Testimonials

"My lessons with Jamee have helped me to be more aware of my posture so that I can undo harm. Alexander lessons have helped me to relax my stand in the world."
Marilyn Z. - writer, 79 yrs. young

"High praise to Jamee and her use of the Alexander Technique for vocal lessons. Her unique approach has helped me to improve my voice projection and pitch with better breath technique and improved body positioning. I look forward to each lesson and the opportunity to apply what I learn from her in my performance."
Bill - singer with the RPMs

" For the first time in a year and a half, I've slept through the night without being woken up with back pain." -
S.D. Social Worker

"This is the first time I've experienced a relief from pain in my knees since I was a sophomore in high school!" Mike - Mental Health Counselor

"The Alexander Technique is like psychotherapy for the body"
L.M. Accountant

" I noticed after my first lesson, for the first time since I was a child, I wasn't worrying."
E. C. Engineer

"My nervous system feels bathed in light and I feel 'smoothed out' from head to toe"
M.F. - Taoist Instructor

E. K.'s Story:

"The feel of the neighborhood at CasaNia is very nice and the lighting was quite cozy despite the gloomy weather. Once in the space, I knew to just listen. Switching to yin mode, acceptance, open and receiving seemed to be where it was at.

   The initial experience of expanding my own space occured while in the circle, when you (Jamee), said to be aware of the space behind me. Those eyes I grew in the back of my head while driving the school bus in Oliverea, N.Y. were weak and over-written with many years of other activities, but now they were opened and my whole body jumped up as if pulled by a string to experience the verticality you referred to.

   Much taller and most appreciative of the new surroundings, something stuck was freed and that 'up' energy has been made accessible for me during low-momentum moments merely at the thought of all that space around me, thank you! Strengthening that capability and practicing this new habit has been a source of wonder, puzzlement and glee for me, not bad for a less than two hour class!

   Posturally, my feet wanted in on the action - toes wiggling, weight shifting and ankles adjusted. I felt different, much lighter and taller. Inexplicable with meager words at the time. And, talk about Atlas Shrugged!, the new center of my head at the top of my neck is really where all this new 'awareness' stems from.

   Somehow the sinking of chi that you enabled me to pull off was allowing me to climb out of my monkey brain and settle into my center. I'm very much interested in learning how to achieve this effect on my own.

Thank you Jamee, for studying this fascinating work. I look forward to furthering my studies of it as well."
E.K.   Chemist

Mark's Story

Mark was a young boy of 10 or 11 years when I first gave him an Alexander lesson. His mother, a friend of mine, talked to me about some problems that Mark was having at school. Every now and then Mark's temper would flare up and he made some of the other kids at school uncomfortable and he became uncooperative with his teacher. His aggressive behavior was also reflected in his relationship with his mother. They struggled to communicate and often ended up raising their voices in argument. She was at a loss as to what to do. Mark was really frustrated.

I offered to give Mark a lesson in the Alexander Technique, that maybe it could allow him to feel more at ease with himself. She said sure, let's give
it a try. In meeting with Mark he told me that he could see what he was doing but that he couldn't help it. Sometimes he would just get mad.

We kept it simple. I put my hands on him while I talked about a particular balance point that he could find in the relationship of his head to the rest of his body. I guided him in discovering this while at the same time asking him to remain aware of his surroundings. He could sense what I was showing him inside and described it to be like a 'bubble of space that moved.' He saw how he could create this space himself and he smiled.

We discussed how he might choose to allow for this movement space whenever he found himself getting angry and that it might offer him a choice in how he responded rather than always being controlled by his strong feelings of anger and frustration. He seemed to like this idea a lot.

The next time I saw Mark was a few months later. We were at his little brother's soccer game. I asked him how he was doing and he said that whenever he thought about the 'bubble' he smiled and said it made him feel easier, it was really cool. Sometimes he would forget about it though, especially with his mom. I asked him if he wanted to explore it some more and he said sure.

We stepped aside from the soccer field a bit. I placed my hands on him and asked him to remember what we had done the last time he had a lesson and to look around the soccer field and watch the game some. He talked about how, (his perception of), the playing field started to change and he felt more comfortable, more of a sense of belonging. He said he felt taller and lighter too. "Cool!" he said smiling.

After awhile I asked Mark if it was okay with him to invite his mom over as a part of the lesson. He didn't mind. She walked over and I asked them to stand facing each other a few feet apart. I made contact with each of them at the arm as this was simply the easiest contact point for me to reach both of them at the same time. I asked Mark to allow for some of that movement space while looking at his mom.

I coached his mom to be aware of her reactions to Mark in simply standing there. I asked her to look at Mark in this moment rather than only through her familiar perception of Mark that included their recent struggles. She said that she could feel herself wanting to 'lean into him' to tell him what to do or in readiness of an argument.

I helped her to explore for herself, the space that Mark was finding for himself. She began to feel more relaxed and Mark began to feel less pressure.

He said he didn't feel any of the build up of energy that made him want to fight. Before long they both stood looking at each other, each on their own two feet with a new found respect. They could let something new happen between them and they both smiled.

George's Story

George was a man of 41 when we first met. His acupuncturist referred him to me for the pain in his neck. He had been looking for relief for nearly 3 years for the pain that he was experiencing all over his body. He had to stop working, go on disability and he could no longer play guitar which he really loved to do. He couldn't even scratch his nose without wincing.

Some doctors told him he had rheumatoid arthritis , others said it was fibromyalgia. No one knew for sure.

I told him that I didn't know if I could help him but that we could surely try. If his pain had something to do with how he was using himself to move and interact with the world around him, we had a good chance of being able to make a difference.

We worked together for a good hour and although George remarked that he did not feel any difference in his level of pain he thought that what we talked about made a lot of sense. He didn't expect a miracle seeing me just this once so he asked to make another appointment to see me again the following week.

When George came in again I asked him how he felt after the first lesson. He said that something very interesting occurred that he thought had something to do with the lesson. Last week when he left he walked a couple blocks to the bus stop. While he was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus to arrive it all of a sudden occurred to him that he wasn't worrying. He noted that it was the first time since he was a child that he could remember not worrying. He said it lasted a good ten minutes albeit a pleasurable ten minutes, and he attributed it to the Alexander Technique lesson he'd just had.

Although George's first experience was more psychological than a direct relief from the physical pain he was experiencing it was a good beginning. George decided to come twice a week for awhile. He revealed to me that he was also in the very beginning stages of recovery from years of alcohol consumption. He had lots of support in a 12 Step program and was working with a Sponsor there.

Within just a few weeks George started to experience an absence of the pain, first in his upper body and eventually to include his legs. Before long he reported that he had a new girlfriend and was starting to play his guitar again. I asked him to bring his guitar into the next lesson so I could see how he was using himself to play. No wonder he missed playing so much, it turns out he is a very fine blues guitar player. We both were really encouraged to see and hear him play his guitar again!

Laura's Story

Laura is a woman in her thirties, a photographer, and a tango dancer. A friend of hers referred her to me for lessons in the Alexander Technique.

She wanted to be better coordinated for dancing and her photography shoots were often long hours and intense. She ended the day experiencing a lot of tension that she had to spend the entire next day recovering from.

After a number of lessons Laura progressed well and before long she experienced better coordination while she moved and was able to interact with her partner more spontaneously while dancing.

Laura found that by utilizing the Alexander principles during her photography shoots she could 'go into neutral' rather than blasting through the day in high gear the entire time. This 'going into neutral' enabled her to periodically release the build up of tension, thus she was less tired after the shoot and woke up the following day unencumbered.