Please take a look also at my blog posts here as the posts are actually all mini essays on different aspects of learning and teaching the Alexander Technique

Videos

More Than a Metaphor

Video recording of a talk with brief practical experiment and hands on demonstration given in Melbourne, Australia, on 10 February 2023. The talk describes how the Technique can aid us to literally embody attitudes that are often presented as metaphors by modern “psycho-spiritual” teachers. Filmed by Ric Pellizzeri.

There are some glitches with the sound towards the end of this  recording but people who have watched it say the brief sound issues do not cause a significant problem in understanding what is being presented.

The Breathing Man

A video talk with guided practices given at the invitation of AUSTAT on 5 Feb. 2021. 630 people registered to watch.

www.austat.org.au/john-nicholls-the-breathing-man/

Primary Control

A talk accompanied by demonstration turns at an open evening in Melbourne, Australia in February 2020. Filmed by Ric Pellizzeri.

Reliable Sensory Appreciation: To Feel, or not to Feel?

A talk given on 11 March, 2021 by invitation to three UK training courses. Hosted by the Manchester AT Training School and also including City AT Training School, London and the Edinburgh Alexander Training School.

The Grey Zone

A talk to the Training Course in Terrassa, Spain, directed by Stuart Gutman and Emilia Argemi. Filmed by Stuart Gutman in October 2019.

Hands on Back of Chair

A quick two minutes guiding a student on how to direct hands, arms, and shoulders along with head, neck, and back when practising this manoeuvre. Filmed by Philip Nessel at an AlexanderTechniqueworkshops residential in 2014.

Podcasts

Energised Hands

A discussion on why some Alexander teachers’ “non-doing” hands seem lifeless while others are lively and energised. Question and editing by Cindi Kim. Photo below illustrates the exercise described in the audio discussion.

The ‘A’ List: an Adventure in Perspective

John Nicholls Keynote Address at the AmSAT ACGM June 2014:

Training and Teaching with Walter Carrington

Interview with Robert Rickover:

Giving a First Lesson to a New Student

Interview with Imogen Ragone

Thanks to Conchita Forn Donat of Barcelona a Spanish translation of many of the following articles and lectures is available here.

Articles

Download further reading about the Alexander Technique for students, trainees and teachers.

Primary Control: What, Why, How
A description of my Continuous Learning class at the 2008 International Congress in Lugano, published in Vol. 2 of the Congress Papers for that year. I’m placing it first in this collection of articles as I think it gives a concise summary of how I understand and explain some of the fundamental aspects of practising and teaching the Alexander Technique.

It’s a Growth Process!
My contribution to the book Living the Alexander Technique Vol. II, ed. Ruth Rootberg. See www.levellerspress.com/product/living-the-alexander-technique-volume-ii-aging-with-poise/ Contains an account of my years with the Carringtons and extensive discussion on how I view and experience the Technique now. (Published in July 2018)

FM Quotes on Developing a Reliable Sensory Appreciation
Taken from his four books and other direct sources.

Quotes from first generation teachers about sensory appreciation becoming more reliable
With page refs for relevant books.

Review I of teachers workshops in Melbourne, Australia
Published in AUSTAT Journal May 2015

Review II of teachers workshops in Melbourne, Australia
by Megan Taylor, May 2015

Review of London workshop on widening
Detailed description of workshop for STAT Student Network London Oct. 2002.

A New View of the Alexander Technique
Keynote Address at the AmSAT ACGM June 2014

The Alexander Technique in a Larger Context
The STAT FM Alexander Memorial Lecture by John Nicholls
Delivered before the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique on October 25, 1986.

Where Are We Going? Part 1 Where Are We Going? Part 2
The AmSAT FM Alexander Memorial Lecture by John Nicholls
Delivered before the American Society for the Alexander Technique on June 6, 2005.

Explaining the Alexander Technique
Published in the AmSAT Journal: Spring 2014

The next five articles have particular relevance to the training of Alexander teachers

John Nicholls’ Lugano 2008 classes
This is a description of the Continuous Learning classes presented by John Nicholls at the 2008 Alexander Technique International Congress in Lugano, Switzerland. Demonstrating how classic Alexander procedures enable integration of limbs with head, neck, back, and how this feeds into hands-on teaching skills.

Development of Skill with the Hands in Teaching
John Nicholls, c. 2005
Effectively a summary of the stages of development during a three year training, and the most important practices employed during this process.

The Training of Alexander Teachers
John Nicholls, 1998
Published in The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Alexander Technique. Element Books 1998.

Alexander Teaching
John Nicholls, c. February 1991
Originally written at the request of Dilys Carrington after some meetings of STAT Heads of Training in London.

The Use of the Chair in Teaching
John Nicholls
Published in The Alexander Review, 1987

Modern Neuroscience and the Alexander Technique
This is a description (originally published in AmSAT News summer 2007) of a workshop presented at the 2007 AmSAT AGM by John Nicholls and Dr. Glenna Batson. Unlike the next two articles, it considers the Technique in the light of a recent trend in neuroscience to downplay the influence of reflexes and emphasize experiential learning.

Foundations of Good Use Chart
John Nicholls, c. 1998/2011

In Memory and Appreciation of Walter Carrington
John Nicholls
Published in STAT News: October 2005

In Memory and Appreciation of Dilys Carrington
John Nicholls
Published in AmSAT News: Spring 2010