Stony Brook Congress 1986 – Interview Patrick Macdonald

In this interview Patrick Macdonald discusses that the teacher should have “up flow”, a good deal of upward direction going on in the body in the body which is then imparted to the pupil. He goes on to comment famously that in working with the technique, the first 65 years are the worst.

Patrick Macdonald (1910–1991) was one of the foremost teachers of the Alexander Technique. He had lessons with FM Alexander from the age of 10, having been introduced to him by his father, a noted medical surgeon. He entered the first teacher training course in 1932 and upon graduation became an assistant teacher at Ashley Place. He began to train teachers at Ashley Place in 1956; his training course continued at Victoria and, in his final years, at his home near Lewes. In 1963 he gave the Alexander Memorial Lecture. His book The Alexander Technique as I See It was published in 1989.