Awareness, Mindfulness, Self-Care, Activism
Amy Ward Brimmer
This is Why We Train

We may have delusions about our ability to prevail against dark forces seeking to undermine all our good, hard work but the reality is that we can only use the skills and wisdom we possess. If we don’t have a reliable foundation to draw on during difficult times, we will be thrown on our behinds. You can only use the tools you’ve got at hand, only use them in the ways you have developed.

This is Why We Train
Alexander Technique, Everyday Movement
Amy Ward Brimmer
From Point A to Point B

From the moment you arise in the morning until you rest your head on the pillow at night, you probably do quite a lot. We do so much that we have to consciously choose "down time” to give ourselves rest.

But what about the time in between those daily tasks? The transitions from Point A to Point B go by unnoticed, because we are busy getting to whatever is next.

From Point A to Point B
Bodymind Experiment, Awareness, Alexander Technique, Everyday Movement, Spirituality, Walking
Amy Ward Brimmer
The Screaming Baby

Are you the owner of your body?

This is a fundamental question that reveals perspectives on the body and how yourelate to it. And depending on how you relate to your body, you will inevitably move according to the nature of that relationship. Along with your mind, this is your most intimate relationship. Yet attitudes about the physical self go largely unnoticed.

The Screaming Baby
Amy Ward Brimmer
3 Reasons to Take Alexander Lessons

A 3-minute video about the 3 most common reasons people come for Alexander Technique lessons.

3 Reasons to Take Alexander Lessons
Awareness, Mindfulness
Amy Ward Brimmer
Fear is Not the Enemy

I learned a long time ago that I don't have to be afraid of fear. It's an energy, and a rather unpleasant one -- unless you're choosing a scary book or film as entertainment. It can be mild and continuous or sudden and strong, but as emotions go, it's one of the easiest to recognize. And one of the hardest to bear.

Fear is Not the Enemy

Kinesthesia

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Return From the Ghost Realm

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Return From the Ghost Realm

I was 30 years old before I realized that I was disembodied. Like so many people, I walked around thinking I was living a life, and of course I was, but most of my existence played out in my head. I had almost no present moment awareness of my body.

In taking Alexander lessons, I found something better than the short-term safety provided by shutting down or numbing out. I literally learned how to feel my body once again.

I used to think I was rather damaged or deficient in this area, that normal people didn’t have to remember to be embodied.

I was wrong.

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3 Steps to Trusting Yourself

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3 Steps to Trusting Yourself

It takes practice to discern wisely about what to buy, or how to meet our needs in general. We have a scarcity mentality that sometimes leads to FOMO. As modern consumers we have been programmed to react from a "Black Friday" mentality -- get it before it's gone. A lot of times we buy on impulse because of this, not from a sense of true need. So I find that a 3-step process can assist in helping to discern whether I'm following an authentic urge or a conditioned, habitual reaction: Pause, Check In, and Sense.

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A Most Reliable Mindfulness Bell

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A Most Reliable Mindfulness Bell

Wouldn’t it be great to become more oriented toward the ease and freedom in our bodies? What if our default was to look for sensations of high functioning, or balance, or unity and connection? If awareness is always present and ready to be accessed, then recognizing and supporting ease is merely a matter of intention and practice.

Includes a Bodymind Experiment.

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Senseless

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Senseless

Part 2

The motivation to begin Alexander lessons came primarily from my curiosity about this method I had heard about for years. The actors and dancers I knew swore by it, saying it kept them injury-free or was a huge help in recovering from the physical demands on people who use their bodies for a living. On a less intellectual level, I felt a nagging pull toward anything body-based, because I suspected that my relationship with my physical self was not what it should be or could be.

The truth is, I had almost no awareness of my body, my senses, or the way I moved through life. I was senseless.

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On the Verge

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On the Verge

Part 1

I had my first Alexander Technique lesson 30 years ago. I arrived with a belly full of butterflies and a head full of curiosity. Even then, I was aware enough to recognize the feeling of being on the verge of something significant, the sensation of being carried along by a flow not of my own making.

First in a series of reflections on 30 years of Alexander practice.

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The Dance of Dynamic Balance

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The Dance of Dynamic Balance

People who come for Alexander lessons anticipate that their balance will improve, and that's almost always a predictable result. Yet most people are surprised to learn that balance is dynamic, not static. One doesn't maintain balance by holding on, but by letting go. Or, to be more precise, by letting flow.

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The Power of Walking Backwards

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The Power of Walking Backwards

I often ask my Alexander students to explore walking backwards, because it provides so much useful information. It bypasses habitual assumptions about our bodies in motion and our relationship to the space we're in. For starters, how often do you move with an awareness of the space behind you? Are you, in fact, including what's in back of you right now (or to the side or above or below you)?