Eliciting feedback from students is an art, based on “intelligent questions”.

Most times students give answers that are next to useless in helping them navigate the future.

It's a teacher's job to reframe their answer into useful information - information they already have available in their brain (if you know how to help them find it). In this short 4 minute video I talk about how to frame a question that will assist your student to integrate their learning after your lesson is finished...

Lap dogs send you emails with questions like: is there anything I can do???

They look up to you, with unblinking loyal eyes, hungry for their Master’s voice.

Roaring Lions send you emails with judgements: what do you think you’re doing!!!

You want to surround yourself with roaring lions, not lap dogs.

Lap dogs are wonderful, reaffirming, great for your ego and totally useless at helping you to evolve towards your wish. Roaring lions are difficult, challenging to your ego and totally useful in helping you evolve towards your wish.

Time.

I remember being in a car accident years ago. I was on my way to Melbourne – a teenage hormonal phenomenon – charging through the mountainous regions of Coopracambra National Park – on my way to a rendezvous with fate.

We’d just passed through Cabbage Tree Creek and started heading up a long hill. Impetuous lad I was, I felt frustrated by a long lorry blocking a speedy run up the hill.

I tried to pass it.

“Rafferty Rules” was the biggest day in my little 5 year old life.

It happened on Fridays, I don’t remember much more. All I remember is that Dad said I could do…

ANYTHING: Rafferty Rules = There Are No Rules (Wow)

To my magical baby mind, that was, like – incomprehensible. Anything? I can do anything? What will I do? I know, stay up late. Which was about all I could think of (since in those days no one was obsessed about sugar intakes).

On a Skype this week with an AT Teacher*, he told me a wonderful story.

It was about a student – call her Marie – who was also a long-time friend. Of course Marie knew about his AT work, but she had never been much interested.

Then one day, out of the blue, Marie called…

“Look, I don’t want to learn Alexander Technique…”

(rather puzzling he thought)

“… but can you help me cross the street?”

It confirms a growing belief I have about our future – most people don’t care.

I recently had a friend compare me to Donald Trump - that was new!

For me it was a “he said-she said” dialogue, and for her I was distorting the “facts”. I was rewriting history to make my world happy again: “Sorry, but the latter sounds like Donald Trump’s thinking.” she wrote to me.

A really interesting thing what happened last year in London.

As background – it was during the time we staged ATSuccess’ first foray into live workshops. The ATSuccess London Symposium essentially embodied our core message:

Package Alexander's discovery to a specific group of people.

Your “niche” as the marketing lore goes.

There were 7 different events on offer, and over 50 teachers got involved. Huge success. Now I start to introduce the interesting thing:

Better question – who writes a blog on Xmas day?!

I do. Why? Well, why not?

The day is to celebrate the things that make life worthwhile: love, compassion, friendship, family, giving, receiving.

Xmas a great time to practise generosity of spirit.

When I was 11, I played a dangerous game of running on rocks at Avoca Beach in Australia.

I didn’t think it was dangerous, instead I was exhilarated.

It was dangerous because the rocks were sharp and bulky – crashing into them could have split my little head open. They were boulders with diameters as wide as my nimble legs. The rocks extended onwards from the beach, reaching into the overhanging cliffs and disappearing around a headland.

The game was simple: running on rocks as fast as I can.

This is an excerpt from a class I taugh at our Osaka studio in Umeda at the start of a ProCourse class on Thursday, December 8th.