Elyse Shafarman holds a Masters Degree in Physiological Psychology and is a teaching member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). She teaches the Alexander Technique to actors in training at American Conservatory Theater's MFA Program and has been in private practice in San Francisco and Berkeley, CA since 2003.

Ms. Shafarman trained with
Frank Ottiwell at the Alexander Training Institute - San Francisco. During this time, she paired the 1600 hours of experiential learning required to teach the technique, with a scientific investigation of the effects of Alexander Technique on muscle tension during computer use. She presented her findings at the 2003 American Psychological Association (APA) meeting in Toronto, Canada.

A word from Elyse:

" Since about age 16, I’ve been fascinated by the bi-directional connection between thought and physical state. Perception, cognition and emotion all affect, in measurable ways, our balance of hormones, degree of muscle tension, rate of breath, state of alertness, tone of voice and even quality of performance as artists. And more mysteriously, the unconscious conditions of our body can play back and affect our conscious mental state. This fascination has led me into scientific research and somatic practices.

I began my study of the Alexander Technique as a Modern Dancer at SUNY Purchase. Conservatory training is rigorous. The harder I worked to improve my dancing, the more my neck, shoulders and hips locked up with tension. My best efforts were having a detrimental effect. My first Alexander teacher was Jane Kosminsky, who was also a dancer. Those early lessons affirmed the basic logic of the body as a structure designed* to move at joints, designed to move without strain. The Alexander Technique immediately improved my balance, extensions, jumps and pirouettes and gave me a delicious sense of lightness and ease; as though I was floating.

The fascinating bit was that these improvements did not come through muscular effort or striving. Efficient coordination emerged as I learned to first recognize and then stop habitual tension reactions. Physical training could not be separated from my mental, emotional and psychological life.

In my current work with students and in my own practice of dancing Argentine Tango, I find the Alexander Technique continues to be a simple and profound means to calming the nervous system, preventing pain and injury and opening energetic channels in performance.

*I'm taking a little literary license, by using the word "design”. More accurately, the body has evolved and adapted to move efficiently."

Ms. Shafarman's background includes a 10-year career in Modern dance and training in a wide array of somatic and movement disciplines, including Gyrotonics, Svaroopa Style yoga, Body-Mind Centering and Feldenkrais. Over the past seven years, she has taught Alexander Technique throughout the Bay Area at diverse venues including American Conservatory Theater's Summer Training Congress, Elephant Pharmacy, Jeffrey Bihr Studio, The French American International High School, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and San Francisco State University. In her free time, Ms. Shafarman dances Argentine Tango.

Ms. Shafarman is honored to help people of all ages and vocations find freedom in motion.