Freedom to Change

– The Development and Science of the Alexander Technique
by Frank Pierce Jones

This is the most comprehensive introduction to the Alexander Technique published to date.

Frank P. Jones (1905-1975) trained with F. M. and A.R. Alexander 1941–44 and taught the Technique until his death.

Drawing on his long association with the Alexander brothers, Jones relates the story and development of the Technique.

£15.00

New and reset edition. Paperback, 240 pages. 26 illustrations and 4 colour plates. Reprinted March 2003.

More details: Freedom to Change

For twenty-five years Jones conducted original scientific research into the Technique using a variety of methods including multiple-image photography (investigating changes in movement patterns), X-ray photography (examining the head-neck relationship) and electromyograms ( measuring muscles in different head-neck relationships). The most important results are presented and Jones explains some of the underlying mechanisms at work, including how the conscious mind activates anti-gravity reflexes.

"Freedom to Change" is also the most comprehensive biography of Alexander's extraordinary life.

Jones always intended his book to be called "Freedom to Change", but it was originally published after his death as "Body Awareness in Action", in 1976.

This new and reset edition contains Jones' outline for a fifteenth chapter plus sketches and observations from his notebook, published here for the first time. In these "Notes on Teaching" Jones summarizes his teaching experiences and sets out principles for good teaching practice. The three appendices contain introductory talks and papers on the Alexander Technique.

Sample pages from books available in pdf.

Colour-coded multiple photograph of walking over a box.

The book contains four colour plates and 25 b/w illustrations.

Introduction by J. McVicker Hunt Foreword to New Edition by Ted Dimon
Acknowledgements
1. Escape from the Monkey Trap: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique
2. Sensory Evidence
3. Alexander's Discovery
4. Man's Supreme Inheritance
5. Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual
6. The Use of the Self
7. The Universal Constant in Living
8. The Two Brothers
9. The Alexander Training Course
10. Trial in Johannesburg
11. Dewey and Alexander
12. Experimental Studies
13. What is the Mechanism?
14. Notes on Teaching

Frank Pierce Jones

Appendix A: F. M. Alexander and the Re-education of Feeling
Appendix B: The Organization of Awareness
Appendix C: Awareness, Freedom and Muscular Control
Appendix D: Learning How to Learn: An Operational Definition of the Alexander Technique
Appendix E: Drafts and Notes
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index

Publication notes

First published (hardback) 1976 as "Body Awareness in Action". Second edition (paperback) 1979. Third edition published May 1997 by Mouritz.

Paperback, 240 pages, 202 x 135 mm, 26 illustrations and 4 colour plates. Printed on 90 gsm acid-free paper. ISBN 0-9525574-7-9.

Errata

None reported.

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