Alexander Technique – Laura Klein

Laura is a skilled and compassionate teacher. I first came to her for help with incredibly painful plantar fasciitis. In the 9 months that I have worked with Laura, I have gone from limping and hobbling to nearly pain free. I was skeptical that Alexander Technique could help with foot pain, but it really did. To boot, my posture is drastically improved. I went from constant slumping to model-​esque stature. I can’t recommend Laura highly enough!

Laura has a great manner, is truly skilled, and her studio is beautiful. During sessions, I overlook a beautiful and peaceful yard with a bird bath. It is peaceful.
Her 30 minute sessions are great, too. Keeps the work affordable. I really like Laura — saw her just once thus far and am already recommending her to friends.
She is skilled at identifying problems, and helping me fix them!

Laura Klein is a kind, caring and thoughtful teacher of the Alexander Technique. I sustained a work related back injury. Rather than seek invasive surgery, I sought out ways to help my body heal itself. Laura’s astute observations, humor, and skill gave me the tools I needed to not only allow my back to heal, but also relieve tension through out my body. I highly recommend Laura’s services to anyone with chronic pain and tension, or is simply curious about living life more effortlessly.

Alexander lessons with Laura have really helped me with persistent neck/​back/​arm pain, allowed me to stay off the pain pills prescribed by my neurologist. Lessons with her have been uniformly positive and helpful. Her studio in North Berkeley is a lovely quiet space to focus and relax. She has my highest recommendation. (She’s also a fine jazz pianist — go hear her perform if you get a chance!)
If you don’t know about Alexander technique, it is a thoughtful, rational way to approach the challenges of getting yourself to use your body in a way that minimizes physical stress. It’s a big success with musicians — Julliard has Alexander teachers on staff. Alexander is not like massage or chiropractic; your Alexander teacher will not «fix» you or make you feel better instantly. It’s more like physical therapy or music lessons: it gets you to change your patterns of behavior little by little until you’re doing a better job managing your use of your own frame.
The trickiest bit — just like in playing a musical instrument or mastering a sport — is that even when you know what you want your body to do, it *just won’t do it*. at least at first. So Alexander works you through it slowly via small exercises to bridge that «mind/​body» gap. It takes time and persistence.
The whole mind/​body aspect of teaching your body to work efficiently is an opening for more ethereal considerations. Laura seems to have pegged me (correctly) as a down-​to-​earth person, and we work well on that level. I get the sense she also could work well with people who want to take a more spiritual view of those issues. She’s open-​minded and a good listener.
My background: I spend most of my day at a computer, and am a long-​time student of trumpet interested in improving my playing. I had back and arm pain that was diagnosed as arthritis of the neck which was pinching nerves. A neurologist prescribed medication to limit the pain, but told me I’d have to continue taking it indefinitely. The medication attacked the symptom, but the problem was physical.
Many world-​class trumpet players recommend Alexander, so I thought I’d give it try to help with my neck and arm pain, and maybe as a bonus my trumpet playing would improve. Over the course of 6 months of work with Laura I was able to stop taking any pain medication for my neck. I think avoiding medication is a huge win, and the best recommendation I can give for Laura and Alexander.
My trumpet playing is maybe a little bit better as a result, but it’s a much bigger challenge to translate my Alexander experience to all the little physical aspects of playing the instrument — I *still* tighten up when I play in all the same ways, although now I’m (painfully) conscious of it. On the other hand, that was a secondary goal for me. And trumpet playing does hurt less (everything hurts less!)