Current Classes

Please check back or email me to be put on a list for updates. See below for what I offer.

Class & Workshop Offerings

Waking the Kinesthetic Sense: Intro to the Alexander Technique and Somatic Practice
A 6-week class with the option of including one discounted private lesson. Bring the principles of conscious movement into your daily life, yoga practice, athletic or artistic performance. Learn how to waken and soothe your nervous system and transform your movement habits into ease and freedom. Sitting, standing, walking, bending, twisting, breathing--all these daily actions can cause pain, fear and limitation or be a source of joy and confidence.

Introduction to the Meditating Body
This can be a short one time special or a four week class. Explore the inner dynamics of the sitting posture with a nationally certified Alexander Technique teacher and long-time meditator trained in Thailand, Burma, India and with master teachers in the West. In this class, we will review the many sitting postures, discussing their purpose and pros and cons. Then we'll explore the principles to keep in mind and body awareness we need to develop to sit balanced and without the extra tension that can lead to injury, discomfort and turn us off from sitting meditation altogether. Bring your questions.

Introduction to the Meditating Heart
This can be a one time special or a four week class. Learn Taoist and Buddhist techniques for clearing the heart and cultivating a stable, resilient, expansive openness. This class series includes instruction in and discussion of the inner smile, metta, the 7-step method for cultivating bodhicitta and tonglen. Your guide is a 10-year student of the Buddhist transformational arts, Alexander Technique teacher and a Chi Nei Tsang practitioner trained in Taoist formulas for inner cultivation.

Cultivating the Elemental Force of Earth
This class is a favorite. First presented at the Quiet Center in Auroville, India. It can be a weekend workshop of one or two days or a 6- to 8-week class series. In Taoist, Buddhist and Ayurvedic arts the Earth Force manifests on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. This course integrates hatha yoga postures, Chi Gong, ecological processes, nutritional inquiry and meditation in order to cultivate qualities of the Earth force on all levels. Relationship with Gravity, Unconditional Support, Equanimity, Structural Integrity, Nourishment, The Goddess. Deepen your personal practice and connection with the earth from the inside out.

Falling In Love With Your Breath
This is a four week class or a 1/2 day workshop. This class explores the anatomy of breath, how to release held patterns (in Alexander terms we say "free the breath") and practices from pranayama, chi gong and somatics with specific benefits and sometimes risks (!).

School Programs

I am interested in teaching and developing body awareness and concentration curriculum for students of all ages. I especially like using the five elements to help students see the relationships between their own bodies and the greater earth.

This work is a wonderful extension of physical education and the ecological arts. It helps students to understand themselves, to work on their emotions and mindfully use their bodies. It has the great added benefit of calming the students and giving them tools to work on themselves in the classroom.

I was greatly inspired by a program in the schools in Auroville, India and believe it would be of wonderful benefit here. Joan Sala and Aloka Marti, the creators, call it Awareness Through The Body. It is part of the standard school curriculum for youths from kindergarten through 12th grade. They are now teaching internationally. More information is available on their website: www.awarenessthroughthebody.com

Demonstrations

I am happy to give on-site, free, hour-long demonstrations of the Alexander Technique to groups, medical workers, schools and organizations. Please contact me at geoff@thesustainablebody.com or 510-229-7137.

Presentations

This is still in the planning stage, not yet under construction. I am mapping a creative, interactive presentation on the principles of sustainability as they are lived from inside out. This will integrate ecological and current scientific knowledge with the principles of somatic learning, chi gong, and meditation. It'll be colorful, full of great information, funny stories and useful practice nuggets that have everyone breathing more fully and smiling into their bellies.

If you are interested in helping this along or bringing it to your conference or festival, please drop me a line. geoff@thesustainablebody.com