About Barbara
About the Teacher
Barbara Maloney has been teaching since graduating from The American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York City over twenty years ago. Before moving to San Jose she lived in Paris and then Cambridge, England. During her time abroad she taught private lessons and gave workshops and classes for Centre National de Musique et de la Danse and University of Cambridge departments and colleges. Barbara has been invited to give workshops for a broad spectrum of applications including storytelling, public presentations, choral singing, dance, and yoga. In her private practice she has helped students with diverse goals including: instrumentalists, vocalists, and students challenged by cerebral palsy, scoliosis, chronic pain and anxiety.
Personal Statement
Although I had my first Alexander Technique lesson nearly thirty years ago, it still produces a vivid memory. I became absolutely hooked on this unique learning method and the sensations of balanced lightness and ease that it produced. From that initial lesson, I knew that I wanted to become a teacher of the technique.
My immediate enthusiasm for the Alexander Technique was based on years of experience with movement and health practices. As a dancer, I was delighted to find a technique that was addressing the most fundamental aspects of balance and coordination. As a choreographer, I was excited by a method that did not categorize movement as healthy or harmful, but effectively addressed the entire range of human motion. Furthermore, years of experience as a massage therapist had convinced me that education, rather than manipulation, was the key to realizing long term improvements.
The Alexander Technique also impressed me as a method that could bring relief and hope to even the most reluctant of movers; people hindered by health problems. Since becoming a teacher I have been deeply impressed by the power for recovery that is activated when we bring awareness to how we move. Adapting the Technique’s principles for a wide range of goals and abilities is one of the great pleasures of teaching.
The fascination I initially felt for this work has only increased through the years. For both my students and me lessons are a continuous process of self-discovery. Together we experience our extraordinary potential for change and revive our innate joy in moving.