Lessons and Therapies

Hands-On Alexander Technique (or Classes)

I work with all kinds of people. Typically, they come to me after having become frustrated and disappointed with a range of treatments and false promises. Sound familiar? I have developed a bit of a reputation for working with so-called hard-to-treat cases. Also, because I embrace a trauma-informed approach and a holistic system, people do seek me out in order to address emotional and somatic issues, and not simply postural and movement problems.

        ” The Technique is a process of learning that empowers you to take control over your own health issues. It also promotes personal growth and development.” Anthony Kingsley

Alexander Technique lessons or classes are one-to-one and there are no exercises or postures to learn. The Teacher uses a range of simple everyday activities to explore a pupil’s individual patterns of movement and reaction. Gentle guidance with the hands and verbal instruction help calm the mind and restore the body’s natural reflexes. The props of a session typically include a chair, a table and a mirror.

” The aim of Alexander lessons is to maintain a state of harmony and composure in the body and mind in the face of life’s challenges. “ Anthony Kingsley

The Alexander Technique is an education, and therefore, classes are usually referred to as lessons or sessions. The practitioner is the Teacher, and the client is the pupil.

Alexander sessions may involve practical applications of the Alexander Technique to a variety of specific activities like singing, reciting, typing, dance movements, yoga or playing a musical instrument. Sessions normally last 30 minutes, and it is suggested that pupils wear loose and comfortable clothing.

” The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ” Marcel Proust

Embarking on a course of Alexander lessons is an education. And so there is no right number of lessons one must have. Typically, a pupil will have about 10 to 25 classes to get a basic understanding of how to apply their experience to everyday life. Some people find huge benefits in just having a small number of Alexander sessions, and others may continue to deepen their personal development over a number of years.

Why not follow the example of Keanu Reeves, Pierce Brosnan, Victoria Beckham and Sir Paul McCartney and learn the Alexander Technique.

Online Alexander Technique

” To make the most of Online Alexander Lessons, all you need is a good internet connection and a passion for exploration.”  Anthony Kingsley

Traditional Alexander Lessons utilise primarily the medium of tactile touch or hands to communicate the learning experience from Teacher to Pupil. It is a method of direct transmission. Online Alexander lessons or classes communicate the essential Alexander experience through a different medium – the screen. Tactile touch is not the only way to be moved, or touched by experience. Think about how we respond to a beautiful symphony, or a stunning sunset. Think about how we respond to being in the presence of someone who uplifts our spirit. Anthony has devised a particular way of transmitting direct experience without the need to use tactile touch.

Anthony can guide you via a personal and individualised approach to enable you to move away from your pattens of mindbody effort and tension towards a new quality of ease and freedom. Online Alexander Sessions actually has some inbuilt advantages. Because it does not rely heavily on the hands-on guidance from a Teacher, it can more easily foster a spirit of self-responsibility and autonomy, rather than dependency. The Alexander Technique has always been seen as a learning experience, and all too often, the Alexander pupil comes to an Alexander Teacher with a wish to be fixed and sorted. This attitude can lead to a lifeless form of passivity. What is required form both Online Alexander Lessons as well as hands-on Alexander Technique is to foster an attitude of active and gentle cooperation between Teacher and Pupil. This is why Online Alexander Technique sessions more easily avoid the pupil falling into the trap of seeing the Technique as a Therapy that is done to them, rather than a Technique for learning about oneself and making changes.

Of course, there are other advantages of Online Alexander Lessons. You can be anywhere in the world and have a session (Time-zone permitting!). And in the times of lockdown, this may be the only way you can have an Alexander session at all!

Feel free to Contact me if you have any queries about this way of working. I look forward to meeting you on screen soon.

Contact us today.

Traditional Psychotherapy

Anthony is a trained as an integrative psychotherapist. Sometimes we feel that we are stuck in a rut, we may keep on repeating the same relationship patters, and feel helpless in moving towards reciprocal love and intimacy. Many of us will have experienced adverse childhood experiences and trauma. These events shape us and we adapt in a number of ways to protect and manage painful and overwhelming feelings. Psychotherapy offers a safe space where deep and often unconscious feelings can be allowed and returned to conscious experience. In this way, the adaptive patterns of behaviour that cause trouble in our present lives can be transformed into healthy, emotionally resonant and relational capacities. The therapist and client work together to create an environment whereby we can heal from past struggles and move into the future with a renewed sense of hope and confidence. This form of psychotherapy is a talking therapy and does not include touch. It is appropriate for clients that prefer to maintain a certain physical distance between therapist and client.

Somatic Psychotherapy

Somatic psychotherapy recognises that the mind and body are one organism. Our mental life and inner world is reflected on the tapestry of the body. Traumatic events impact on our posture, our gestures, our movements, and our whole physiological functioning. And recognises that many so-called physical symptoms are actually the body’s way of managing emotional pain and conflict. When the pain can be approached safely and experienced without the organism becoming overwhelmed, there is an opportunity for healing. This can include the resolution of physical symptoms.

However, somatic therapy is not solely for those experiencing physical symptoms. Anthony is trained in various forms of body-oriented psychotherapy, and has developed his own form of somatic therapy which he calls “Mind Zero“. Mind Zero initiates a deep and fundamental stillness within the body mind self and at the same time allows an exploration of painful emotional experiences in the present and past. It is this unique combination of a radical stillness and relaxation coupled with the encounter with challenging emotional experiences that allows and supports the self towards a resetting of the nervous system, and profound self-regulation. Indeed this form of mindful attention can help tame the body’s habitual response to trauma and distress. Anthony works with a trauma-informed model in both is Alexander Technique teaching as well as in his psychotherapy practice.

Advances in Neuroscience – The Return of the Body

Advances in neuroscience have confirmed the importance and relevance of the body in emotional healing. Various forms of somatic therapy have been formulated especially in the past 10 years that draw heavily on these advances in neuroscience. The evidence of “neuroplasticity” has offered meaning and hope in the capacity for us to change our behaviour and learn new and more healthy ways of being in the world. Polyvagal Theory helps to explain how we can reset our disturbed and distorted nervous systems, and recover our innate balance and functioning. Trauma Research teaches us how a particular way of attending to our bodies can enable us to heal and grow.

These ideas have been popularised in a number of excellent books:

Doidge, Norman  The Brain’s Way of Healing

Porges, Stephen The Pocket Guide to Polyvagal Theory

Rothschild, Babette  The Body Remembers

Sapolski, Robert  Why Zebras Don’t get Ulcers

Van der Kolk, Bessel  The Body Keeps the Score

Levine, Peter Walking the Tiger

Mate, Gabor  When the Body says No

Keleman, Stanley  Emotional Anatomy

Online Psychotherapy Sessions

Psychotherapy can be offered very effectively Online as well as face-to-face. One of the most important ingredients of good therapy is the relationship that is developed between therapist and client. Back in 1951, Carl Rogers emphasised 3 key elements that are required for effective psychotherapy; empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. Online psychotherapy can include all the necessary ingredients of effective traditional face-to-face psychotherapy. There may be a number of additional benefits from Online Psychotherapy. The client can feel safe and secure within their own home. There is no need to travel afar, and no need to return home after a challenging and emotionally demanding session. Time can be saved and there may be the option of more frequent sessions. Anthony is currently working Online with a number of clients, and recommends experiencing an initial session before embarking on a more in-depth commitment.