I am a semi-retired trial attorney who received my certification as an Alexander Technique teacher in June of 2009. A good trial lawyer is a performer. In the courtroom, there is no script but there is always a story. Success in the courtroom, as in life, requires one to stay true to the story and not startle when things do not go as planned. F.M. Alexander’s emphasis on inhibiting a startled response to the unexpected was invaluable to my career.
I first began studying the Alexander Technique in the 1980s with Ann and Troupe Matthews. Life got busy and I did not take lessons for over twenty years. One day, I was playing in a tennis tournament and lost a match I probably should have won. I thought about the Alexander Technique and how it could improve my balance, my breathing and my availability for movement. I took some more lessons and I was hooked. Finally, I enrolled in the intensive training program at The American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York City (ACAT). The training is a three year, full-time program of 1600 hours. I am also certified by our national organization, The American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT).
This work has had a tremendous and on-going positive impact on my life. Ultimately, I realized that constructive conscious control goes beyond putting your physical habits within your conscious intention but your mental and emotional habits as well. It is perhaps one of the best disciplines that I have ever encountered in my life.
