I left University with
an honours degree in Philosophy
and an 
interest
in the theatre. I worked in Repertory
theatre and Theatre in Education and then became one of the founder members
of the popular fringe theatre company, Red Ladder, and worked with this company
for eight years.
In my mid-thirties I left
the theatre and began training in the Alexander
Technique. Fairly early on in my training I began to see auras and energy
and
so I trained in psychic development in England and then in California, at
the same time as completing my training as an Alexander Teacher. I
found the two disciplines worked very well together; in fact it was not uncommon
for students
of the Alexander Technique to find their intuition and psychic abilities developing
as a result of the muscular releases brought about by the Technique.
This prompted me to write
my first book The Art of Changing, in which I give
a thorough explanation of the Alexander Technique in Part I. In Part 2, I
show how it relates to an understanding of the aura and the chakras, and the
human being as an energy system, and how we can work with our emotional and
mental patterns as well as our physical habits.
I now call my work Psycho-physical
Integration because I work with the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual
aspects of the Self. I base my work on the Alexander Technique and on a philosophy
of the chakras in which they represent the developmental unfolding of consciousness
from the infant to the adult and beyond, with different stages of consciousness
developing at each stage of life. Each stage transcends the previous stage,
which then needs to be integrated from the new level, which then allows the
energy flowing through the chakras to be balanced. I teach this work both
individually, using hands-on, and to groups in a workshop situation.
In my workshops
I teach the Developmental model of the Chakras, using experiential techniques.
Participants gain a psycho-physical understanding of how their consciousness
develops, from the instinctual survival-oriented consciousness of a tiny baby,
through the sensory and conventional learning of
a child into the more independent thinking of an adult, and how all these
parts of their consciousness are still available to enrich and to integrate
themselves and their lives. Moreover we can develop consciousness further
into more advanced states and in so doing we are participating in the evolutionary
development of our species.
In my hands-on work I
facilitate a lot of muscular releasing with the student lying on the table,
as well as working in movement (sitting and standing, walking, playing an
instrument etc.) I 'listen' with my hands, and together with my student we
explore how to release the mental, emotional and physical aspects of the tensions
that surface. I help to balance the energies of the chakras, in addition to
working with the Alexander Technique. Psycho-physical Integration, which has
developed out of the Alexander Technique and Chakra Balancing, in addition
to offering many practical benefits, has become a powerful vehicle for personal
and spiritual growth.
Recently I have returned to my interest in theatre and performance, and run
several workshops working with actors, drama students and musicians. In my
work with actors, in addition to working upon themselves as performers, they
can apply the principles to working with character in improvisation and scripted
plays. I am currently involved in a research project working with Performing
Arts students at the University of Chester, which I will print on this website
as soon as it is complete. I have also been working with MA students at the
University of Exeter.
I live in Devon, with my partner John, and our twin sons, Joe and Chris