“Partnering with Poise” – Caring for the Care Partner

Learn self-care strategies based on Alexander technique (AT) principles. Build resilience for the physical and emotional challenges of ongoing care-giving.

This evidence-based program teaches you skills to manage the many physical and emotional demands of long-term caregiving, as well as how to effectively cue loved ones to use Alexander technique principles in their daily life. The program consists of a group class meeting for 90 minutes once a week for 10 weeks. The first and last classes meet for two hours.

Alexander technique is a well-established approach for skillfully managing stressful circumstances. AT training has also been found to be effective in reducing physical symptoms, such as chronic neck and back pain — common complaints for care partners — and it has been demonstrated that AT training has long-term retention of benefits.

About the Instructor

Instructor: Diana Bradley, M.Ed., M.AmSAT, M.ATI

Diana has been a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1979. Her training includes a 13-year apprenticeship with Marjorie Barstow who was an innovative first generation teacher, trained directly by F.M. Alexander. She has a 10-year background in modern dance and 16 years of training in Aikido, a Japanese martial art in which she holds a 3rd degree black belt.

A founding member of Alexander Technique International (ATI), she has traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Hawaii presenting workshops. In various capacities Diana has taught performing artists at The Baltimore School for the Arts, University of Maryland, Catholic University, and Arena Stage. She has been the guest clinician at the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Festivals and at the International Congress of Carillonneurs.

Diana is the director of Alexander in the Caribbean, a 5-day course in St. Thomas, USVI, and a faculty member of both the Studio Theatre’s Acting Conservatory in Washington, DC and the Barstow Alexander Technique Institute in Nebraska. Recently, she completed a two-year training in Gestalt Therapy at the Washington Center for Consciousness Studies.

Currently, Diana teaches AT group classes at Crossings: A Center for the Healing Traditions and maintains a private practice in Takoma Park, MD, where she also teaches specialty groups focusing on the voice, fitness and the art of being comfortable. She is a founding member of Alexander Technique Teachers of Greater Washington.

Class Details

When: Thursdays 2 pm-3:30 pm. April 4 – June 13, 2019. Please note the following class date and time specifics: April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, (no class June 6), June 13  (first two classes, and last class times are 2:00-4:00 pm).

Where: Iona Senior Services, 4125 Albemarle St. NW, Washington, DC (corner of 42nd and Albemarle, one block west of the Tenleytown Metro stop on the Red Line.)

Cost:This class is being funded by the DC Office on Aging, so there is no charge for DC residents. Tuition for MD and VA residents is $100.

Registration: Space is limited! Email Lena Frumin at lfrumin@iona.org with your name. The class is capped at 12 people, so register ASAP.

“Partnering with Poise” is a program of The Poise Project® and was developed as a research project through the University of Idaho with support from Parkinson’s Foundation Moving Day® grants.