“Health involves many things in many levels, but full health is impossible unless we can maintain a balanced equilibrium in the face of forces which tend to disturb us.”
Wilfred Barlow, The Alexander Principle

 

Shula Sendowski started taking Alexander lessons after losing her “balanced equiribrium” mentioned above.  Her bad fall developed into a “disturbing force,” and accumulated difficult frustrations. Her first teachers – Misha Magidov and Lyn Charlsen – gave her the tools to remove those disturbances. Tools for life.

These new, mind-opening experiences made her continue her studies, and in 1991 Shula graduated from the Alexander Training Institute of L.A.  She’s certified by ATI – LA, and by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), and has been an AmSAT member since her graduation.

In addition to the 1620 hours Alexander Technique training program, Shula has attended a wide variety of CE classes and workshops, including an “Art of Breathing” workshop with Jessica Wolf, and the Professional Development workshop on Adapting Alexander Technique for People with Parkinson’s and their Care Partners, with Monika Gross, head of the Poise Project.

Shula also maintains a non-related M.A. from Tel Aviv University, and her essays on External & Internal Focus were published in AmSAT News issue #83 & AmSAT Journal issue #1.  Her Interview of master teacher Judith Stransky was published in AmSAT Journal #5 & 6, and her article on “Use” was published in AmSAT Journal #11.

Shula is a long time participant of the Alexander Technique Book Club founded by Pamela Blanc, one of the founders of the Alexander Technique Training Institute of LA.

Shula is currently working online, and in person.  She has worked in Northridge Hospital with people living with Parkinson’s, and has assisted Julie Shelton in her work with people with Parkinson’s Disease at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in New Hall.  Together with Julie, she’s also conducted classes for people with PD in Westwood.  She’s taught in Thousand Oaks, in the Cancer Support Center, and has worked with seniors in the Calabasas Senior Center.  She’s taught in Encino, in the National Holistic Institute.  Shula has presented the Alexander Technique in various locations, including AmSAT’s Annual Conference and General Meeting, and has given a number of workshops for the Alexander teachers of LA as well.

Shula gives her students the tools, and knowledge she’s acquired, and continues to acquire.  With her gentle, step-by-step guidance they learn how to look at their tension patterns, how to acknowledge them, how to understand them, and how to approach them.  Her classes include short discussions and explanations, looking at basic anatomical facts, experimenting with simple movements, practicing the “Whispered Ah” breathing, and lying down in the semi-supine Active Rest position.