I heard about the Alexander Technique from an athlete, an actor, and a musician before deciding to have lessons. Although none of these people could describe what it was, they all conveyed a sense of freedom and confidence in their physical selves that I desired. I’d had chronic low back pain for years and was finally ready to learn a new way to live in my body. During the first month in which I took lessons I also had weekly massages, and I noticed that after a massage I felt “worked on” physically but all told I felt the same about myself…whereas after each Alexander Technique lesson I seemed to inhabit a different me – not just taller, freer, breathing deeply and easily, but with a literal and figurative change in perspective. The more lessons I had, the longer that experience lasted. At the time I was an aspiring potter, and I felt my teacher’s hands open me up the way I opened up clay on the potter’s wheel. I loved the improvements in my physical self, I was intrigued by this new way of thinking, and I wanted those hands! So after ten years of making pots, I moved to Berkeley, CA for three years of training with Giora Pinkas, a lighthearted teacher of teachers who in 1974 started the first accredited Alexander Technique teacher training program in America.
My teaching is influenced by my personal exploration of embodiment and spirituality. Argentine Tango, time in nature, singing, yoga, swimming, and writing are favored opportunities to embrace F.M. Alexander’s dream of conscious evolution. I am a graduate of Landmark Education and a student of Abraham-Hicks. An active member of my local teachers association, Alexander Teachers of the Mountain Region (ATMR), I am also on the Board of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). Ongoing study with more senior Alexander Technique teachers allows me to deepen my understanding and experience of developmental movement and consciousness. I learn from every student who comes to me, and I am consistently moved by their courage, insight, and potential on this collaborative journey of self-discovery.
image“Thank you so much Michèle, I have been integrating what you taught me into my daily life as much as possible and it is really making a difference. Especially the head being craned forward making me feel anxious and not present, as soon as I draw my head back a little bit everything changes, if I am out for a walk with my dog, my pace instantly slows down and I everything around me, my whole body relaxes. It is amazing!! It’s like a time warp where I am somewhere else if my head is forward and I get drawn back into the now automatically when I re-align. It is very exciting, [my husband] has been practicing it too. I have also been more aware of my back body and letting it be full with presence and breath. I have also been practicing standing and sitting but it is really hard to not strain my neck at all. Working on it though 🙂 Thank you so very much!! I feel lightened up so much by these techniques and curious about delving more into it.” –Maeve Hendrix, yoga teacher
American Society for the Alexander Technique
American Society for the Alexander Technique
Michèle Drivon, M.AmSAT completed a 1600-hour, 3-year training at The Alexander Educational Center and has successfully taught athletes, musicians, bodyworkers, medical and business professionals how to find more grace and ease in their movements and presence. She is on the Board of Directors of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) and is a member of the Asheville, NC area group Alexander Teachers of the Mountain Region (ATMR).