In this first workshop of two, we will use Alexander’s guiding orders for standing in MSI to explore the first four stages of Stanley Greenspan’s model of mind. Greenspan collaborated with Stephen Porges at various times and his model provides a way to understand the association between manner of use and manner of reaction described in UCL. In its first four stages, a person moves through self-regulation, engagement, and intentionality to a pre-verbal sense of self that reads and accurately responds to others’ expressions. These provide the foundation for the final two stages of creating and elaborating emotional ideas, and emotional thinking which will be the focus of the second workshop ‘Manner of Reaction as Embodied Mind 2.’

Both workshops will suggest new ways of approaching pupils, where traditional teaching methods focused on stimulus and response become unnecessary and are replaced by psycho-physical understanding of them as people.

Taken together, an understanding of a reflexive, relational and personal constructive conscious control emerges, where a person can think creatively, logically, abstractly and flexibly in an age-appropriate way across their lifespan. It is possible to attend either workshop without attending the other.