It was constant worry.

I don't see anything!

How can I teach in activities, when I don't notice anything to work with? These thoughts were often running through my mind as I began shifting my teaching from "Alexander-is-a-feeling" into "Alexander-is-how-you-think".

Then I realised - how ridiculous.

In 1976, when I started my training in London, I discovered that I had a choice of what I could do with a teacher: "What would you like to do today?" was asked often of me…

Trouble is, there were only two answers: chairwork or tablework. After three years, I got so bored with this, that during my final 6 months of training, I played cat and mouse with my teachers - hiding out in the kitchen, going for a little walks - so I could avoid having one of these precious "turns" that many others felt entitlement towards. No thanks.

I had a half-written blog prepared on the plane last night, but once I landed in Australia and checked our secret Facebook group (where 43 teachers share as part of the paid area of my blog) I was overwhelmed by the volume of comments to behold!

So instead of posting a blog, I decided to post answers and comments in Facebook. Then I worried that the members may not have caught my torrent of replies in the midst of a messy, scrolling Facebook page, so I decided to post them here. How original ideas are born.

I always know two hands will shoot up before I have barely finished my sentence:

"Has someone got something they want to explore with me?"

Welcome to Basil's Music ProCourse - BodyChance's Teacher Education course exclusively for musicians. This is the niche experiment at it's finest: a band of enthusiastic students intent on developing their skill by leveraging Alexander's Discovery in their playing.

The Prince of Print, Gary Halbert, was famous for a simple question he posed to marketers in his seminars. Anyone in the direct marketing business knows this story - and I've told it before - so if you don't know it, get your education going by reading my old blogs from here.

I am standing there, looking out on an ocean of people - all wearing orange!

It was a Sydney Easter in 1981, and the crowd was gathered for another "celebration" with Bhagwan Rajneesh's band of merry followers. The Orange People, as they were called then, wanted Alexander Technique in their line up of workshops, but it was all gratis: pitch your workshop to the crowd, see who comes.

As I stood there I thought: I have a unique marketing opportunity: I better not screw up.

He did it, so why can't we? No reason.

On my Skype last night with a mentoring client (members know who), we explored her recent group teaching experiences. She had three regulars, then a newbie turned up, so she focused on basics.

"How was that?" she asked the regulars at the end.

Their response: "We didn't get enough hands on."

Oh dear.

A feeling is a report from your past.

It is about what just happened, even if you are imagining the future. You see an image, you react to it. We dream, we imagine, we create - then we have feelings about these constructions. Our hormones are triggered; we feel multiple emotions coursing through our system.

As an Alexander Technique teacher, I used to think it was my job to supply a new feeling to my student. I was very good at it - people marvelled after my lessons how different they felt, how amazing the Alexander Technique was…

This post describes an online course for Alexander Technique teachers and students on how to teach and market groups. It is running in November 2013, than remains available after that to anyone who joins my online coaching group. You can join here now:

http://atsuccess.com/membership-plans

My journey with group teaching began in London back in 1980 when I formed YAAO with Duncan Woodcock to run evening classes. (YAAO stands for Yet Another Alexander Organisation).

Some people have already jumped on board for next month's workshop on teaching that is marketable. Joining today (Oct 27th) gets you an extra month's membership for free.

Those of you who follow my blog are familiar by now with my mantra - niche, niche, niche. This is easy to say, vast to implement. It's not just a marketing thing - it is a service thing, it's how you teach, how you implement in your lessons. Many companies spend vast amounts of time and money simply developing new products, and Alexander Technique teachers are not exempt from this law of the market place.