my ability to
create and to inhabit the character I am playing. It has
become the basis for my teaching to actors. It has also given
me invaluable tools for managing the emotional and physical
demands of everyday life.
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 Maggie
Sullivan
I live in Brattleboro,
Vermont. I completed my training at the Northampton School for
Alexander Studies (now ATSNE) in 1993. I teach in Brattleboro,
Hartland Vermont, and at the Healing Arts Center at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vermont.
I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College where I majored in Early Music performance, and played viola da gamba. In my junior year, I developed tendonitis in my arm and hand, and had to stop playing for more than a year. I was amazed that no one in the medical community seemed to understand anything about my condition or how to fix it. Eventually a good friend, who was a dancer, recommended that I try the Alexander Technique. It immediately made sense to me when I realized that I was causing the injury by the way I was using too much tension as I played the instrument. I studied the technique for several years with different teachers and then decided to train to be a teacher and enrolled in Missy Vineyard's training course in Northampton.
Besides being enormously
helpful for me, personally, in accomplishing all the
activities of my life, I especially enjoy teaching the
technique to all kinds of people with different interests and
backgrounds.
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Missy
Vineyard
 Missy Vineyard received her B.A.
in dance from Sarah Lawrence College and completed her teacher
training at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT)
under Judith Leibowitz in 1975.
For over thirty years she has maintained a busy private teaching practice and conducted numerous workshops on the technique to a wide variety of groups, large and small, young and old. Applying the technique to the needs of athletes and performing artists is a special interest and focus of her workshops. She has taught courses at universities, performing arts schools and arts festivals, including: Springfield Community Music School, the Amherst High School Ultimate Frisbee team, Smith College, Amherst College Summer Voice Workshop, the American Dance Festival, Duke University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland. Most recently, she taught a one semester, credit course on the Alexander Technique to students in the Five-College Dance and Theater Department at Amherst College.
Missy has done extensive volunteer work to contribute to the development and public recognition of the profession. In 1986 she served on the steering committee that created AmSAT, the national professional society for teachers in the U.S. She served as AmSAT's first chairman from 1987 to 1989, and served another term as chairman from 1994-1996 followed by a term as past chairman. She received the organization's Distinguished Service Award in 1996. In addition she served on the board of directors of the American Center for the Alexander Technique from 1975-1978, and on the board of directors of The Alexander Technique Association from 1988-1995. Missy also developed and chaired AmSAT's Training Approval Committee and its Professional Identity Project. More recently she represented the Society before the White House Commission on Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2000.
Missy's foremost commitment at present is training highly skilled professionals of the Alexander Technique. Toward that end, for the last nineteen years she has devoted the majority of her schedule to teacher training and to developing a unique, systematic curriculum designed to ensure the highest level of hands-on skill in
ATSNE graduates.
She has done extensive post-graduate study in London with Walter and Dilys Carrington and written numerous articles on the technique. (See "Articles by
ATSNE Teachers.") Missy is currently at work on a book about the Alexander Technique.
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 Merlin
Wisswaesser
I am a graduate of the
Alexander Technique School--New England and am certified by
the American Society for the Alexander Technique. Currently, I
teach privately in Canaan, New York (located in the foothills
of the Berkshires) and offer workshops to groups in the
surrounding area. I have been involved with the Alexander
Technique since 1996, first as a student for many years and
then as a teacher, having completed the three-year teacher
training program with Missy Vineyard.
All of my life I have been
very physical, playing many sports and exploring yoga, dance,
running, and meditation as a means to keep my body and mind
healthy. Being a carpenter and builder for thirty years, as
well as an athlete, makes my body my most valuable tool.
Therefore, when my right knee started to throb with pain about
ten years ago I was quick to look for a solution. I turned to
many different forms of bodywork and healing modalities but
found only temporary relief and was still unable to run. In my
frustration I decided it was finally time to explore the
repeated suggestions of a friend to try the Alexander
Technique. With the Alexander Technique, I began to discover
the underlying habits and tension patterns that led to my knee
injury. I soon gained the skills necessary to not only change
those habits and correct the patterns but also heal the
injury. The Alexander Technique was so effective in offering
the results I had been looking for that I decided to become a
teacher. As a teacher, I have been able to help others
discover how patterns of misuse lead to discomfort and to
offer the skills of awareness necessary to change those
habits. I continue to apply the technique in the many diverse
areas of my life (teacher, athlete, builder, human) and find
it always has something expansive to offer. I find this
approach to change limitless, ongoing and ever-deepening.
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