Our Wonderful Team

Quotes:

F.M. Alexander

" For in the mind of man lies the secret of his ability to resist, to conquer and to finally to govern the circumstances of his life"

Sam Marion, Piano teacher, organist/choir director, performer

"The teachers are truly world-class in their experience and in their teaching. Every student is allowed to bring his/her own experience into the study and is made to feel comfortable no matter how little AT study he/she has had.  The teacher-student ratio allows for a good mix of group and individual attention.  Having access to so many really good teachers in a 5-day intensive period really increases the learning exponentially."

Moshe Feldenkrais

"Learning to inhibit unwanted contractions of muscles that function without, or in spite of, our will, is the main task in coordinated action."

A neuro-surgeon attendee

These Alexander Technique courses are “state-of-the-art” in understanding “brain plasticity” applied to everyday life.

Chinese Proverb

If you are patient in one moment of anger…you will escape a hundred years of sorrow.

Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

J. Krishnamurti

There is great happiness in not wanting, in not being something, in not going somewhere.

Barbara Smith | Beginning Student

"This workshop is helpful for people from beginners to advanced and there is no barrier between people at different levels. We are all travelers together along the Alexander road for a week."

Michael Frederick

The Alexander Technique gives you a “smart tool” to help cope with change and move forward…this work is “green thinking” at its best!

T.K.V. Desikachar

“Whenever you are in doubt, it is best to pause"

Jonathon Leathwood | Alexander Technique Teacher

"I've been to this workshop three times: first as an interested student, then as a teacher trainee, and this last month as a very nearly qualified teacher. Each workshop has been a landmark in my life."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Chinese proverb

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.

Michael Pritchard

You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.

Moshe Feldenkrais

“You can’t teach anyone anything, you can only create the conditions in which they can learn.”

Nick Erickson, Professor of Theatre

Simply one of the best Alexander Technique courses anywhere…well worth attending. Starting in 1979, these are the original Alexander Technique Residential Workshops. Today there are many complimentary imitators, however why go for second best when you can have the original.

J. Krishnamurti

There is no self to understand, only the thought that creates the self.

T.K.V. Desikachar

"Mastery of yoga is really measured by how it influences our day-to-day living, how it enhances our relationships, how it promotes clarity and peace of mind."

Teaching Staff

A man with white hair and glasses smiling.

Michael D. Frederick
Founder & Director

Malibu, Tuscany
Michael is an internationally recognized teacher in the field of Psychophysical Re-education.

Michael D. Frederick

Michael is an internationally recognized teacher in the field of Psychophysical Re-education. He trained as an Alexander Teacher in England with Walter Carrington and in America with Marjorie Barstow, both master teachers trained by F. M. Alexander. Michael studied in the U.S. and Israel as a Feldenkrais Practitioner and has extensive Yoga training in both the U.S. and India. He is Co-Director and on the Board of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles (ATI-LA). Michael is the founding director of the first three International Congresses on the Alexander Technique and has organized over 150 workshops in the U.S. and Europe since 1978. Michael was voted best Alexander Teacher in Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best of L.A.”  https://michaeldfrederick.com/

Read More
A woman with long blonde hair smiles for the camera.

Carol P. Prentice
Co-Director

Malibu, Women's Retreat
Carol trained in the mid-1980s as an Alexander Teacher with Frank Ottiwell in San Francisco, CA.

Carol P. Prentice

Carol trained in the mid-1980s as an Alexander Teacher with Frank Ottiwell in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). She furthered her training with first-generation Alexander Teachers Marjorie Barstow, Walter & Dilys Carrington, and Marjory Barlow. She has been teaching this work for over 37 years. Carol is also a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and a graduate of the California College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley. She was on the California College of Ayurveda faculty for eight years. Carol is also a graduate 500-hour Yoga teacher training in the tradition of Sri T. Krishnamacharya from the Healing Yoga Foundation – San Francisco. She has an Alexander, Yoga, and Ayurveda practice in Tampa, Fl. Carol also runs the Hands-On Women’s Retreat.

Carol is also a certified End-of-Life Consultant and Doula. She believes that everyone should have a Life Well Lived and a Death Well Planned. Please visit her website at www.carolpprentice.com or www.HandsOn-Retreats.com

Read More

 

“The Alexander Technique is not a method of accumulating information nor the art of learning something new. It is, instead, the art of unlearning, which is much more subtle and, sometimes, a more difficult endeavor – unlearning that which is habitual instead of natural – letting go of old patterns and those repetitious opinions arrived at in times and circumstances totally different from those of the present.”
                                                         Laura Huxley, Author, Educator

A man with spiky hair wearing a scarf.

John Baron

Malibu, Tuscany
John has been a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique for 35 years.

John Baron

John has been a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique for 36 years, during which time he has practiced in London, Rome, and the Bay Area. He has a theater and business background enabling him to work with a diverse range of organizations, including Google Inc., Fireman’s Fund Insurance, Cal State Hayward, The Sundance Institute, Esalen Institute, Weg Der Mitte (Berlin), San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Opera. He co-directed the AEC(teacher training school in Berkeley, CA) for 28 years in Berkeley, Ca.  He works as a vocal coach to actors and people in business in the Bay Area.  https://johnabaron.com/

Read More
A woman with glasses smiling for the camera.

Lyn Carlsen-Klein

Malibu
Lyn has a BA in English from UCLA, where she also studied for a Masters's Degree in Dance. She was certified to teach the Alexander Technique in 1977, training with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas.

Lyn Charlsen-Klein

Lyn Charlsen Klein has a BA in English from UCLA, where she also studied for a Masters's Degree in Dance.  She was certified to teach the Alexander Technique in 1977, training with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas. She had the good fortune to meet and work with Master Alexander Technique Teachers Patrick MacDonald, Marjorie Barstow, Elisabeth Walker, and briefly with Marjorie Barlow and Walter Carrington. Lyn has been on the faculty of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles since it’s beginning in 1987 and was Director of Training from 1996 to 2014.  She is one of six Co-Directors at ATI-LA and the Head of Training, teaching regularly on the course. She taught the Alexander Technique at the USC School of Theater from 1980 to 1995 and at California State University in Los Angeles from 1989 to 1999. Lyn gives lectures/demonstrations and conducts courses for Alexander training programs and the general public throughout the United States. She maintains a private practice in Van Nuys, CA. 
 

 

Read More
Screenshot 2025-08-30 at 7.55.43 PM

Gioria Pinkas

Malibu
Giora has been an Alexander instructor for 50 years and a trainer of Alexander teachers for over 35 years.

Giora Pinkas

Giora Pinkas, a native of Israel, began lessons with Shmuel Nelkin in 1962 and has made the Alexander Technique his life’s work. He trained with Patrick Macdonald in London in the 1960s and has taught in London, Freiburg (Germany), Israel, and since 1972, in California.  In 1974, he and Frank Ottiwell co-founded ACAT-West in San Francisco. In 1983, Giora opened The Alexander Educational Center in Walnut Creek, California, where he now resides and maintains a private practice and is simi retired
 
Read More
A man with grey hair and wearing a suit.

Michael Gelb

Malibu, Tuscany
Michael is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and consultant who helps individuals and organizations worldwide find innovative solutions to their most critical challenges.

John Baron

John has been a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique for 36 years, during which time he has practiced in London, Rome, and the Bay Area. He has a theater and business background enabling him to work with a diverse range of organizations, including Google Inc., Fireman’s Fund Insurance, Cal State Hayward, The Sundance Institute, Esalen Institute, Weg Der Mitte (Berlin), San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Opera. He co-directed the AEC(teacher training school in Berkeley, CA) for 28 years in Berkeley, Ca.  He works as a vocal coach to actors and people in business in the Bay Area.  https://johnabaron.com/

Read More
A woman with red hair and wearing earrings.

Silvia Sferlazzo

Tuscany
Silvia is an Alexander Technique Teacher, Yoga Teacher, and Dancer with 30+ years of teaching experience. She lives in Florence.

Silvia Sferlazzo

Silvia Sferlazzo is an Alexander Technique Teacher, Yoga Teacher, and Dancer with 30+ years of teaching experience.   She was based in Amsterdam, Holland, for over 24 years. Since 2010 Silvia has returned to her home country of Italy and now lives in Florence, where she maintains an active teaching and artistic life. She taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory and in other European contemporary dance academies, as well as at the Alexander Technique Teacher Training School in Amsterdam. She has privately taught dancers, musicians, singers, actors, and athletes. She is also a qualified teacher of Yoga - Dancing the Body of Light with Dona Holleman at the European Teacher Training in the Netherlands & also at the International Vijnana-Yoga with Orit Sen-Gupta in Jerusalem.  Above all, whether it's the Alexander Technique, Yoga, or Dance, Silvia loves teaching and brings a joyful spirit to her work.

 
Read More
A woman with short hair smiles for the camera.

Lauren Hill

Malibu
Lauren began studying the Alexander Technique in her 20s, looking for help managing chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain.

Lauren Hill 

She began studying the Alexander Technique in her 20s, seeking help in managing chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain. Besides the physical relief, she found with the Technique, she was also drawn to its simple and practical nature. Lauren recently published her first book, 'What Your Body Wants You to Know'. 

Read More
Retreat Registration