Second Weekend Masterclass
It was so interesting that the programme, and even the menus, for the second weekend were just the same as the first – and yet, with a different group of people, the event was so different.
We were so lucky to have good weather and be mostly outdoors.
With the permission of the writers, I will share some feedback from this course.
The next weekend residential masterclass will be from 5 to 7 January 2024. Contact me for details.
First of all, thank you very much for the residential weekend and your kind extra hospitality! It was really generous from you to share everything with us, your house, your wisdom, your presence, your example. As I said there, I got a very good refresher of the Alexander technique. It was powerful and inspiring, encouraging me to keep up with it.
On the Sunday, I felt already the wonderful effects of being busy with the technique for two days. I was feeling light, pain-free, energised, easy in my body and movements… I felt happy!
The atmosphere at your home with you and the other students was super pleasant to me! I really enjoyed your comfortable house and felt super cosy sharing a room with Gabriella. The fact that the sessions were in the garden made it extra pleasant and I think that was very helpful for keeping the learning atmosphere light and so enjoyable.
It was great to learn with the other ladies. To enjoy my dear Gabriella’s presence. To practise with and get feedback from the qualified ones. And actually to be with all of them, each one made a precious contribution to the course, sharing what they had.
I got a lot of inspiration from watching Naama playing the Beatles. Normally I feel very upset with myself in this kind of situation because I am never able to play anything without a music sheet. But this time I think I was able to stop and choose to think something different: “let’s see how she does it, let’s see what I can learn from her” and when I watched her it didn’t seem so difficult, and I got the sense I would be able to learn it too and the motivation to do it. So, when I came back, I made the resolution of playing a little bit from ear every day.
Also, it felt really good when I played some Beethoven on Sunday. I was able to really enjoy the music and enjoy that I was able to sight read it. I didn’t know you and Naama were sitting down listening, but when I found out your words of appreciation meant also a lot to me, thank you!
I also feel very grateful for the reassurance and the encouragement you gave me to go on with the AT and teach it.
I was reminded that I have the possibility to take my time to think the means whereby for any end.
I also loved how you taught us about directions in the hands-on, as coming from a smooth movement and meeting the person.
How if we wanted the person to move we needed to be movable ourselves.
I loved to be able to walk so light and easy with the hands-on walking game.
I realized I need to realize that I have freedom to choose.
The idea of a flux state of mind instead of a fixed one.
The hands on back of a chair with extra rotation was very helpful, and especially for piano playing.
The talks in and outside the sessions where very much inspiring and appreciated.
And I really appreciate your open, truthful, gentle, quiet presence. The clarity of your teaching and the being able flow into singing and to telling us stories.
Elena
AT teacher and pianist
I value the time I spent at John’s masterclass weekend retreat in September. It was an enjoyable and invaluable learning experience with a group of 7 people all interested like me in deepening more into the understanding of the work.
We explored different themes and one of them was the primary postural pulls. John demonstrated “hands on a student” and then allowed us one by one to explore the same movement with him and each other. The pace was just perfect, with lots of inhibition and directions.
I felt comfortable and at ease as John created a safe learning environment.
I also loved the time spent preparing the meals and eating together, the discussions around the tables and the singing in the evening.
Thank you, John, for sharing your knowledge and your lovely home, bringing everyone together and making the weekend a special time.
Daniela
AT teacher MSTAT
The course responded brilliantly to the interests and needs of every participant. It is such a privilege to witness and receive John’s art of teaching! My main interest was to refine my teaching skills and hands on work.
On another level, it was a joy to reconnect with old Alexander friends and meet new wonderful people. We cooked and enjoyed together delicious meals. In a word: a unique mix of learning hugely and having a great time.
Anca
AT teacher
Alexander Technique made me discover a profound way of transforming my whole being and helped me understand what unfavorable effects my usual way of “using myself” can have, so I came to this Masterclass with the intention of refreshing and deepening my ability to apply Alexander Technique in everyday life. The opportunity to do this under the guidance of John Hunter is a chance for which I am deeply grateful.
Several times during this Masterclass, each of us individually benefited from personalized guidance from John. On the second day (at the exercise where we apply Alexander Technique while walking), as a result of the few minutes that John checked and corrected my use, I felt a continuous flow of upward energy in the spinal area. I perceived this upward flow as an engine that fuels and even energizes me as I walk. I felt as if I was being carried on the arms. My back had awakened and was strong like a massive door that (not only supported itself, but) was also in a continuously uplifting direction. I continued to walk through the workspace, and I felt that this transformation that I felt in my body produced such profound effects on me that I became a completely different person, much more confident and more free than I used to be. Although my usual “relaxed-collapsed” attitude had disappeared, my wrists were moving freely, the inner state was one of serenity and joy.
Another exercise that left deep traces in my being is the exercise in which a colleague played the role of “student” and I was the one who had to offer her Alexander Technique guidance – of course under the careful guidance of John. On this occasion I felt in my body how much an Alexander Technique professor has to work on himself moment by moment and how non-intrusive needs to be the guidance he offers to the student through touch. Thus, practicing the “hands-on” exercise became for me an opportunity to work on my own being so intensely that the effect could be transmitted subtly, by means of touches (gentle but firm) on the exercise partner. I also received feedback from my colleague who was at that moment in the role of “student”, and I was amazed to learn that such a gentle touch on my part can have such great effects on another. I remember now how in my first meetings with Alexander Technique I was so amazed: I didn’t understand why my being suddenly transformed (like a Phoenix Bird) when the teacher only lightly touched my neck or my back…
Another discovery I remember is that during the practical exercises, when I invited my back to expand, I saw that I could intentionally and consciously connect not only with the lumbar area but also with the intercostal muscles of the floating ribs. The effect of this discovery remained even after the Masterclass, even when I did not remember to do this consciously. In the days that followed I was amazed to notice that during breathing my ribs moved freely and fluidly like an underwater plant and that the resonance of my voice had become wide and deep. Although during the workshop I did the exercise related to breathing and vocal sounds only once, I discovered with amazement that the effects of this exercise were maintained over time. My voice continues to be softer and warmer. Even my attitude became much more lenient. I noticed that when I feel like reacting impulsively, a new attitude of patience and compassion awakens inside me. Even when I express a critical opinion, I do it with much more gentleness and tolerance. When I remember the individual exercise at the end of the Masterclass it helps me to access and relax a deeper part of the muscles inside the ribcage.
The experience lived at the masterclass this September 2023 was much richer than I can describe in words. During these 3 days I also had experiences that I am only now beginning to understand little by little. Maybe I overlooked them at the time, but my body’s memory is starting to remember parts of the practical teaching that was shared and passed on to us.
I tried to reawaken in my being the intense experiences I lived there, but I did not manage to access all the inner processes that generated those effects. Therefore, I began to apply little by little what remained in my memory and in the memory of my body.
Cristina
Actress, Acting Teacher
Lessons with Miss G: #11, Now I’m a Believer
“Now you are doing it again!” she said, with more than a little exasperation in her voice. She stepped back so that she could look at me and pronounce her verdict. “John, you are such an unbeliever!”
Well, that was not what I was expecting to hear. All sorts of reasons had been flooding through my head as to why it just wasn’t working: it was because I was doing or not doing this or that, or that she was doing or not doing this or that, but the idea that it could have anything at all to do with my beliefs – or lack of them – had never occurred to me …
And yet, she was absolutely right. Because I didn’t feel what I expected – had even been ‘trained’ – to feel when getting out of the chair, I didn’t believe it was possible. I was used to “keeping my back back”, but this was brought about with the help of a strong stimulus from the teacher who provided the opposition, thereby stimulating the “anti-gravity response”. But Goldie didn’t do that; she was not going to make it work for you, and if the usual signals and sensations were not there, then I didn’t believe something could happen.
So Alexander was right: “Belief is a matter of customary muscle tension”.1 I didn’t see this all at once: it was a gradual realisation, but one that was set in motion by that remark of Goldie’s.
Of all the “master teachers” I worked with, it was only with Goldie that I did not always feel wonderful during or after the lessons. Far from it! Sometimes it all felt very static and pointless. On more than one occasion I could not wait for the lesson to end, swearing to myself that this would definitely be the last time I would put myself through such an excruciating experience. She was, of course, picking up this “resistance” and would sometimes comment that I should not concern myself with whether or not I felt it was working, or give way to an inner criticism that she was “not up to scratch today”, but I should “just go on with the brain-work”. Then, perhaps several hours later the same day – and quite unexpectedly – some new discovery would emerge; a clarity of thought, a more vivid perception, or an unknown part of my spine would suddenly wake up. I was coming to understand that what she called “brain-work” was bringing about changes from the inside rather than through muscles or nerves. Another of Alexander’s aphorisms began to make sense:
“When the time comes that you can trust your feeling, you won’t want to use it.” 2
1 Some references to belief and muscle tension.
- “Do you know what we have found that belief is? A certain standard of muscle tension. That is all”. (The Bedford Lecture, in Articles and Lectures, p.174, Mouritz (1995))
- I remember one morning his coming briskly into our classroom, looking very pleased with himself, and saying, ‘Belief is a matter of customary muscle tension.’
‘F.M.,’ I said, ‘don’t you mean that belief about what you can do with the body is a matter of customary muscle tension?’ The discussion was on. He kept talking while he worked. Finally at the end of the morning’s work F.M. said, ‘Yes, belief about what you can do with the body is a matter of customary muscle tension.’ Lulie Westfeldt, F. Matthias Alexander, The Man and his Work, Mouritz 1998, p.68 - Was FM’ s aphorism that belief is a matter of muscle tension simply designed to shock people, or was there a more serious element behind it? He was perfectly serious about it, because he equated belief with fixation. In his experience a rigidity of mind corresponded to a rigidity of body. (Walter Carrington on the Alexander Technique in discussion with Sean Carey, 1986, p.45f)
2 Teaching Aphorisms: The Alexander Journal No 7, 1972, published by the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. Also published in Articles and Lectures by Mouritz (1995).
© John Hunter 2015
Being with Erika: #10, A Lesson in Stopping, London, 1993
Whenever Erika was staying with me I was always keen to get her to talk about her insights into the Alexander Technique and the key individuals involved in its discovery and transmission. Sometimes this became a distraction from actually ‘entering into the moment’.
Erika taught me a lesson, without words and without touch.
After dinner one evening I was washing up. Erika picked up a tea towel and began to dry the dishes. I was impatient to go and sit down and talk about the Alexander Technique. Erika was living it. The more I rushed, the more contrast I sensed between my movements and the freedom with which her arm would appear from somewhere behind me and pick up a plate or bowl or cup. But still I carried on along my furrow of end-gaining.
Then the hand stopped appearing. I turned a little so I could see her in my peripheral vision. She had “stopped”; not ‘frozen’, not ‘paused’ but ‘stopped’. Sometimes when one was with Erika, one became aware of her thought processes. She had stopped, and was giving herself a choice. I felt at that moment that she was perfectly free to put down the tea towel and simply walk out of the kitchen, or to remain quiet and still, or to carry on drying the dishes. She chose to carry on.
By now I had got the message; not only about my own rushing, but more critically about the difference between ‘pausing’ and ‘stopping’. Stopping opens a door into other options.
Even a seemingly mundane activity like ‘doing the washing-up’ could be a medium for teaching.
© 2013 John S Hunter
Other Posts on Being with Erika:
#01, London 1985 – Annual Memorial Lecture
#02, Brighton 1988 – Key Note Address
#03, Melbourne 1991 – “Come for lunch!”
#04, Melbourne 1991 – Tea Ceremony
#05, Melbourne 1991 – Jean Jacques by the Sea
#06, Back in Melbourne, 1992
#07, “Where did you train?”, London, 1993
#08, “It’s all the same”, London, 1993
#09, “Making the Link”, London, 1993
#11, Hands, London 1994
#12, “Yes, but you’re worrying!”, London, 1993
#13, “Nothing special”, London, 1994
Tips4Pupils – End-gaining
“This end-gaining business has got to such a point – it’s worse than a drug” 1
FM Alexander
One of the biggest, though not always most apparent, obstacles to applying the twin forces of inhibition and direction in our everyday activities is “end-gaining”. What is “end-gaining”? Is there an underlying metaphysical assumption that predicates it?
At a very fundamental level, end-gaining (i.e. going directly for an end without consideration of or attention to the processes, or the means, whereby such an end can be brought about) is dependent upon a conviction, either conscious or unconscious, that the centre of gravity of one’s life is somewhere else or some “when” else and not in the here and now. It is not a question of speed, or even of tempo. End-gaining cannot be said to be a mental, physical or emotional activity, although it affects all three. End-gaining is a ‘state’. Like a drug, or as FM said “…worse than a drug“, it seems to permeate us at a cellular level.
When I am end-gaining I am “out of sync” with my life.
Unless there is an ontological acceptance that one’s life is happening here and now, and that it cannot be otherwise, we become very susceptible, as is a host to a pathogen when resistance is low, to either end-gaining or, arguably even worse, a kind of dreamy lassitude (see Aimless and Purposeful).
The pull to gain an end is part of the human condition; it is always waiting to reclaim us and our energies. It takes us away from “process”, and consequently away from a real sense of self.
Our “use” – in particular the disposition of our mental, physical and emotional energies – is axiomatically part of any process, whether we are aware of it or not. When we are attending to process – even if only externally – we are open to possibilities which are not there when we are in a state of end-gaining or of lassitude.
It is, in my experience, of great value to try and study for oneself – and in oneself – the phenomenon of ‘end-gaining’.
Here are some suggestions:
- What triggers end-gaining in me? Is it something mental or emotional? For example, is my brain busy making lists of things to do? Am I worrying about getting everything done “in time” or of letting other people down?
- What is the form of it? Does it make me speed up, be more tense, make mistakes? Do I feel as though I am pumped-up with caffeine?
- Can I let it go? Is it possible for me to shift myself back into the here and now and attend to process? Or am I possessed by it? What resists letting go of end-gaining?
- How do I experience myself when I am ‘attending to means-whereby’?
We cannot eliminate end-gaining, but we can certainly reduce its strength and duration.
“I always think the best test one can make on oneself is simply, in the middle of an activity, go away, walk away and maybe look out of the window or open the front door and look out. If you mind the interruption, it means you are end-gaining.”
Erika Whittaker 2
By addressing the universal tendency to end-gain, and developing a practical method of directing attention to means-whereby in activity, Alexander’s work has resonances with teachings from East and West, ancient and modern, about latent possibilities in human beings.
1. Teaching Aphorisms: The Alexander Journal No 7, 1972, published by the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. Also published in Articles and Lectures by Mouritz (1995).
2. In correspondence with the author.
© 2013 John S Hunter
Upward Thought 
Recent Comments