Home > Workshops > Anatomy of Wholeness - Online
COURSE LENGTH AND FREQUENCY The course comprises 17 classes spread over one year from the date you subscribe. Each class is 90 minutes long and new classes in the series will be added every 2 weeks. WHO IS IT FOR? The live course is being given for a group of 3 or 4 Alexander Technique teacher training programs, and as such will be incredibly relevant to any Alexander Technique teacher or student. But, since the course is about how we are built and how we humans — not just Alexander Technique teachers
— it is equally relevant
for anyone who is already exploring themselves and their function through any method or technique, for health and medical professionals, fitness or body-workers, and
those who work with others, performers (musicians, actors and dancers), athletes, those
doing yoga or martial arts, and those who use themselves as their own instrument ...
or anyone simply interested in themselves and how to function better.
The course presumes no special knowledge of the body, though for those who already know a lot,
you'll find a whole new point of view to deepen your understanding. WHAT DOES IT COVER? The main theme —the Anatomy of Wholeness — is about how how marvellously we function when we are able to use ourselves well, when we are able to be in those lovely states of wholeness and presentness, ease and freedom, expansion and openness, when all our activities do themselves with flow and with high quality. We will also be looking at our human structure, particularly the larger patterns of organization that are usually missing from the anatomy books, like how your entire respiratory system is suspended from your head, the wonderful primate organization of the legs that allows us to bend with freedom and power, and of course the whole-body flow of muscles that allows us to be both totally supported and totally free at the same time. On the other hand, we will also spend time on understanding the sort of problems that so many people have — chronic back problems, repetitive strain injuries, shoulder-arm problems (those last two are very relevant to performers), running injuries (knee, shin and foot problems), injuries and accidents (inc. sports and exercise-related injuries), and other issues — with a view to understanding what has caused them and how to help healing and recovery.
We will be covering these specific areas and themes: — our upright poise and support (what I call our "elastic pre-sprung suspension system"), that is, how it is possible to have both total support and total freedom at the same time... — how amazing muscles are (their beautiful structure) and how they respond to your intentions, — how muscles are evolutionarily-specialized forms of connective tissue and their two special talents... — how bone is a living adapting tissue that responds to pressure and how it changes according to how you use yourself (and about osteoarthritis, spinal degeneration, joint wear, bunions, etc.) — how connective tissue (fascia) is also a living responding tissue that responds to tension and how it changes according to the way you use yourself (how stretching, poorly done makes us vulnerable to damage, and how to do it well to gain range and flexibility) — how muscle is also adapts to the way you use yourself in 3 major ways: length (range and flexibility), strength (support and movement) and stamina (the development and recruitment of a muscle sub-type that does not fatigue)... — the spine and the disks, disk and back problems and healing (explaining to your students what their doctors never tell them)... — Understanding the anatomy of the problems that can come from poor use in fitness and exercise class, yoga, athletics, running, etc. and what's different in our function when we learn how to go about these activities well... — Understanding the problems that can come from poor use in performance — tendinitis, bursitis, RSI and others... — how the respiratory system is hung from your head; the trachea, lungs, ribs, and the diaphragm, — how breathing works as a coordinated response (and how to interfere with it)... — the throat, larynx and the voice; emotional and artistic expression... — The shoulder-arm, the elbow and the hand (manipulation and skill) — skill acquisition and the two ways of learning new coordinations (one of which works immensely better than the other)... — The container of the torso, the life-support organs and the pelvis (pregnancy and childbirth)... — Standing and sitting, and what it takes to sit and work without strain or fatigue... — the hip, knee, ankle and foot, similarities to the arm (and differences) — the beautiful muscular and joint arrangement of our primate nature that lets us bend and lift without effort or damage... — locomotion and the spiral musculature, walking and running... — the 6 main "coordination mechanisms" and where the "primary control" fits in... — how your attention and intention affects your state (unconstructively or constructively)... — and much, much more (plus wherever questions take us)...
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE COURSE? My aim is fourfold: — clear up misconceptions, mis-mappings, and misunderstandings that lead you or your pupils into poor use, — show how beautifully put-together the system is and, when you get out of the way, how everything works together in ease and harmony (that is, without you having to "help" it)... — give you a good sense of the structure (bones, muscles, joints, systems, etc.) so that when working with students you'll know what you are seeing and touching, — help you be clear enough in your understanding of the structure and function that you can explain it to others And all this with an emphasis on the whole not the parts, and how you — the thinking, choosing feeling, responding being — affect your functioning by your ideas, your thoughts, your attention and your intentions.
HOW IS THE COURSE PRESENTED? The live sessions use WebEx, a live video-conferencing system. I have developed the course over quite a few years now and it is a very visual presentation with lots and lots of diagrams, photos and beautiful illustrations. There are also some animations, and a unique series of layered drawings that lets me show something like breathing and the voice by adding new layers of parts and actions in a way that helps make the structure and function clear and understandable. The entire session is recorded as it happens with all the audio of my narration and any questions, plus the video of the illustrations, animations and moving pointers. These recordings are then streamed to your via your Internet-enabled computer, tablet, etc. and played in a custom media player that you can zoom to full screen, start and stop, and hop back or forth in the session to any part of the recording. The custom media player also has the ability for you to place bookmarks at multiple points of any recorded session. You can use these to bookmark the exact spot when you stop watching one day and then use that bookmark to start up right where you left off. Or you can use bookmarks to mark material you want to return to for more study, or that you find important. You can also add comments, study notes, or questions to any bookmark, thereby maintaining your own customized study program. All bookmarks and comments are automatically saved so they are there again for you when you next log-in. These notes can be marked as "Private" (only available and visible to you), or they can be marked as "Public" (available and visible to any other registered participants of the course,
including David).
IF I'M NOT IN THE "LIVE" SESSIONS, ARE THERE WAYS I CAN INTERACT AND ASK QUESTIONS? Yes, this built-in commenting system gives you a way to communicate with David and get his responses. Whenever you have a question while streaming the recorded sessions, you can simply bookmark that place and add a public comment with your question. All these public questions will be immediately sent to David by e-mail and he will then either respond back with his own public answer which will go to you (and the other participants) or if your question seems to need a longer answer he will record an answer and post that audio podcast to the list of streaming sessions so you (and everyone else taking the course) can listen to it. In this way the course will build up a wealth of supplementary material the adds to and deepens the recorded sessions. Not only that but the notes, comments and questions that you mark as public are also out there for any of the other participants (who are, of course, equally interested in the material as you are).
Others can also respond back to you with their own comments. In this way, all of us as a small community can discuss things and connect with each other.
HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FINISH THE COURSE? The ability to stream any available session whenever you want means you can go through the course at your own pace — as fast as the sessions become available or take your time — whatever fits your schedule. The first session is available now; the second will be ready by the end of September. All the subsequent sessions should be available every two weeks after that. You will have access to all available recordings for a period of one calendar year from your date of registration. This means that you have about 3 months after the last session is posted to finish your study. Even if you have finished watching all the sessions before the year is up, you will still be able to log-in and review any previous session as well as access your saved comments and notes. At any point during that year — while you are still registered — you can copy all your notes to your own system for safekeeping and future reference.
WHAT DOES IT COST? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I REGISTER? To join the course you must commit for the whole 17-session course. The full fee is US$ 695.00 for the complete interactive course with unlimited questions to David (a per-session rate of about US$ 40), payable in three instalments as below: Instalment 1 — US$ 295.00 due at registration
Student Discount:&: There is a 30% discount for students in full-time study — the discounted cost is US$ 486.00 for the whole interactive course (a per-session rate of about US$ 27), payable in three instalments as below: Instalment 1 — US$ 196.00 due at registration Concessions are also available — contact David by e-mail: . When you register and pay the first instalment you will receive a username and password which allows you to log-in at any time and access the first four recordings plus all your bookmarks and notes. After payment of the 2nd instalment you'll have access to the next four recordings, and after the final instalment you can access the rest of the recordings. If you find yourself moving through the course quickly, you can simply pay the other instalments earlier to access more recordings; the pace is up to you. You can log-in from any Internet-enabled device — a computer, an iPad or Android tablet, or even a smartphone — though, given the detailed nature of the illustrations, you'll probably want to use the biggest screen you have.
Nevertheless, you can log-in from different devices at different times. GOT ANY QUESTIONS? Please feel free to contact David by e-mail ( ) if you have questions at all about the course or how it works.
Sign up now
David Gorman
has become widely known for his innovative and unique approach to making our human
functioning understandable, relevant, and fascinating. In 1980 he published a 600-page illustrated
text on human structure and function called The Body Moveable,
now in its 6th edition, and in 1997 a collection of articles and essays,
Looking At Ourselves.
DAVID GORMAN
Join our Mailing List so that you get advance notice of all
|