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Lessons in The Alexander Technique

Private Lessons in the Alexander Technique:

lessonLocation: Pamela’s private Alexander Teaching Studio 
in West Los Angeles.

Contact: Blanc.Pamela@gmail.com

First Lesson / Consultation:  1 Hour 

All future lessons are scheduled on the hour and are 50 minutes in length.

Activities within a Lesson: In a first lesson / consultation, Pamela will enquire about your reasons for wanting to learn the Alexander Technique so that she can relate the basic principles of the Technique in a way that is relevant to you.

Typically, she will ask you to walk around the room, to sit down and to stand up a few times. This is a process so Pamela & you can both familiarize yourselves with how you tend to coordinate in everyday movements.

Beyond good posture, Pamela is looking for poise, an ease in your coordination. She will be looking at the poise of your head and it’s relationship to your neck and back. This is referred to as the head, neck, back relationship or H/N/B. During a lesson, through suggestions with Pamela’s hands and your own thinking, you will come to experience a new relationship of the H/N/B. You will be exploring Mr. Alexander’s theory that the poise of your head on top of your spine influences your overall coordination. Overexertion of the muscles of your neck can create a downward pull on your head. This downward pull of your head can cause your vertebral column (spine) to be compressed. When we release the downward pressure on the vertebrae, the spine can regain its balanced resting length and renewed ease of movement can return to your spine and to your arms and legs.

The teaching process includes gentle, non-manipulative touching to aid in the release of excessive tensions. This process begins to re-educate your kinesthetic sense towards more reliability. Most of us do not realize we are using more muscular effort than required for our daily activities. We often create more tension than is necessary and this mis-use can lead to pain in our bodies.

A basic premise of the Alexander Technique is that “use affects function.” If we are mal-functioning, perhaps it is brought about by something in our manner of use, i.e. in our coordination of our H/N/B.

Improvement relies, in large part, on you, the student of the Technique, and on your active participation. This is an educational process encouraging you to change habitual faulty patterns of coordination by becoming aware of them in daily life and in your specialized activities. Through this heightened awareness you can begin to make new choices in you mind body (Mr. Alexander called it psychophysical) coordination.

Pamela is interested in working with individuals who want to invest in themselves and in living a life with poise and ease.

After your first lesson / consultation, you can decide how you want to proceed.

Frequency of Lessons – Similar to the study of language or of a musical instrument, your learning is accelerated through repetition and practice. For this reason, Pamela encourages, but does not require, that you schedule 3 lessons in the first week, then 2 lessons for the next three weeks, tapering off to 1 lesson per week until you have reached your personal goal. Remember this is a process to change habits; changing habits takes time and repetition. And, it can be a very pleasant experience to let go of the unwanted tensions in your life.

Discounted rates are offered to the committed student who purchases lessons in advance.

For more information, please contact:
Pamela Blanc Blanc.Pamela@gmail.com

If you are a musician you are invited to bring your instrument to any and all lessons. It is well worthwhile for Pamela to see you at your instrument to observe your manner of use while playing.

A singer is welcome to sing. Again, this gives Pamela and the singer an opportunity to observe what tension patterns might be interfering with your sound.

An actor is encouraged to speak or perform a monologue.

Any activity from sitting to walking to doing yoga or exercises to playing sports to doing household chores, to sitting in your car can be addressed with the principles of the Alexander Technique.

Traditional Alexander Technique lessons involve sitting down and standing up from a chair, a simple activity to observe & to prevent excessive muscular tension in the H/N/B relationship. This is referred to as “chair work.”

In addition to “chair work,” you might be asked to lay down on a padded table with your knees bent and a book under your head for support and to allow the muscles of your neck to release.

Yes! This is referred to as “table work.” Different from massage, you stay fully clothed. Please wear comfortable clothing that will allow you to move. Pamela teaches a process called Active Rest,” a practice that allows you to engage thoughtfully and reinforce the principles of the Alexander Technique on your own time away from the lesson.

The Alexander Technique is a study in how you use your self. It can be applied to any activity.

Receiving personal, one on one attention in a private lessons lends itself more to learning the Technique than the group experience. However, the principles can be explored and discussed in a group setting. Insights can be gained and observation skills enhanced. Pamela periodically offers group classes in Los Angeles.

Blanc.Pamela@gmail.com