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

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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/

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Carol P. Prentice
Co-Director

Malibu, Tuscany, 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

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“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

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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/

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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.

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Morgan Rysdon

Malibu
Morgan Rysdon trained at ACAT in NYC and, in 2013, she created Center Studio.

Morgan Rysdon

Morgan Rysdon came to this work when she was 18 and pursuing her BA in Theatre. Her personal history of childhood trauma made this work especially appealing because, for the first time in her life, she felt like her body was a safe space. She went on to train at ACAT in NYC and, in 2013, she created Center Studio to help others improve their quality of life through increased awareness and mindful movement. Morgan has taught her work both nationally and internationally, helping individuals elevate their performances on stage, at work, and in life. In 2019 Morgan created a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/morganrysdoncenterstudio) to share this work with—and help—more people. Currently, she has a private practice based in Atlanta, NYC, and online. www.atcenterstudio.com

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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 important challenges.

Michael Gelb

Michael is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and consultant (and, yes, juggler) who helps individuals and organizations worldwide find innovative solutions to their most important challenges. Since 1979, Michael's unique, creative approach has inspired and transformed clients such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, and Nike. This year, we are looking forward to a series of special presentations by Michael Gelb, author of Body Learning, An Introduction to the Alexander Technique, and the best-selling How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. Michael trained as an Alexander Teacher in London during the mid-1970s. www.michaelgelb.com

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