“Evolution of a Technique” is a story of incredible insight and persistence that documents the discovery of an entire field of knowledge. F.M. Alexander's personal narrative does not, however, lay out a curriculum to follow in order to gain the knowledge it contains. 

In this course, Ted Dimon will outline an educational path based on Alexander’s work: skills to be acquired, results to be obtained, and stages of learning to be reached.

Here are some of the topics we will be looking at:

  • Why a curriculum is necessary
  • How use affects function
  • Observing the pattern of harmful use
  • The basic organization of body parts
  • The concept of "instinctive" or "habitual" manner of use
  • The concept of "direction": how muscles are wired to receive messages
  • The discipline of "projecting conscious directions" in a sustained manner
  • Skills of attention and mindfulness
  • Positions of mechanical advantage
  • The restoration of natural muscular function
  • The postural mechanism, or what Ted Dimon has called the Postural Neuromuscular Reflex (PNR) system 
  • The replacement of "instinctive directions" with "conscious directions"
  • Inhibition in its fullest meaning
  • "Conscious control" as a stage to be reached


8 1-hour classes. This course was held online via Zoom in November 2025.

Course curriculum

    1. Getting to work; the need for a curriculum; looking ahead

    2. The basic organization of the body; giving directions; lengthening of muscle

    3. Giving directions to bring about length; the notion of "energy"; movement of parts in release

    1. The curriculum: an overview; the discipline of attention

    2. The purpose of directing; the goal to be reached; the full function of the primary control

    3. The shoulders and use of the arms

    1. Witholding consent to an action in order to withhold harmful direction

    2. Summary of course; discussion of curriculum; questions and answers

    1. Positions of Mechanical Advantage: the inclined "monkey" position

    2. Using the arms

Eight live sessions

  • $15.00