Workshop:  Japanese Archery and the Meaning of Standing In our Own Structure
Workshop Presenter(s):  Akemi Kinomura
Workshop Language(s):  Japanese, English

Have you experienced Japanese culture? For example, Japanese Tea ceremony, Japanese Art flowers, Japanese Archery and so on. Each thing has its own “KATA”. That is, rules of how to move in the shape. How to move the hand from here to there, what is the shape of a hand when the hand touches a tool...

Do you feel a “Rule of the shape” might bring stiffness? It does not; we find the opposite. “KATA” is learned for structure, it trains us to move in the natural structure of our own body. By learning “KATA”, we can notice our own habits. Above all, Japanese Archery is based on an interesting and unique idea. The aim is to aim at the target with a bow and arrow, but not aim at the target .The reason is that "the target is placed where we can hit it if we use our own body correctly.”. In order to be able to use the structure of the body as it is, the senses are refined and trained .Let's experience a little what it looks like.

It would be nice if each participant had a space where they could move with their hands and legs spread out. Please bring a long towel or rubber band. This will be used in place of a bow. Be sure it is long enough to have both hands open and have the length from one hand to the elbow of the opposite arm. If the towel is too thick, it is difficult to grip, so it is desirable to use a thin towel.

Akemi Kinomura majored in Shape and Material at Art University. There, she learned tea ceremony, archery, etc. to deepen her understanding of space and body structure, tools and actions, patterns and consciousness. In 1999, she started working as an Alexander Technique teacher. In 2010, she started a teacher training course which became a corporation in 2013. In 2018, she published the book Illustrated Guide to Using a Body In A Way That Does Not Tire  You. This book has become a bestseller in recent years, after it was said the book could not be sold. 

Workshop:  Chakra Healing Therapy for Alexander Teachers
Workshop Presenter(s):  Glen Park (website:  https://glenpark.uk/)
Workshop Language(s):  English

Do you ever wish there was a way of including more of the emotional and psychological in your work as an Alexander Teacher? The chakras are an embodied way of doing this, and in this workshop, Glen Park will share some of the insights that they can bring. Participants will explore the chakras through working on themselves. The chakras will be explained, with each lower chakra representing a different stage of development from infancy and childhood through adulthood, and the Heart Chakra playing a central role in awakening the spiritual potential of the upper chakras. The explanations will be linked to research in neuroscience, developmental psychology and to spiritual teachings. The pre-recorded video will include on-screen images to illustrate her talk. The first forty minutes of this workshop will be explanatory, and the final twenty minutes will be a guided visualization working through the chakras from the Base Chakra to the Crown Chakra.

You’ll need a chair for this guided visualization.

Glen Park worked in the professional theatre for ten years as an actor, scriptwriter and director before beginning her Alexander Training in 1980. This experience has contributed to her deep interest in the psychological and energetic patterns that interfere with good use. Her first book, The Art of Changing, published in 1989, was an introduction to the Alexander Technique, and also explored the way the technique can be applied to emotional and energetic patterns of use. In October 2020, her new book Chakra Healing Therapy will be published. In this in-depth guide to working with the chakras, she draws on her decades of experience as an Alexander Teacher and Chakra Therapist to explain how the chakras can be understood as an embodied map of the psyche. She shows how the connections between the chakras and developmental stages are paralleled in the findings of Western psychology and neuroscience and how our collective expressions of the chakras influence cultural trends in society. Glen has led many workshops for actors, musicians, Alexander teachers and trainees exploring these energy centres and finding ways to encourage integration and flow in the body through awareness of psychological as well as physical interferences.