“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” - Henry James
What Is The Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique helps people feel and function better. It uses touch and verbal instruction to reorganize patterns of chronic tension, and gradually improves the coordination of postural support, breathing, and movement. Alexander Technique is used for chronic pain relief, stress reduction, and for improving performance in a wide variety of activities–from playing the violin, to sitting at a desk, to running a marathon.
Experientially, people report they feel more alert, energetic, quiet, and grounded after an Alexander lesson. Practically, The Alexander Technique encourages a redistribution of muscle tone. By consciously organizing the coordination of the head, neck, back, and limbs, the Technique offers overused surface muscles a needed break, and indirectly coaxes deeper layers of musculature into more activity.
About Clay
Clay Schaub is an Alexander Technique Teacher in Milwaukee. He works frequently with musicians, actors, dancers, and people with chronic pain. In addition to running a private practice, he has worked as an assistant trainer of Alexander teachers for more than 10 years, on several different courses–ATNYC, ATMKE, and ATTiC. He trained under the direction of John Nicholls and Nanette Walsh at ATNYC in Manhattan, completing a 3-year 1600 hour AmSAT Certification Program in June of 2012. Clay first came to the technique in 2002, after years of struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome and music-performance related injuries.
A typical Alexander lesson usually involves table work (above) and chair work - a rich study of posture, breathing, and movement.
Private Lessons
I teach from my home in Bayview which is a 7 minute drive from downtown Milwaukee. Typically, students take weekly 45-minute lessons. Should you be interested in more frequent lessons, a half hour lesson twice a week also works very well. My usual rate is $50/45-minute lesson, but I do offer a sliding-scale rate of $35/45-minute lesson for those who need it. To schedule private lessons please email: clayschaub@gmail.com
Above: BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL STUDY
Back Pain and The Alexander Technique. Participants received a series of 24 Lessons from STAT Certified Teachers in England in 2008.
Above: The Alexander Technique in Education
Introductory video courtesy of STAT & the FM Alexander Trust, via Judith Kleinman, AT instructor at The Royal College of Music.
Who Can It Help?
People in Chronic Pain: Bad Backs, Occupational Overuse Injuries, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, TMJ, Breathing Difficulties, Depression, Anxiety, etc. (See below for a British Medical Journal study on the technique & Back Pain, and the technique at the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis)
Performers: Musicians, Dancers, and Actors have long used the Technique to help them find more grace, freedom, and control in their art. The Technique is ensconced in such institutions as The Juilliard School, The New School, New York University, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, San Francisco Conservatory, & New England Conservatory, among others.
Stress Management: The Technique can be a powerful tool to cope with the daily demands of modern life. Many people find that after a series of lessons, they are a bit more capable of choosing how they behave under taxing situations, and perhaps more importantly, of recovering more effectively from the inevitable strains of daily life.
Mind-Body Disciplines: The Alexander Technique can cultivate an alert stillness and an awareness reminiscent of such practices as Zen Meditation, Centering Prayer, & Tai Chi Chuan. Bringing the Technique to these unique and distinct traditions offers the possibility of some surprisingly rich and rewarding parallels.