"Neither an actor nor a musician, I got interested in Alexander because its ideas and practices seemed to have parallels with those of Buddhism, and because I’ve worked in the theater. As what author Dr. Elaine Aron calls a Highly Sensitive Person, I reach sensory overload in my mind/body pretty easily, and I also suspected that AT could help. Lisa was completely open to where I was coming from.
Lisa helped me understand how my body was coping with overwhelm and taught me gentler, healthier modes of action. The habits I’ve developed through AT are kinder to me and more relaxed with the world, and it’s made a big difference in my well-being. I’ve learned healthier ways to move and to perceive myself that I want to practice every day.
We’re using AT to explore where inner creativity meets physical writing and the everyday practice of being a writer. Breakthroughs happened! I’ve been working to shift from a Brain First approach to one where I lead less with my head and write more centered in my body. Lisa met me there with eye-opening exercises and a comfortable place to talk about the experience. Since “looking” was a large part of both my HSP and creative selves, we did vision practices that rooted me so deeply in my body, I felt emotions from my childhood. It felt like getting a stuck door open. Later we adapted the same “looking” exercises to a writing session for me that we both contributed to. She let me suggest this exercise and joined in.
After a couple of months break, I went right back to creative writing in a way that’s confusing to me, powerful, and clearly transitional.
And yes, AT and my Buddhist practice support and encourage each other beautifully.
Lisa is a gifted listener, and I imagine she works with what I say and what my body tells her as she works with musicians with whom she’s playing: deep listening and connecting. Her warmth, patience, serenity, and, especially, the joy in the room where she’s teaching AT, balance well with her knowledge and skills. She is a kind but firm teacher-leader, always focused on my needs, consistently ready with something enlightening. And we laugh, and I have such fun, too. I never want our sessions to end.
AT, through Lisa, is changing my life. I recommend her as teacher to all, especially creative people, who want more body/mind awareness for any reason. I think Lisa has a vocation, and I know it’s been a gift to me, and that I’ll keep working with her."
-Lin Nulman
“I sought out lessons with Lisa while recovering from vocal injury. Her Alexander Technique lessons were informative, practical and helped me widen my perspective on singing and performing. Lisa is clear in her thinking and methods and I was easily able to incorporate her teaching and philosophies into my everyday practice and performance habits.”
-Carley DeFranco
"Lisa gently guided me in discovering for myself new ways of moving. Her patience, sense of humor, compassion and openness made the Alexander Technique very approachable. She brings curiosity and exploration to her work while also fostering these qualities in her students."
-Melany Piech
"Having been a teacher myself, one phrase I've always connected with is: "If you can't explain it simply, then perhaps you don't understand it yet." Not only was Lisa very knowledgable, she was able to re-explain, and re-explain, and re-explain with different accessible examples, levels of complexity, and sometimes just different sentence structure to ensure that I was understanding the concepts thoroughly. I LOVE how meticulous she is about word choice, as well as the level of importance she places on this (for example, "need to do" with "what if I could do and how"). By doing this, she connects physical and cognitive awareness in deeply therapeutic way. I was also very impressed with her ability to organize a lesson on the spot. Lisa would ask me to bring an activity to a lesson - anything from sitting/standing to singing a song - but wouldn't know what the activity was until I arrived. And yet somehow she could craft a 60 minute progressive session that would never get ahead of itself, but would then tie together beautifully at the end. Truly, you'd think she walked in with a pre-made lesson plan. As incredible as Lisa is on an adult to adult level, this ability leads me to think she could really make a difference teaching Alexander Technique to children. It's rare that a person's talents and passions are on par, and Lisa is a shining example of this."
-Marisa Sherwood
"I'm glad I was finally able to take lessons in the Alexander Technique—especially with so capable a teacher as Lisa. Through the technique, she taught me methods and mindsets of self-awareness in a manner reminiscent of an experienced monk, illuminating the deep connections between the Alexander Technique and even the most mundane of everyday activities. These are practices that I use, and will continue to use for the rest of my life."
-Javier King