Stephanie Sohns, AmSAT
EDUCATION
SPECIALTIES
CONTACT (303) 489-9471 [email protected] The Alexander Technique (AT) is recognized as one of the most effective ways to change negative habitual patterns of movement, posture and function. Negative patterns that often go unnoticed in the way we stand, sit, walk, cook, brush our teeth, bend over, reach for something, get into or out of a chair, a car, carry/lift a heavy bag, work on a computer, etc. This is a technique that teaches us how to use our bodies in space with greater awareness. Over time, we learn a unique process of self-management where we can simply and effectively modify our muscular responses to stress, pain, and discomfort and carry out better use of ourselves at will. |
Stephanie has been an educator and advocate in the field of holistic health since 2008. Beginning in the early 2000s, she has undergone extensive training and certification in different, complementary disciplines. Integrating aspects of and insights from these various modalities, she has found, has helped her attain a deeper understanding of her own body and how to heal it—an understanding she brings to working with others.
During her three-year training in the Alexander Technique (AT), Stephanie also attended regular sessions in Trager, Rolfing, yoga, tai-chi, and, notably, GYROKINESIS®. The latter in particular, she says, took her “down a rabbit hole connecting body, space, and breath in natural and organic movement.” This complemented her practice of AT so well that it set her on a 15-year path of continued training in the GYROTONIC® world. This was followed by a deeper need for breathwork and meditation, which she found in Kundalini yoga, and a need for greater stillness and depth, which she explored in Hatha yoga. Drawing on all these modalities, Stephanie crafts each session based on the expressed needs/challenges of the individual student (F.M. Alexander, the founder of AT, referred to all his clients as “students”). Sessions begin with a discussion based on the student’s intake form. “I observe how they move when walking, standing, sitting, getting into and out of a chair, and movement that they do consistently in their daily life/work.” Through hands-on guidance and direction, dialogue and questions, a student begins to develop awareness around habitual patterns of tension and stress reactions and triggers. This allows for a process Alexander called “inhibition” to develop. Inhibiting—refraining from carrying out—a habitual negative pattern of movement or tension retrains the body to pause and allows for something new to show up. “But it’s not new, it’s your body’s innate, natural intelligence and infinite potential for healing happening.” The committed student of AT is an active participant in each lesson. In the beginning this can be challenging, which is why the lesson often ends on the table, for greater integration of the day's teachings. The unique needs and circumstances of each student determine the amount of hands-on guidance, table work, body movement, breath work, stillness, and observation in the lesson. The goal is to leave the session with greater ease, awareness, and freedom in one’s own body. Stephanie is a nomad at heart, finding wonder in all kinds of environments, from urban to rural and everything in between. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colorado, she has a penchant for moving around—having lived for long and short periods of time in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Oakland; Vancouver, British Columbia; Ashland, Oregon; Burlington, Vermont; Japan; Slovenia; and England. She keeps busy doing all kinds of movement, dance, and bodywork; attending workshops/training/classes; going on retreats; and receiving from fellow healers and practitioners. She also enjoys going on long walks and hikes and, of course, traveling. Tucson’s urban and natural environments, as well as its remarkable healing community, drew her to make a permanent home here. |