All About Knees
Workshop
With Penelope Easten
Knees Problems Are Everywhere -
And many AT teachers also suffer
with knee issues from injuries or aging.
For me also, knees have always been my weak spot, but I’ve been able to keep them trouble-free with AT over the years.But recently they became very painful, and this has prompted me to do much more research which has helped greatly, and I now have answers to share with other teachers.
All About Knees Online Workshop
Directions and Discoveries For Working With Knee Issues.
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For AT teachers and trainees only.
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Onscreen places limited to 20.
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The meeting will be recorded if you cannot come live.
Alexander Technique Work
In AT work, we usually work by releasing overworking muscles so that the natural body balance can come quietly back into play. But when, after training, I went to Miss Goldie, she saw that often I was now over-releasing, and was not using sufficient tone. She worked to get me to switch areas on and keep them alive and flowing, but didn’t specify this anatomically.
In the last few decades, there have been huge advances in understanding the moving body. To research this workshop I have investigated many different knowledge bases, including physiotherapy, medical anatomy, functional anatomists, fitness work and movement coaching. Each provided different aspects of understanding; discussed the underworking muscles as well as the overworking ones; and had various protocols of how to get things working again. I found it began to add up to a coherent story that I could Alexanderise and which then could help my knees in a very different way.
In this workshop we will begin with the anatomy of the knee joint, how it is stabilised – both locally and in relation to the whole body use – and what happens when that stability is lost. We’ll discover why ‘knees forward and away’ is a crucial direction for knees, but also has limitations of usefulness. From there, we can begin to work with some new directions to regain tone and stability around the knee joint, and explore how these link to whole body directions and use. We’ll then explore directions to help painful or unstable knees while walking.
I have allowed three hours to explore these issues in full, giving time for questions and personal guidance; we will take a ten minute break in the middle.
“Adding in the new direction felt like I had an ace bandage supporting me as I walked. Then everything is coming up and that felt so much better!” Carol, AT teacher, USA
Tutor
Penelope Easten
After a degree in zoology at Cambridge university, I took my first AT lessons in 1983, then trained at Misha Magidov’s school, qualifying in 1989.
After training my use fell apart, as no-one had taught me how to work on myself. So I took lessons with Miss Goldie – then 86 - who worked alongside Alexander for 30 years. She taught me how to look after myself by thinking in activity. I realised I did not have a complete picture of Alexander’s work, and this prompted my thirty-year journey to understand the differences and power of Miss Goldie’s work. It took me to many other amazing teachers, and to scientific and alternative avenues of exploration and understanding. I have shared this understanding of Miss Goldie’s work in workshops at congresses and around the world. From these I saw clearly how different trainings teach different aspects of the work.
In 2016 I encountered Jeando Masoero’s online work: his understanding of Alexander’s original way of working on yourself with conscious control. Jeando’s understanding is, in part, based on his readings of Delsarte’s system of gestural training that FM taught around 1900. Jeando’s procedures helped me to understand biomechanical aspects of Miss Goldie’s work that I could then find for myself. This showed me a more dynamic form of the AT and enabled me to rebuild strength after recovering from thirty years of chronic fatigue syndrome. I included these theories and methods in my book: The Alexander technique. The twelve fundamentals of integrated movement, published in 2021.
However, I soon realised that some of the historical statements in my book were incorrect and they all needed verifying; unfortunately there had not been time to prepare a supplementary document with this information before publication due to Covid. I have now been researching the history in detail for three years, reading and experimenting with the methods described by FM and many authors he would have read. It became a much bigger project than I expected, and has been very fulfilling to explore. I’m also interviewing senior teachers and continuing to build my understanding of the full breadth of the AT work, past and present. I am delighted to begin to share this research with our profession through this course.
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After training my use fell apart, as no-one had taught me how to work on myself. So I took lessons with Miss Goldie – then 86 - who worked alongside Alexander for 30 years. She taught me how to look after myself by thinking in activity. I realised I did not have a complete picture of Alexander’s work, and this prompted my thirty-year journey to understand the differences and power of Miss Goldie’s work. It took me to many other amazing teachers, and to scientific and alternative avenues of exploration and understanding. I have shared this understanding of Miss Goldie’s work in workshops at congresses and around the world. From these I saw clearly how different trainings teach different aspects of the work.
In 2016 I encountered Jeando Masoero’s online work: his understanding of Alexander’s original way of working on yourself with conscious control. Jeando’s understanding is, in part, based on his readings of Delsarte’s system of gestural training that FM taught around 1900. Jeando’s procedures helped me to understand biomechanical aspects of Miss Goldie’s work that I could then find for myself. This showed me a more dynamic form of the AT and enabled me to rebuild strength after recovering from thirty years of chronic fatigue syndrome. I included these theories and methods in my book: The Alexander technique. The twelve fundamentals of integrated movement, published in 2021.
However, I soon realised that some of the historical statements in my book were incorrect and they all needed verifying; unfortunately there had not been time to prepare a supplementary document with this information before publication due to Covid. I have now been researching the history in detail for three years, reading and experimenting with the methods described by FM and many authors he would have read. It became a much bigger project than I expected, and has been very fulfilling to explore. I’m also interviewing senior teachers and continuing to build my understanding of the full breadth of the AT work, past and present. I am delighted to begin to share this research with our profession through this course.
"We need to know this and so do our students." Jill, AT teacher, UK
FAQs
Q: When is the next workshop?
A: The next workshop will be on Sunday 1st March 2026
Q: Do I need to be there in person?
A: You can attend in person or watch the recording after.
Q. How long will seminars go on for?
A. Each seminar is 3 hours long. So for UK time, they will be 4.00-7.00pm
Q. What times will this be in other time zones?
- UK: 4pm - 7pm
- Central Europe: 4pm - 7pm
- Eastern Europe: 5pm - 8pm
- EST Africa: 11am - 2pm
- CST: 10am - 1pm
- MST: 9am - 12pm
- PST: 8am - 11am