Online · Starting July 7th
Each week. 8 People get 1 Private Lesson & 7 chances To Observe, Explore and Learn a lot!
The Private Lessons Ensemble is a small online Zoom group class where each week for a month, eight people will take turns in the "hotseat" and again get the chance to enjoy the value of exploring the Alexander Technique with others both as a participant and as a "collateral beneficiary".
These classes are for students, teachers and trainees looking to enhance their ability to apply the Alexander Technique in their daily life by learning how to do what Alexander did namely; use a problem they deeply desire to solve as the gateway to greatly improved overall Use of themselves.
What you'll get each week
Each week, the structure is the same. The results are always evolving.
1 focused "private" NanoLesson™Centered on any issue you choose to explore — back pain, performance anxiety, musical expression, hands-on work, a skill you'd like to refine, or a habit you'd like to tame.
7 chances to observeYou get to witness seven other people working. Absorbing their discoveries in ways that slip in the back door greatly enhancing the kinds of learnings you experience in the "hot seat".
Études and Q&AIn the classes there will be ample time to go deeply into any ideas that surface during the classes and between classes when you're exploring on your own.
Full video + transcriptYour lesson, in full, to return to whenever you'd like.
Primal Learning Network communityAccess to a bunch of other people who are working in this way.
The kind of people who benefit enormously
"Without being able to accurately assess whether your Use is improving moment to moment, even the most experienced teachers and students tend to drift back towards their habit. Not because they're careless, but because the kinesthetic sense that's guiding their self-correction is the very thing that needs correcting."
What makes this different!
Primal Alexander is unique in a few ways. It's the first comprehensive Alexander Technique system designed from the bottom up specifically for hands-free teaching — online and off.
And...
It's also an echo of how Alexander taught himself.
Starting with the desire to solve a challenging problem, Alexander utilized inhibition, conscious control, and self-experimentation to develop an objective means whereby he could know whether or not he was improving the Use of himself or reinforcing the unconscious habits that were causing his vocal distress.
Primal Alexander uses a form of conscious control I call CuriousThinking™ which, along with traditional Inhibition, allows your inherent natural coordination to reassert itself, gradually "dissolving" the habits that interfere, while improving your current Use of yourself across the board.
As a pedagogical approach, Primal Alexander™ emphasizes teaching students a simple method of objective self-experimentation that broadens and deepens as they practice the Études and attend classes.
By giving students the tools and activities they need to continue experimenting between classes on their own, Primal Alexander™ empowers them while at the same time putting the onus on them to take the next step with what they learned in class and continue to explore it so they can integrate it more easily and effectively into their daily lives.
The details
Tuesdays · July 7, 14, 21, 28 · 12–2PM Eastern U.S.
Online via Zoom. Each Class Limited to 8!
The Private Lessons Ensemble is open to Alexander students, teachers, trainees, and even people completely new to the Alexander Technique.
All that's required is a desire to explore new solutions within a particular activity.
The diversity of experience levels, activities and issues contributes greatly to the overall value of the class for everyone who attends.
And...
If you're an Alexander teacher, we can also explore any aspect of the teaching process — from hands-on work to the use of your voice, empathetic observation or online group and 1 on 1 teaching skills.
Logistics
The Private Lessons Ensemble is a four-week cohort limited to eight private lesson slots per week. Depending on your schedule and level of interest, you can sign up for one, two, or four lessons across that four-week period.
The NanoLesson™ is a short, highly focused, 7–10 minute individual lesson when applied to a single activity is more than enough time to set the stage for significant learning.
One of the advantages of teaching A.T. without hands-on is that teacher, student & everyone watching share the same experience. It's orchestrated by the teacher, interpreted by the student & thanks to mirror neurons shared by the group.
Combined with the "homework" developed in each lesson, 10 minutes in the "hotseat" plus 15 minutes/day of Études at home, is the key to the deep rapid & growth that results despite there being no hands-on work or perhaps because of it.
Brand new to Primal Alexander? If you haven't taken any of my free classes, paid workshops, or memberships and you'd like to test the waters, start with a single lesson — ideally early in the cohort. It'll give you a clear sense of the work and whether it's right for you. And if it is your cup of tea, you can always book another lesson later in the cohort, as long as there's still a slot available.
Worked with me before? If you're a musician or an Alexander teacher who has already spent some time with me, the two or four class packages will probably serve you better. You'll hit the ground running and get a lot more out of the full arc of the cohort.
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
It's interesting that beginners, advanced students, trainees, new teachers, and experienced teachers all struggle with the same issue.
We all know how important it is to go to a Congress every few years, or at least to get a lesson from an experienced teacher occasionally. That's because we all make our choices according to what "feels right" to us, and although those feelings have gotten more and more accurate as we've worked on ourselves over the years, we can still drift off course and get a little lost at times without realizing it.
Personally, due to the unusual nature of how I trained, I got to experience that phenomena over and over again. For nearly twenty years I'd spend one month with Marjorie Barstow in Lincoln, Nebraska — then eleven months back home in New York, teaching, composing and experimenting on my own. I made real progress in those eleven months. But every Summer, the instant Marj put her hands on me...WOW. Every single time. I still needed a little...course correction.
WHY THIS WORKS SO WELL
Primal Alexander has been designed to function as a compass. A kind of guidance system that keeps you on course when you're working on your own.
It offers you an easy way to improve your own Use through a method of experimentation inspired by Evolution of Technique in the Use of the Self.
It's an easy to learn, but strangely effective way of knowing exactly when you're about to go back into your habit...
PLUS...
A simple strategy for choosing not to do so!
The Private Lessons Ensemble has been designed to accelerate your personal improvement process while at the same time leveraging the unique way that we humans can share our learnings.
Because when you get to watch seven other people working through their own version of the same challenges we all face, something clicks in us in a way that a private lesson alone can't quite deliver.
The group setting accelerates everyone's learning. The individual lesson makes it personal. Together, they create the kind of progress that provides momentum and motivation for students and teachers!
So...
If you're interested in improving your own Use, solving a problem you've been struggling with, or finally finding the answer to a question that's been bugging you since you were certified — join us in the Private Lessons Ensemble. Where watching is learning and learning is teaching and both are serious fun!
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Cheers,
Mio