Evolving the Alexander Technique: Attunement, Capacity, and Teaching in a New Era

Master Alexander Technique Teacher

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Bill Conable is an Alexander Teacher and a musician. He is Professor Emeritus of Music at the Ohio State University, where he was active as a cellist and conductor. He began his Alexander studies with Marjorie Barstow in 1962 and continued with her over the next twenty-five years. He also studied with Frank Pierce Jones and Walter Carrington.

In 1973 at Ohio State he initiated the first class in the Alexander Technique offered at an American university. In the mid-1970s, he began developing the concept of Body Mapping, which is widely recognized as a major contribution to the theory and pedagogy of the Alexander Technique. He has presented papers and workshops on this development at Alexander teacher training courses in the US and Japan and at conventions of both Alexander teachers and music teachers. Body mapping is at the core of How to Learn the Alexander Technique, which he co-authored with Barbara Conable.

Over the past 25 years, Bill has studied energy healing with James Kepner and Carol DeSanto, as well as with Rosalyn Bruyere, and Shelby Hammitt. He is a certified Advanced Practitioner of Nervous System Energy Work, a new discipline being developed by Kepner and DeSanto. His current research centers on the integration of this work with the Alexander Technique. Bill Conable offers classes and private instruction in Spokane, WA, and in workshops sponsored by organizations all over the world.

Formerly he taught at KAPPA, ATA, and AQP, Alexander teacher training programs in Japan, and at CBAS in North Carolina. He has taught in Taiwan, Brazil, Chile, Italy, and elsewhere. He is a Honorary, Lifetime Teaching Member and former Treasurer of ATI and a former teaching member of AmSAT.

Alexander Technique Teacher, Somatic Educator, and Musician

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Shawn is an Alexander Technique teacher, somatic educator, and clarinetist whose work integrates the Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, and contemporary somatic education. He is the founder of mBODYed, LLC, an educational organization supporting musicians, educators, and performers in developing sustainable, embodied approaches to learning, teaching, and performance.

Shawn holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and has completed extensive training in the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping. He is a Certified Sponsoring Teacher of the Alexander Technique and a Licensed Mentoring Teacher with the Association for Body Mapping Education. He is also a Master Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist accredited by ISMETA, an Integrative Wellness Practitioner certified through the Integrative Wellness Academy, and holds a certification in Insight Coaching.

His teaching and research focus on pedagogical clarity, relational learning, and the role of accurate body understanding in artistic and educational practice. He is the author of Body Mapping for Clarinetists and has published and presented on somatic education, musician health, and performance pedagogy in academic, professional, and interdisciplinary settings. His forthcoming book, The mBODYed Breath: Body Mapping, Breathing, Balance, and Belonging, continues this line of inquiry.

Shawn teaches internationally in universities, conservatories, and professional trainings, working with teachers, trainees, and performers across disciplines. His current work explores how the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping can continue to evolve in response to changing cultural, educational, and physiological realities, while remaining grounded in the integrity of the work.