Learn the Alexander Technique

*Alexander Technique teaches you how to develop positive coordination within a range of activities. This creates a systemic benefit that can influence a diverse range of health and performance issues.

Alexander skills offer many benefits to people who learn and apply them. These benefits  can include but are not limited to a sense of systemic wellness, increasing ease within a range of movements, improved efficiency in a range of activities and mental quietness.

• For many people the first hurdle is understanding that Alexander Technique is a skill that you learn, it is not treatment. An analogy would be that the state of your car would improve mechanically, cosmetically and with efficiency gains if you learned to drive that car to the manufacturer’s specifications. Driving with your foot constantly on brake and accelerator, at the same time,  will have health repercussions for the car. Similarly, carrying out human activity with large amounts of pressure and tension will have systemic repercussions on your health and well-being. Alexander Technique is like an instruction manual for human functioning.

• Alexander Technique is a set of movement skills that you learn. Learning any skill can be beneficial. Alexander Technique can improve many movement related issues when a student makes the decisions to employ principles often and repeatedly. Our students become more and more knowledgeable about their body and how all the component parts can collaborate.

• There are many new constructive ideas in Alexander Technique that are based on observation and body awareness. They take some getting used to even for people who may have trained in sports, music or performance. That’s because the Alexander ideas provide a fundamentally different perspective on how we function. Once understood, those ideas can provide an avenue for significant improvement of performance in a range of activities.

*In your initial lesson, your Alexander Technique teacher will assist you to set realistic goals in terms of  developing a program of skills and cognitive information that you can use for improvement. By asking you to complete some simple movements the teacher will observe your pattern of movement and establish benchmarks that will signify improvement.

The teacher will help you to understand how your patterns of movement may be influencing your health, well-being and performance. Then you will begin the process of transforming your movement patterns with the teacher’s help. They will use vocal and manual guidance to layer new movement experiences for you. Your job will be to understand how the new movement patterns can replace the old and to make the decision to implement the new pattern as often as possible.

You remain clothed at all times in the Alexander Technique lesson. You are encouraged to ask questions, write a journal and actively engage with the new information. It is usual for people to take 10-30 lessons to develop skills that will last.

*Alexander Technique lessons with Michael Shellshear start at $104inc gst. for 45-60 minutes. Michael has 35 years teaching experience. 

• At Blue Mountains Alexander Technique we encourage you to commit to a series of ten lessons at a time. There is a significant reduction in price for doing this. Ten lesson packs cost $770. 
• Zoom lessons are available for people who live outside of the Blue Mountains but wish to learn from senior teacher, Michael Shellshear. These cost $66 for 45-60 minute lesson. Students receive a link to video recording of their lesson.
• Student lessons cost $33.00inc gst. These lessons are conducted by BMAT Trainee Teachers under supervision of a fully qualified teacher.

Michael Shellshear is a senior teacher of Alexander Technique having commenced teaching at the end of 1991. A five time Chairperson of the Australian Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (AUSTAT), today Michael chooses to accredit with the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) which has over 11,000 members and provides liability and indemnity insurance for its members. Michael is an active member of Alexander Technique International.  Michael trained for three years with Andrea Beesley. He apprenticed with William Brenner for a number of years and he holds an Advanced Diploma of Alexander Technique as well as multiple Diplomas in associated fields.

Jane Shellshear is Australia’s only licensed ABME (Association of Body Mapping Educators ) educator. She trained as an Alexander Technique teacher with William Brenner graduating in 1995. Jane is in demand as a speaker on Body Mapping for Musicians in Australia and Overseas.