Applied Alexander Technique Blog

TED talk: Facing Future/ Posture and Alexander Technique

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:44:43 -0800

Friends,

Angela Bradshaw gives a wonderful, clear explanation of the Alexander Technique. Try her demonstration right along with the video. Say hello to your body in a new way!

What a marvelous way to use our minds, discover our habits and find that we can learn to move in a new, more efficient way. Better posture, lighter movement, less pain.

Would you like some? Find a teacher near you, or contact me for lessons in the Bay Area.*

Peace,

Dana

* Three locations: Mountain View, Milpitas, and San Jose

Why Alexander Technique? Why Dance?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:49:40 -0800

Hello my friends,

Why do I teach Alexander Technique?

Why do I dance?

It feels expansive, it feels good, it is a joy like no other.

I move my body and I feel my soul. It springs lightly upward when I dance.

In Alexander work, it is a release of my neck that lets my thoughts go upward and my head, with it.

I feel a unique sense of flow and lightness. It feels light and my head floats up. It is like meditation in action and I create it as I walk, sit, stand, move, and dance.

Want some?

We are psycho-physical-spiritual beings and this is like chocolate for the soul. It is like bringing light to the body, the light of awareness, freedom, joy.

Letting your neck be free is a close parallel to dancing. It's like watching a hummingbird...poised so lightly...stillness and yet all-moving.

Sharing a way to have freedom and joy in your body, in the moment, in the Now.

Namaste,

Dana

Alexander Technique for Dancers at Cheryl Burke Dance

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:24:08 -0800

Hello my dancing friends,

I invite you to come to an Alexander Technique workshop and free your hips!

Alexander Technique gives you that extra edge, by releasing tension you may not even notice - till it releases. It's that level of tension that's just "how you are..."

Unless it isn't.

This class will focus on freeing the hips for easier, lighter, smoother movement. Release tension in your muscles and joints. Discover the power of your legs!

We’ll take a look at how your skeleton is built and learn to free the hips and legs to move easily and independently. Learn new ways to connect your thinking and your body for freer, easier movement. Knowledge is power!

Saturday, March 30 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Inspiration for a lifetime: Tony Robbins interviews Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:03:18 -0800

Hello my friends,

I'm emerging from winter hibernation and emerging into Spring. I blog again!

Here is the most amazing video for you...It is enough inspiration to last me a lifetime. Seriously, if I watched this every morning when I woke up, I'd be a better person (and more fun, too).

"Everything is a present..." Alice Herz-Sommer

Here's to finding laughter and joy every day,

Dana

Dance and the Alexander Technique: Better Posture with Less Tension

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 06:00:44 -0800

Hello my friends!

Have you ever noticed that you can tell who someone is from a distance, just by their posture?

In some ways, posture literally is like a carrying card that says who we are, before we arrive.

Think about it; we recognize people by the way the carry themselves. Most of our posture is not on purpose, it’s just how we are. It’s our habit; it’s not conscious.

Our habits of posture are also the limiting factor from looking better and moving better on the dance floor. One of my dancer students had issues with shoulder tension; we traced it back to years of playing the violin. Old habits CAN be changed, but the first step is to become aware of them. Maybe it isn't about dance...

If you're hearing the same comments from your teacher, over time, maybe a look at your basic alignment OUTSIDE the dance studio will be the key.

Do you want that last little bit of extension without tightening up? Would you like to have better balance because you literally feel more clearly, where your head and feet are as you move?

Lightness in movement and better balance and poise are key traits of the Alexander Technique. Students say they feel a sense of flow in the body. Beyond letting go of pain, is a positive sense of well-being.

Are you curious? Drop me a line. I'm offering a limited number of free, 20 minute consultations between now and the end of January. Come find out what it feels like to allow flow rather than push...

Start the New Year with freedom and flow!

Dana

Special Class - Walking in Heels

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:08:58 -0800

Hello my friends!

The holidays are upon us! It’s a fun time to dress up and be glam.

If you’re like me, you like being comfortable in your shoes – and you also love, love LOVE your heels ☺.

Come to a fun class for walking in heels!

Students – dancers and non-dancers alike – say they find they are more confident and more comfortable. Balance and poise improve. You'll leave walking with more ease and have better posture, too!

* Learn tips and tricks for walking in heels that you can immediately use.

* Bring a pair of heels that you love, and a pair of “hope” heels that are sitting on the sidelines. Dancers, your dance heels are welcome!

* Bring shoes of any comfortable height. A Better in Stilettos® class will help you walk better in heels of any height! You can start small and grow tall.

Class: Alexander Technique/ Better in Stilettos®
Date: Saturday, December 15, 2012
Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at the door
Call the studio for an advance ticket and save $5.00 (650) 864-9150

Address: Cheryl Burke Dance
1400 No. Shoreline Blvd., #A-1 Mt. View California 94043
Phone: (650) 864-9150

Remember, "...if you're going to wear them - wear them well!®

See you this Saturday,

In heels!
Dana

Alexander Technique for Dancers at Cheryl Burke Dance - Saturday drop-in classes

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:46:18 -0800

Hello friends!

Sometimes people aren't sure about new things...like Alexander Technique. I can understand that feeling. It took me three years from the time I first heard about it, to try it!

When I was a kid, we used to watch Life Cereal commercials. Do you remember “Does Mikey like it?

If you're still waiting to try a "taste" of Alexander Technique, here’s a chance for you to find out, "...did Mikey like it?"

A Pilates instructor and competitive dancer who participated in my class last Saturday wrote,

" …I traveled from San Rafael, about 1-1/2 hours away, to find out about the Alexander Technique...The ride home, another 1-1/2 hours, was totally different than the drive down. I was floating and connecting to some inner grace. I'll bet you don't hear that from too many folks about driving on 101N!"

Come try it! If dance is Life, then Alexander Technique is the milk…everything flows better and it’s much more fun. It’s known to help balance, release tension and ease pain.

Maybe you’ll even enjoy driving more on 101. :-)

Saturday at 11 am, at Cheryl Burke Dance, Mountain View....read on for details :-)

Alexander Technique for Dancers at Cheryl Burke Dance

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:05:46 -0800

Hello my friends!

I wanted to let you know about some more group classes coming up in November, at Cheryl Burke Dance in Mountain View.

Saturdays, Nov. 3, 10, and 17
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
$20 in advance (call the dance studio) $25 at the door.

For anyone who’s had lessons or knows a bit about Alexander Technique, I invite you to the wonderful world of Up!

If you haven't experienced it yet, come on in, the water's warm! No previous experience necessary.

Here's the scoop:

Pacific Grand Ball and Alexander Technique

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:23:52 -0800

Hello my dancing friends!

I had so much fun working with people at the Pacific Grand Ball.

One dancer really understood this work. She surprised me, sitting in the chair and asking, "may I have some of your energy?"

Yes! This does open the flow of energy in the body.

I barely touched her; she felt the energy flow. Gentle Alexander hands-on, undoing tension and sensing the flow.

We all have this ability; we're born able to move effortlessly. I love seeing people's eyes widen as they suddenly have this feeling of a free neck. They get it; this is about releasing and freedom.

Thank you for stopping by.
Come again!

Dana

Alexander Technique at Cheryl Burke Dance - Free your Neck and Improve your Line

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 06:52:35 -0800

Hello my friends!

I’m excited to teach Alexander Technique at Cheryl Burke Dance.

If Alexander Technique is new to you, here's what it is and more importantly, why to learn it, in a nutshell.

When you dance, is your neck free? Do you stiffen it a little...or a lot? Do you struggle for balance or relax into it?

When your neck is contracted and stiff, it pulls your head down into your neck and shoulders. It may push your head forward or pull it back down into your shoulders. Either way, it puts you off balance and out of alignment. It creates tension throughout the body, slows you down and shortens your line.

Alexander Technique helps you release tension patterns in movement that are so habitual, we don't even feel them. It focuses on the freedom of the head and neck in movement and creates freedom and poise.

Come try it! Come discover how free you can be!

See you soon - Saturday, September 22nd at 11:00 am - 1:00 pm. Call the studio at 650.864.9150 or drop me a line if you're planning to come.

with Joy!

Dana

British Medical Journal: Introduction to the Alexander Technique

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:00:37 -0800

Hello friends,

Who comes for Alexander Technique lessons?

The British Medical Journal gives an overview:

If you have back or neck pain, or if you are a dancer or musician and would like to improve your performance, I encourage you to take a look at this video.

To your health!

Dana

Alexander Technique for Dancers at Cheryl Burke Dance

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:55:56 -0800

Hello, my friends!

The body that sits in front of that computer is your dancing body!
Come undo the tension and pain of daily life and enjoy your dancing more!
Leave with skills you can immediately use to improve your dancing and your life.

Come to Cheryl Burke Dance for a special, two-hour workshop on Saturday, Sept. 22nd! Try something new, have some fun and feel better!

No previous experience necessary

• Release muscular tension.
• Alleviate pain.
• Better balance.
• Light, easy, efficient, graceful movement.
• Feel better!

Alexander Technique is unique in that it specifically increases your awareness of your head, neck and back, and gives you tools to release tension, direct the lines of your own body, and flow in movement.

Date: Saturday, September 22
Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Cost: $25
at: Cheryl Burke Dance, Mt. View 650-864-9150

Everyone: Please bring a yoga mat and 2-3 paperback books (or a bath towel) to place under your head during floor work.

Ladies: Please wear or bring loose slacks or workout clothes.

Don't miss this opportunity!

Dana

Alexander Technique is a world-class system of body awareness in activity that relieves pain and releases muscular tension. Taught at 50 Conservatories and Universities and used in pain management centers across the U.S., and integrated into medical systems in England, Israel and Australia.

Dana Ben-Yehuda, M. AmSAT, is a Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique with over 1600 hours of training. She has been in private practice for over ten years and works with dancers, musicians, and computer users suffering from neck & back pain.

El Camino Hospital, Cancer Support Group - the Alexander Technique

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:44:29 -0800

To the members of El Camino Hospital's Cancer Support Group, hello!

Come learn how the Alexander Technique can help cancer patients and their caregivers, at the support group meeting on August 28, 2012.

Alexander Technique gives a sense of peace in the body and alleviates pain. It saves energy when you sit, stand, and walk. (BBC, "Perspective: Posture and Pain.") Students say they feel lighter and that tension melts away. By practicing Alexander Technique, simple sitting and standing comes into balance and alignment. I use this in my ballroom dancing all the time. Balance helps movement, posture and poise, and you can use it at any level.

Benefits of the Alexander Technique:

– Learn easier ways to move – sit, stand, and walk with less effort
– Alleviate pain – relieve physical tension – quiet the mind
– Learn a cheerful process that gives freer movement and better balance

A cancer survivor and former Alexander student says:

Alexander Technique - Workshop for Dancers at Dance Vita Ballroom Studio

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:03:56 -0800

How would it feel to have less tightness and more freedom in your body?

The basic way you do things all day long trains the same body you use for dancing. Come to an Alexander Technique workshop to shed everyday habits of tension, free your dancing body, and have some fun!

People liked the two previous workshops so we are doing another! This week we’ll learn ways to apply the Alexander Technique to relieve pain, feel lighter, and have freer movement.

- Learn basic concepts of the Alexander Technique
- Increase awareness of the head and neck
- Explore how this connects with releasing into length

Date: Saturday, July 21st, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Cost: $12

Location: Dance Vita
85 43rd Street, San Mateo, CA
650-345-VITA

Everyone: Please bring a yoga mat and 2-3 paperback books (or a bath towel) to place under your head during floor work.

Ladies: Please wear or bring loose slacks or yoga pants.

See you there!

Dana

Alexander Technique - Workshop for Dancers

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:40:07 -0800

Hello my friends,

Come to an Alexander Technique workshop at Dance Vita Ballroom Studio this Saturday, July 14, 3:30-4:30 pm, in San Mateo: Alexander Technique - Alleviate Pain and Improve Line and Flow

This will be the second workshop in a series, however I’ll refresh the basics, so everyone is welcome.

Note from last week: some people found relief from pain just in that one hour. I tell you, this is helpful and if you have back pain or you dance, I hope you come!

* Alleviate pain
* Release more freely into length
* Improve body awareness