From Cluless to Competent

I had a very perceptive teacher in college who looked at me thoughtfully, paused, and stated matter-of-factly, "You learn backwards."

She suggested a different approach to the same material and suddenly I had my hook...a way in that I wouldn't have figured out if I'd just kept trying in the same way.

Around that same time, I took my first Alexander Technique class, which gave me a new perspective on my struggles with my posture, voice, and how I moved. I wasn't solving the issues by doing the usual vocal or movement exercises, so I assume that the problem was me.

But the problem wasn't an inherant problem with me. The problem was something else that was sabotaging all of my efforts: poor body awareness.

Who knew that body awareness could be improved? I didn't even know it was a thing, but it is and improving it turned my world upside down (or more like right side up!) I went from clueless to competent in one semester!

What I was learning was to accurately sense my body in space -- and this gave me a sense of command over myself and confidence that I'd never experienced.

Fast forward to this week when I took my first cross-country skiing lesson. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been stumbling through learning to cross-country ski on my own with a few tips from my husband.

Last Thursday I began lessons with an experienced instructor. We started based on how I'd learn best. I put my poles down and just practiced balancing and gliding. I've been ice skating for years, so the idea of gliding on one foot made sense to my brain, but add in the poles and I got confused.

This is exactly the approach I use with my students to help them improve their posture. Start with where you are to help you get where you need to go.

My instructor was super excited to find out that I'm an Alexander Technique teacher and as he watched me follow his instructions and practice balancing.

He told me that I'd learn in one ski season what it takes most people to learn in 5 years. Even if he was slightly exaggerating, I could tell I was getting a sense of it by the end of the lesson...and I don't have any special skiing ability. I'm a total newbie and I'm terrified of even small hills.

What he was referring to was my keen ability to take an instruction, and to embody it quickly and accurately...exactly what I used to be terrible at.

"Most people keep the instructions at a cerebral level." he said. They're bodies don't know how to interpret the words and it takes a lot more time. "It's like the missing piece," he explained. The piece that most people don't even know about.

What's the missing piece? Body awareness -- a clear connection between your body and your brain. In a nutshell, my experience with the Alexander Technique has made me more coachable beyond the average beginner skiier.

I'm more coachable when I'm learning a new skill from another person and I can coach myself through my day-to-day activities like sitting, standing, walking, and speaking.

And I don't "just have" good body awareness, like it was something I was born with. Back when I was a theatre student in college, I was really struggling and I didn't understand that it was a problem I could solve.

I thought that I was just stiff and ackward, my voice was inherenly high and squeaky, and that I felt restless and uncomfortable all the time. Since none of the exercises I was doing helped, I felt bad about myself and assumed that these were somehow character traits.

I'm sure you're not as clueless about your body as I was, but the more clued-in you are, the more confident and competent you'll feel -- in addition to feeling more relaxed and reducing everyday pain and strain.

To sum, up the two key lessons here are:

1) Body awareness is key for getting out of pain and unlocking your potential: The Alexander classes helped me get out of my 24/7 discomfort and gave me the accurate body sense to be able to practice all of those movement, voice, and acting execerises correctly. I had evolved from clueless to competant during one semester.

2) You can get unstuck by embracing your unique learning style: My perceptive teacher who told me I "learned backwards" showed me that there isn't just one way to absorb and apply information, even if it's the most typical way. I finally felt seen, understood and, so relieved when she said that.

Having been teaching now for 15 years, I think in some ways everyone "learns backwards"...meaning they have their own way of learning that works best for them. I teach a clear system, but I approach it from many angles.

I'm dedicated to helping you disocver the best approach for you based on how you learn best. Don't know how you learn best? We'll figure that out too!

These two lessons serve as the foundation for my new 8-week course for women: Interact with Impact: Kick Poor Posture to the Curb and that's why I think it's the best program I've ever created.

This online course is for women who want to feel more relaxed, confident, and less burned out when they have to be "on". Posture has a signifiant impact on how you feel and what you convey. You'll learn self-care strategies to set you on a new course of taking charge of how you feel in your body.

This course...

• Fits into your busy schedule - Live Zoom classes will be small and scheduled based on the availability of the participants.

• Includes group & individual sessions: I find that doing both accellerates learning.

• Provides individualized practice plans: You'll get and individualized practice plan and method for tracking your progress - It is my mission to make sure that you know what to practice and when and that it fits in with your lifestyle.

• Gives you access to online materials - You'll have unlimited access to audio guides, video guides, and step-by-step instructions. I will help you figure out which ones work best for you. I know how frustrating it can be to wade through materials not knowing how to organize them.

• Includes workspace evaluations - Interact with Impact is about being able to feel good and put your best foot forward and huge part of that is making sure you don't get crunched when your working.

When: Feb 6 - April 3 (You don't need to be avaiable on all of these days. Live classes will be scheduled according to your availability and you can watch recorded material on your own time)
How to register: Click here to for all of the details including everything you get, cost & payment plans, frequently asked questions, testimonials, and the risk-free guarentee.

Grab a spot while you can. Space is limited to keep class sizes small and registration closes on January 31!