Testimonials

Alexander Technique

Dr Gavin Young, Cumbria:

 “Julie worked as part of our Primary Healthcare Team at the surgery and we made referrals to her for patients with a multitude of problems, particularly musculoskeletal problems related to possible life stresses. Her presence in the surgery was a great asset and was valued highly by patients and by us, her GP employers. She was hard working and reliable and good to have around, as she gave us new insight into looking at conditions, which we as doctors perhaps, had viewed purely using a medical model”.

Thomas Guthrie:

“It really has been a pleasure to work together, I appreciated what you brought enormously and also learnt so much. Thanks for being both flexible and insightful, on so many levels. I really appreciated how you got what we were trying to do too.”

Thomas is A former Jette Parker Young Artist Stage Director at the Royal Opera House in London, artistic director of Music and Theatre for All, Guest Artistic Advisor to the York Early Music Festival, was Belknap Fellow at Princeton University, New Jersey in 2017

Dr Helena Daffern, University of York:

“Julie coached me in Alexander Technique leading up to and throughout my pregnancy with my first child. The weekly / fortnightly sessions were always a highlight in my diary, knowing I would feel amazing by the end of the session in both mind and body! Julie was completely dedicated to making my pregnancy and labour a positive experience – which they were! It was also through these sessions that I managed to eradicate hip pain, where physiotherapy had failed. I look forward to continuing AT with Julie focussing on singing performance in the future.”

Lindsay Kyte MA, Writer, Performer,  and TEDx speaker, Canada:

 “I first met Julie as a student in the Masters program at LIPA. With our very stressful and hectic schedule, walking into Julie’s classroom was like being given a drink of cool water on a very hot day. She reset our minds and bodies and got us to breathe and recognize ourselves in our habits. We got to the root of “why” we had such habits, what it said about the way we regarded the world and looked at how to be mindful in inhibiting unhelpful pattern, thus creating gentle change. We used to call her “the wizard” because 14 stressed-out Masters students left her presence blissful and ready to take on the next challenges. Julie’s teachings were a gift and we never forgot them. In fact, three years later and from Canada, I am about to start life-coaching with Julie via telephone. When life after LIPA got out of hand, she was the person I wanted to help me see the way. I recommend her as an Alexander instructor and life coach to anyone who wants to enhance their life and see themselves through her kind and wise eyes.”

Federico Pendenza:

I am Federico and am currently a MA Music Education student at University of York. Although I have been taking Alexander technique lessons with Julie Parker for only three months, I immediately noticed the great amount of benefits from the very first lesson. As a professional classical guitar player, I always had problems in adjusting my body to the guitar in order to reduce the effort required for high level motor skills: I had always felt a constant tension in my shoulders which often compromised my technique and increased discomfort in public performances. Taking Alexander technique lessons changed my life. After several lessons, I have been able to balance my body to reach a new level of technical awareness with easiness and comfort and I have been able to discover my breath which is helping me reduce performance anxiety symptoms.

Helena Cooke BA (Music):

Julie Parker is an absolutely integral member of staff in the Music Department at the University of York. Her sessions were vital for me in preparation for my final recital. Vocal stamina has been a huge problem for me but has improved immeasurably under her coaching. I now feel far more relaxed when singing in general, and she has helped me in finding a more open sound. She has also helped my performance anxiety and general confidence. I cannot recommend her teaching enough; it would benefit any kind of performer.

Alex Ashworth ARAM, DipRAM, LRAM, MA (Cantab), PGDip, Professor of Singing, London Royal Academy of Music:

I’ve worked with H… as her singing teacher since Jan 2013. She has a beautiful contralto voice which she uses with great musicianship. In order to help her sing with greater freedom and alignment I asked her to take advantage of Alexander Technique lessons. When she started these last year there was an immediate and audible improvement to her singing. I warmly support her application for a subsidy for further AT lessons in order that she may develop her considerable potential to the full.

Chris Roberts, BA (Music):

Scholarship towards a Master’s in performance at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Cardiff University Concerto Prize
Cardiff University ‘Neville John String Prize’

During my year with Julie I learnt a lot about Alexander Technique, and a lot about myself, both physically and mentally. As a classical guitarist Julie first began solving a few problems with my playing posture, namely an overly tense right shoulder and jaw. These were so ingrained with my playing technique that they took a long time to fix. However, in the process I discovered how to notice, and in some cases fix, similar issues myself. Now three years on, I still keep these lessons in mind and am yet to encounter any kind of injury from my playing.
We didn’t just discuss physical issues. I also learnt a lot about stage presence, conveying meaning in a piece, connecting with my thoughts, and balancing my many projects!

R. Watkins Computer Analyst (Testimonial received 2008 – lessons given 1995-97):

You may well not remember me, from when you gave Alexander Technique sessions at BP Hemel Hempstead in the mid-90s, but I just wanted to say a big and very belated “thank you”.
At the time of your sessions, I was extremely anxious and self-defeating in my approach to life, but your guidance – for example, directing me towards Susan Jeffers’ “Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway” – helped me to take the first steps towards making my life into what I wanted. It took me a number of years to halt the self-sabotage and to take the vital step of leaving BP, but now I have the life I always wished for. I have now been happily married for 7.5 years to a fantastic, intelligent, loving, spontaneous, creative Australian woman, and we have a wonderful 2.5 year-old son. My career is now one in which I’m valued and respected and no longer put-upon, and I have had the confidence to set parameters to my working life which enable me to be an effective husband and father. I’m still possibly a bit too risk-averse – and maybe the leap of faith to commit to writing my novel/screenplay ideas may not happen (mortgage to pay and all that) – but your guidance helped to equip me with the tools to go out and take control of my life instead of being paralysed by indecision.

E Grant Machine Operator:

I have always been a very poor swimmer, finding a way to improve never seemed attainable, one day I read an article in a sports magazine about how the Alexander Technique could help.It recommended getting in touch with a AT teacher, so I found Julie Parkers name in the phone book and set up a meeting.I went for my first lesson with a open mind, coming out after the first lesson thinking this was a load of bollocks it would never work.But the more lessons Ive done and the understanding has got better, my attitude has changed my belief has grown.My swimming has improved so much breathing being the key. What a difference it makes.

Julie is a very good teacher a pupil can only be as good as his teacher someone he believes in I believe in Julie 100%, her lessons are always interesting especially the latest one about juggling.If I could have one wish in life it would have been to have found AT teaching a lot earlier in life.Its something I want to keep going forever, I would recommend AT lessons to anybody its never too late to learn and AT lessons certainly do that.

J Andrews:

Even before suffering two miscarriages in my early 40s I was finding health and well-being something of a struggle. In my 20s and 30s as a single parent, I had ‘burnt the candle at both ends’, taking little or no account of my own needs. I suppose it was almost a foregone conclusion that as I entered pre-menopause I was going to find it difficult, especially as I had chosen not to take conventional HRT.

I tried most things at sometime or other, homeopathy, osteopathy, nutritional and supplemental advice, and latterly exercise and relaxation techniques. I tried bio-kinetics but could not keep up the exercise regime during periods when I was not so well without exhausting myself, although I enjoyed some of the benefits at other times.

In my early 50s, still suffering sometimes with severe menopausal symptoms and various aches and pains, as well as finding it hard to relax and enjoying refreshing sleep, a friend came to stay bringing with her a book about the Alexander Technique. I was interested, acquired a book of my own and liked what I read; the connection between mind and body really spoke to me of my own experience.

A locally run workshop clinched it for me – I had to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. Nearly two years on, life is so much better. I still suffer menopausal symptoms but I’m better able to cope and so much more positive in my outlook. I feel as though knots have been taken out of me, from those places where tension had built up over the years. I’m now so much more aware of the way mind and thoughts affect my body and can handle stress so much better by being aware of my body’s responses. Regular relaxation times, listening to my body, help diffuse tension before it builds up – and I’m in control, not tablets or the intervention of others.

I believe this gentle technique will continue to teach me how to maintain and improve my quality of life. I heartily recommend it – make it the foundation on which you build all your activities and see the difference for yourself.

J Graves, Cumbria:

I suffered from neck pain for some considerable time and after twelve months of traction, which had little or no effect, was referred to a pain consultant. Fortunately at this point a friend recommended that I try the Alexander Technique. Within a few months of starting with Julie the problem was sorted and I have had no problem since. I cannot speak too highly of what she has done for me.’

COACHING

Professor Duncan Bentley – Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Planning, Marketing and External Affairs, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia:

Julie Parker has coached me from the UK in Australia using Skype during a significant institutional change process for which I was responsible. Although the medium was different from normal management coaching I had experienced, I found it to be most effective. The interaction was more focused and required me to engage more attentively than in a physical setting.

 

Julie is a highly professional and experienced coach with a wide range of tools and techniques. I found that she both assisted my thinking and personal reflection and modelled the approaches to communication that I needed to take through the change process. She assisted me in extending my skills. Julie would be an excellent resource for any organisation that wants to develop its middle and senior management through effective coaching individually or in teams.

 I found Julie Parker to be a sensitive and intuitive coach, acting from instinct and natural understanding of human conditions as well as from rigorous training and belief in her work.

She takes the riddles and complexities of life and transforms them into exciting challenges. Her natural positivity is deeply infectious.