Using the AT to see one's "well-intentioned but counter-productive efforts to get better"

A video conversation with my longtime colleague.

You form a certain bond with someone after spending several mornings a week standing still in front of them, quietly ordering your arms and neck to relax and then bringing your hands to rest on their cranium. This is the bond I have with Morgan Rysdon, an energizing, kind, and very creative Alexander Technique teacher in Atlanta. We trained at the same Alexander Technique school and helped each other stay light-hearted when it was easy to get down on yourself for having one unwelcome habit after another.

We sat down recently to talk through the Zoom phone about how we came to the Technique and where we feel its greatest benefit lies. How it helped me through chronic pain and why "the pain was distracting only when I tried to manage it.” And why the hardest thing for me to learn in Alexander training is the thing that I've since shaped my career around.

I hope you enjoy this conversation nearly as much as I did. Morgan is articulate, funny, and an indefatigable champion of the Alexander Technique. I’d trust her with my neck.

Please consider subscribing to her YouTube channel for engaging content that will further your learning.