Dystonia is a neurological condition that affects people’s ability to control certain movements and manifests in spasms and twisting motions that happen repeatedly, sometimes with severe pain. The person’s ability to perform basic tasks can be severely impaired and affects their personal and professional life. Synthetically, those difficulties can be said to derive, at least in part, from confusion in the messages received and sent by the brain.  I liken that confusion to a ball of yarn that needs to be disentangled patiently and with extreme care and constructive conscious control.

This workshop will discuss and share in practical terms the Alexander Technique-based approach I am applying in my work with people with dystonia and will offer the practical tools that have been effective from an integrated, psycho-physical perspective.

Some of the aspects that will be covered are:

• Understanding dystonia from an Alexander Technique perspective
• Learning to ‘think “No”‘ (inhibition) when the body says “Yes” (to the uncontrolled) —and applying that learning
• Building confidence in the student with dystonia through knowledge of the anatomy
• Connecting this knowledge to the student’s power to make constructive body response choices
• Indirect means as a real path towards progress: ‘the further we go, the closer we get’