Product Description

A primer for students of the Alexander Technique, a well-known method for improving freedom and ease of movement and physical coordination. This book provides the first authoritative account of William Conable's concept, Body Mapping, the study of how our ideas about our bodies affect our experience and movement. This concept is integrated with a lucid explanation of the Alexander Technique that clarifies and simplifies the task of teaching and learning the Techique.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186132 in Books
• Published on: 1995-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Review
"Filled with powerful insights and original thinking, the Conable book is a superb, practical guide for Alexander Students" -- Michael Gelb

"Not only does it offer meaty, practical information for students; it also provides valuable insights for teachers....The best explanation of primary control and downward pull that I've yet seen....A treasure trove...for any Alexander teacher working with students in activity....A healthy extension of F.M. [Alexander]'s work." -- Robert Cohen, ACAT News

"This is a book to read with enthusiasm and attentiveness. It could influence profoundly a teacher's effectiveness with students....A book of immediate usefulness to the performer and teacher, and one which will stimulate productive self-evaluation and awareness. It is persuasive and positive in tone, easy to read and wonderfully enticing." -- Thomas Mastroianni, American Music Teacher

About the Author
Barbara Conable is an Alexander teacher of 23 years experience and a teaching member of the North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique and Alexander Technique International. She has taught at the Ohio State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory and is now President of Andover Educators. She is an active poet and the author and editor of several books about the Alexander Technique.

Customer Reviews

The nearest thing to a "do-it-yourself" book.
There seems to be a lot of controversy about whether someone can learn the Alexander Technique without a teacher. My own experience started with taking lessons from a teacher, but I've met several people who learned quite a bit on their own - not just learned it intellectually (which doensn't do much good anyway) but also were able to apply what they had learned to improve their posture, coordation and balance in very concrete ways.

"How to Learn the Alexander Technique" is a great starting-out place for anyone who's interested in the process but either doesn't have a teacher or would prefer to do as much on their own as possible. But it would be unfair to dismiss the usefulness of the Alexander Technique if you don't succeed. After all, most people have lessons in learning how to drive a car and so it's not surprising if you end up needing at least some lessons in learning how to "drive" yourself in a better way.

Ultimately, I think the best place to get a deeper understanding of the Technique is from Alexander's own books. But a very good first step is the Conables' book, "Body Learning" by Gelb and "Fitness Without Stress" by Rickover. Also a book called "Freedom to Change" by Jones.

An important resource for Alexander Technique students.
The title is somewhat misleading because in most cases you'll need to have at least some lessons or classes from a qualified Alexander Technique teacher. I purchased the book after I'd had a few lessons because I had to drive 100 miles round trip for each lesson and I wanted to do as much as I could on my own. The book enabled me to find out some very basic anatomical facts about myself that I'd never known before and that made a big difference in how I did things.I'm a viola player and I found the information about where the joints are in my arms and shounder made my playing a lot easier and alleviated to neck pain I'd been plagued with for years. I also found it imporoved the quality of my playing significantly. For me, this information alone was worth a lot more than the cost of the book.If you haven't had any Alexander lessons, I'd get a more basic introuctory book first, probably Fitness Without Stress or the Alexander Technique manual.

Informative, but little guidance how to learn the technique
The title of the book had prompted me to buy it. I had some basic knowledge of the principles of the Alexander Technique and wanted to know more about it both in terms of depth of understanding as well as guidance on what to do. While the book provided a lot of good information on basic concepts it failed to address the one thing that I had bought it for: How to Learn the Alexander Technique. Instead, it kept referring to finding a teacher and learn from this person. I was disappointed about that because I would have liked to have more pointers for myself first and had wanted to try it out without help.