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WHO IS IT FOR?
Open to those training with David Gorman in LearningMethods and/or Alexander Technique.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
This is an in-person workshop for people who are training (or have trained) with David Gorman.
This includes current LearningMethods Teachers, and Apprentice Teachers as well as current and past members of the
various LMOnline courses.
This 3-day workshop will be about any territory the participants wish to bring up.
Dates/Times:
Wednesday 23 October — Friday 25 October 2013
Each day will have a 1 hour lunch period — Wednesday will run from 10 am to 5 pm, Thursday
from 11 am to 5 pm and Friday from 10 am - 6 pm.
Location:
The workshop will be held at the Baby Point Club., a large, open, and airy
space in a small island of green in
a lovely area of West Toronto surrounded by parks and the Humber River. The address is 71 Baby Point Road, Toronto, ON M6S 2G5 (see
map and directions here). If you are coming from a distance, contact us about accommodation and/or rides to the workshop
— we may be able to help...
Cost: (see also discount for full-time students
below — deposit or full fee must be paid at registration)
Attending this 3 day workshop:
Early registration is CA$ 275 (CA$ 150 deposit) for the 3 days if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration). The normal fee (after
August 1st is CA$ 305 (deposit CA$ 150 — you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration).
Full-time student discount:
If you are a student in full-time study you are eligible for a CA$ 65 discount. The early registration student fee is
CA$ 210
(CA$ 150 deposit) for the 3 days if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay the deposit
or full fee at the time of registration). The normal fee (after August 1st) is CA$ 240 (CA$ 150
deposit – you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration).
Attending Part-time:
It may be possible to attend part-time, but full-time participants have priority for working. The part-time fee is for whole days only and is
CA$ 100 per day if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay all part time days at the time of registration). The normal fee (after
August 1st) is CA$ 105 per day (you must pay all part-time days at the time of registration).
Concessions are available:
If you cannot afford the full fee, but really want to attend, we would rather have you
there than not be there just for financial reasons, so contact the organizer for further details.
Payment Methods:
1. on-line now by credit card or Paypal via secure servers making sure you include your phone
numbers and address in the note section; or
2. by cheque payable to David Gorman along with your name,
your
address, your phone(s), your
e-mail, and the days you are attending, and send to: David Gorman, 78 Tilden Crescent, Etobicoke, Ontario, M9P 1V7
Canada.
All fees or deposits must be paid at the time of registration
Contact: for registration
or more details:
David Gorman E-mail:
Tel: +1 416-519-5470
Fine print – cancellations and refunds:
If we cancel the workshop for any reason you will be refunded in full any tuition or deposit money
paid. If you cancel for any reason up to three weeks before the workshop starts you will be refunded
any fees paid minus a CA$50 processing fee. No refunds will be made for any reason later than three weeks before the
workshop start time.
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The Keynote Address and the Two workshops are open to anyone attending the Alexander Technique International annual meeting.
WORKSHOP 1
Achieving Reliable Sensory Appreciation
Somewhere Alexander writes (and I paraphrase) that without a reliable sensory appreciation we do not have a hope of having good use. I totally agree, and yet often reliable sensory appreciation is regarded as some far off and virtually unreachable goal, and in the meantime we should just ignore our feelings and not pay attention to them.
However, it is not our senses that are unreliable, it’s our appreciation (our interpretation) of our sensory experience that is unreliable.
In fact, far from being unreliable, our senses are constantly telling us
essential information about what is happening and how to respond — we are simply misunderstanding most of it... Once we
can take in this information and see through the misinterpretations we get access to the wealth and richness of
information to guide us in our daily life — and it doesn't even take that long once you understand what it is...
This will be an experiential workshop exploring how we misinterpret our proprioceptive experiences and what they are really showing us, and how we can use that to respond and use ourselves better. There will be lots to take away and play with in daily use and in teaching...
WORKSHOP 2
The Most Fundamental Question in this Work
It is good once in a while to go back and ask ourselves about the underlying premises of our work to clarifies what we are doing, why we are doing it, and refresh our way of doing it.
One of the most fundamental questions we humans can ask ourselves is whether we are innately whole and integrated (and therefore the problems we experience are a result of how we have interfered with that wholeness and integration), or whether we are a bit flawed, our nature has not kept up with our culture, or our bodies are imperfectly evolved for uprightness and modern life (therefore we will inevitably tend to experience problems unless we use our new skills to keep nudging ourselves back into wholeness and freedom from the tendency to go astray).
These are not only opposites, but if one is true it means an entirely different approach is needed than if the other is true.
This workshop will explore not only how we can answer this question satisfactorily with evidence from our own experience, but how to use this question as a way to inspire students’ interest and excite their curiosity in a journey of discovery.
I'd say that keeping this question, and the process of answering it, has become the core of my teaching over the years.
WHO IS THE TEACHER?...
David Gorman
was an artist and interested in human anatomy when he happened upon the Alexander Technique in 1972 and
immediately recognized its profound power for change. He trained in London, England with Walter Carrington, becoming an
Alexander teacher in 1980, just before the publication of The Body Moveable, his 600-page illustrated text on our marvellous human
structure.
With his background of anatomical knowledge he had the good fortune to be invited to
teach in a wide range of Alexander training courses around the world as well in training courses for Feldenkrais, osteopathy, chiropractic, massage,
for doctors in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics, and in numerous performing arts colleges,
orchestras and conservatories.
He delivered the STAT F.M. Alexander Memorial Lecture in 1984, titled
Thinking About Thinking About Ourselves, and was director of a Training Program to train teachers of the Alexander Technique in London, England in the '80s and 90's. He
has been the Assistant Editor of the Alexander Review, a member of the
STAT Council, a founding member of CanSTAT, NASTAT (now AmSAT) as well as the main architect of
the framework of the Affiliated Societies, and ATI's sponsorship certification process. He is
also the author of
Looking at Ourselves, a collection of essays on the Alexander Technique.
Over the years, his changing understanding about the root causes of people's problems led him to
continually evolve his Alexander Technique teaching to find more and more powerful ways to help
people change and especially to become independent in their learning.
It also became clear that a lot of people's difficulties did not just hinge
on their physical use but had to do with their ideas, beliefs and thinking, so David developed a new
complimentary approach, LearningMethods (and an offshoot, Anatomy of Wholeness about our human coordinating system),
to help people explore and make changes in these areas too. This multi-faceted work is now being integrated into the curricula of performance schools in Europe, Canada and the United States by a growing number of LearningMethods Teachers.
David is writing a new book, parts of which will soon be available in e-book and/or print format, and
for several years now he has been running modular training in LearningMethods, the Alexander Technique, and Anatomy of Wholeness,
pioneering new ways to learn and teach via online video conferencing.
Contact: for registration
or more details:
David Gorman E-mail:
Tel: +1 416-519-5470
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WHO IS IT FOR?
Open to any Alexander Technique teachers and trainees, or
long-time Alexander students.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
The principles of the Alexander Technique are true to the extent that they
do actually match our nature — our underlying wholeness, our tendency to get stuck in unconstructive habits, and our capabilities for change
and getting back in touch with ourselves.
Alexander was clear that he had made a solid beginning, but did not have all the
answers... and that, hopefully, others would come after him, and take the work further.
This is not about figuring out the past,
but about getting better at the future !
While our underlying human nature has not changed in the last hundred years
since Alexander developed his work, our understanding of ourselves sure has changed,
becoming clearer and more useful. The ways we get this profound learning across to
others has also evolved, becoming more effective as well as easier and quicker to learn.
David Gorman brings over 35 years of his experience, innovative
teaching and research
to these 3 days.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR YOU IF YOU:
— want to have more effective and quicker ways to help
people that you can use right away in your teaching?
— know your students have lots of unconstructive ideas and
reactions to their feelings but don't know how to get at them and help them change?
— use the work to release yourself from certain habits
over and over and wonder what it would take to completely rid yourself of these habits
forever?
— find your students become dependent on the experiences
you facilitate and can't seem to learn on their own?
— want to reinvigorate your practice and bring
new interest and excitement about the work to your students?
— have questions or confusions about the Alexander work you haven't been able to clear up?
— find your students are not understanding what you are teaching them
the way you'd like them to, but you aren't sure what else to do?
There is certainly much more we can explore, and this
is where you come in. The workshop is for you, so your interests and questions will be the main driver of what we get into.
I can guarantee that you will come away from these days
inspired, excited, and even more enthusiastic about your work !!
HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT:
— how having reliable sensory appreciation is not only reachable
but it doesn't even take that long once you understand what it is,
— how to get people able to stand, sit, bend in monkey,
walk, run, climb stairs with ease and centred support, all far faster than you thought possible,
— understand the huge implications for the Alexander work of the latest neuroscience
about learning,
— how being clearer about the "Anatomy of Wholeness" will
enable your students (and you) to live in wholeness and presentness now, and not
always be trying to get there,
— showing your students how to think for themselves and become independent learners
so they do more learning outside your lessons with them,
— helping your students uncover the ideas and
misconceptions that keep them trapped in habit and reaction, and how easy it is to be
free once they see through them,
— how your hands-on work can be powerful and reinforce learning
without seducing the student into yummy experiences they just want to try to repeat.
— and. of course, much, much more...
"After years of struggling and wondering if I was really cut out for teaching,
you've given me such a clarity about myself, the work and its possibilities.
The best part is that I was able to use it right away
AND MY STUDENTS LOVED IT !"
Alexander Teacher, after recent workshop
If you cannot make this workshop in Toronto, David also runs online live video groups for
Alexander Technique teachers and trainees that you may be able to join — see details here
WHO IS THE TEACHER?...
David Gorman
was an artist and interested in human anatomy when he happened upon the Alexander Technique in 1972 and
immediately recognized its profound power for change. He trained in London, England with Walter Carrington, becoming an
Alexander teacher in 1980, just before the publication of The Body Moveable, his 600-page illustrated text on our marvellous human
structure.
With his background of anatomical knowledge he had the good fortune to be invited to
teach in a wide range of Alexander training courses around the world as well in training courses for Feldenkrais, osteopathy, chiropractic, massage,
for doctors in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics, and in numerous performing arts colleges,
orchestras and conservatories.
He delivered the STAT F.M. Alexander Memorial Lecture in 1984, titled
Thinking About Thinking About Ourselves, and was director of a Training Program to train teachers of the Alexander Technique in London, England in the '80s and 90's. He
has been the Assistant Editor of the Alexander Review, a member of the
STAT Council, a founding member of CanSTAT, NASTAT (now AmSAT) as well as the main architect of
the framework of the Affiliated Societies, and ATI's sponsorship certification process. He is
also the author of
Looking at Ourselves, a collection of essays on the Alexander Technique.
Over the years, his changing understanding about the root causes of people's problems led him to
continually evolve his Alexander Technique teaching to find more and more powerful ways to help
people change and especially to become independent in their learning.
It also became clear that a lot of people's difficulties did not just hinge
on their physical use but had to do with their ideas, beliefs and thinking, so David developed a new
complimentary approach, LearningMethods (and an offshoot, Anatomy of Wholeness about our human coordinating system),
to help people explore and make changes in these areas too. This multi-faceted work is now being integrated into the curricula of performance schools in Europe, Canada and the United States by a growing number of LearningMethods Teachers.
David is writing a new book, parts of which will soon be available in e-book and/or print format, and
for several years now he has been running modular training in LearningMethods, the Alexander Technique, and Anatomy of Wholeness,
pioneering new ways to learn and teach via online video conferencing.
Dates/Times:
Friday 01 November — Sunday 03 November 2013
Each day will be 6 hours long — Friday will run from 12 noon to 6:00pm, Saturday and Sunday from
10am - 5pm with a one-hour lunch break on these two days.
Location:
The workshop will be held at the Baby Point Club., a large, open, and airy
space in a small island of green in
a lovely area of West Toronto surrounded by parks and the Humber River. The address is 71 Baby Point Road, Toronto, ON M6S 2G5 (see
map and directions here). If you are coming from a distance, contact us about accommodation and/or rides to the workshop
— we may be able to help...
Cost: (see also discount for full-time students
below — deposit or full fee must be paid at registration)
Attending this 3 day workshop:
Early registration is US$ 295 (US$ 150 deposit) for the 3 days if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration). The normal fee (after
August 1st is US$ 325 (deposit US$ 170 — you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration).
Full-time student discount:
If you are a student in full-time study you are eligible for a US$ 75 discount. The early registration student fee is
US$ 220
(US$ 150 deposit) for the 3 days if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay the deposit
or full fee at the time of registration). The normal fee (after August 1st) is US$ 250 (US$ 170
deposit – you must pay the deposit or full fee at the time of registration).
Attending Part-time:
It may be possible to attend part-time, but full-time participants have priority for working. The part-time fee is for whole days only and is
US$ 110 per day if paid on or before August 1st (you must pay all part time days at the time of registration). The normal fee (after
August 1st) is US$ 120 per day (you must pay all part-time days at the time of registration).
Concessions are available:
If you cannot afford the full fee, but really want to attend, we would rather have you
there than not be there just for financial reasons, so contact the organizer for further details.
Payment Methods:
1. on-line now by credit card or Paypal via secure servers making sure you include your phone
numbers and address in the note section; or
2. by check payable to David Gorman along with your name,
your
address, your phone(s), your
e-mail, and the days you are attending, and send to: David Gorman, 78 Tilden Crescent, Etobicoke, Ontario, M9P 1V7
Canada.
All fees or deposits must be paid at the time of registration
Contact: for registration
or more details:
David Gorman E-mail:
Tel: +1 416-519-5470
Fine print – cancellations and refunds:
If we cancel the workshop for any reason you will be refunded in full any tuition or deposit money
paid. If you cancel for any reason up to three weeks before the workshop starts you will be refunded
any fees paid minus a US$50 processing fee. No refunds will be made for any reason later than three weeks before the
workshop start time.
and we'll notify you of upcoming events, new publications and special offers.
If you cannot make it to a workshop or want to work in between workshops, it is always possible (and very effective too) to have LearningMethods 
LEARNINGMETHODS