Finding Quiet Strength (FQS) is a practical philosophy that connects to both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience. Judith’s work enables a calm, confident, and coordinated approach to life, helping us to be centred, grounded and develop a sense of poise and equilibrium.
At some point, most of us need help with the challenges of life. FQS is a practice of being present in a way that develops our emotional intelligence and embodied awareness enabling us to navigate the many ups and downs of being human. The work helps us to develop a deep and gentle self-acceptance. Through this self-acceptance, FQS helps us work on an embodied resilience and become more aware of what we can let go of and change.
A core element of this work is inspired by F.M. Alexander’s principles of inhibition and direction, stopping, thinking and connecting. With practice, we can take a moment to pause and consider how we might be limiting ourselves and begin to notice the interconnection of our mindset with our bodies. Often the patterns of worrying and anxiety that we embody can be below our conscious radar and can start to limit the joy, peace and ease which we find when we feel in charge of ourselves.
Finding Quiet Strength integrates Alexander’s discoveries with Chi Kung and Tai Chi. These ancient traditions help us recognise the signals of threat that trigger old patterns of defence and fear and restore us to a sense of being centred and to regain conscious control. FQS works on the relationship between thinking in stillness and thinking in activity to find a sense of wholeness in whatever we do so we can feel at home with ourselves in all situations and our lives can become more joyful.
Professor Judith Kleinman AGSM MSTAT, trained as a musician at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama going on to play the double bass with the LSO, English National Opera and CLS. She went on to train to be an Alexander teacher with Patrick Macdonald and Shoshanna Kaminitz qualifying in 1989. Judith is one of the Alexander team at the Royal College of Music and head of department at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. She is also Assistant Head of Training at the London Centre for Alexander Technique and Training (LCATT). Judith wrote Alexander in Secondary and Tertiary Education, co-wrote The Alexander Technique for Musicians with Peter Buckoke, published by Bloomsbury 2014, and recently co-wrote The Alexander Technique for Young Musicians, a handbook for 11–13-year-olds.
Judith has sat on the Society of Teachers of Alexander Technique (STAT) council and coordinated the STAT Education Special Interest group. She has produced five short films on different aspects of Alexander in Education and collaborated to create the Education section of the STAT website. She regularly writes articles, gives workshops and talks on Alexander in Education in Europe, USA and Gt Britain to the public and the Education world. Judith also teaches Yoga and Tai Chi and lives in London with her partner Peter Buckoke.
Prelude: How to Approach this book The Elements of Wholeness
1 Calm: The Embodied Mind
2 Confident: Embodying Structure, Breath and Emotion
3 Coordination: The Embodied sense of Movement and Ease
4 Curiosity: Embodying and Integrating our Senses
5 Creativity and Purpose: Empowering our energy
6 Co-regulation with each other and Connection to the Environment
7 Finale: A quiet revolution
Further Reading
Understanding of the interconnectedness of the mind, body and emotions.
Sensory awareness, with an emphasis on an appreciation of the somatic sense of the body in stillness and movement.
A reliable map of the structure of the body.
Through an exploration of balance, the connection between breathing, embodiment and the environment.
An understanding of how to listen to our nervous systems to recognise the signals of threat and safety.
The understanding the signals of threat and safety learn to cue in the safety response to self-regulate.
A deep understanding of what it is to think clearly, breathe well and move easily.
Being able to be present with what we are doing while we are doing it.
