Come for a lesson!
	The picture on the left is of FM Alexander himself. If you wish to read about his work, commonly known as "The Alexander Technique," a great place to start is Marjory Barlow's 1965 FM Alexander Memorial Lecture. Click on the link (underlined) to read Marjory's talk. The Teaching of F Matthias Alexander

But what Alexander called "the Work," in its essence, is beyond words. It is about learning, or rather re-learning, how to perform simple actions. So if you really want to find out what the work is about, why not come for a one-to-one lesson with Mike or Chie?

What happens in a lesson?
	A one-to-one lesson at the Middle Way Re-education Centre lasts for a minimum of 40 minutes. The beginning and end of each lesson generally consists of several minutes of "chair work" -- learning to give up superfluous effort in the simple activities of sitting and standing.

The middle of the lesson is usually devoted to "lying down work." In lying down work, you will be encouraged to give up the desire to feel right, and the desire to do anything in response to orders such as "let the neck be free." You may be encouraged further, for example, to totally give up the desire to move a leg -- and yet move the leg! Through these Zen-like paradoxes of not trying to be right and yet working on the self, and of giving up the idea of  moving a leg and yet moving it, teacher and student investigate together the wonder of what it is to make a decision, and what it is to allow a movement. As an indirect result of this kind of work, specific problems like back-ache may clear up. Or they may not. The desire to get some specific result is a variation on the theme of trying to feel or be right, and so Alexander work requires us not to be guided by, but rather to give up, that kind of desire (which is called, in Alexander jargon "end-gaining").

This photo shows Alexander using his hands to help a girl understand that the pelvis belongs to the back. The pelvis and the legs are separate at the hip joints, but when we bend many of us use the pelvis as if it were part of the legs -- which can easily lead to lower back problems. From this photo of FM Alexander, in contrast, we can see that even in his old age, FM was still using himself very well,using his pelvis as part of his back.

Our teaching rooms
	Main Alexander teaching room, with view onto pond in front garden. George the skeleton looks on.

Second teaching room, with table for lying down work

For those who are particularly interested in application of the Alexander principles in sitting-zen practice, we hope the following article, written by Mike in 2001, may be worth reading. To read the article, click on the link underlined below. Practising Detachment