Lindsay Newitter’s Story: Alexander Technique Expert
Lindsay Newitter is an Alexander Technique teacher, working in Montréal and New York City. She’s been running a practice for 15 years.
Lindsay has been featured as a posture expert in The New York Times, Vogue, Allure, CNN Health, and on ABC News Good Morning America. She has been teaching classes to individuals and groups, to companies and organizations since 2007. She has also presented workshops in Europe, Asia, South America, and across the US.
Using her skills as a posture and movement specialist, public speaker, and performer, Lindsay helps people to avoid strain and pain and to show up as their best selves at work and in life in general. She offers clients solutions tailored to their needs and teaches that good posture is a state of being rather than a rigid way of standing up straight.
Lindsay’s Story
My initial exposure to the Alexander Technique was as an undergraduate theater student. I discovered that issues that I had thought to be "physical", "vocal" or "mental" as a performer were all manifestations of poor postural habits. The way that I coordinated myself both when performing and in my daily life resulted in tension, strain, fatigue and lack of confidence.
Through most of my teenage years, I had worn a back brace in order to prevent scoliosis in my lumbar spine from worsening. The brace was extremely uncomfortable and I would collapse onto it, allowing it to hold me up instead of allowing my own back to support me. When I wasn't wearing the brace and when it eventually came off permanently, my postural support muscles (aka core muscles) had in a sense forgotten how to do their job. Instead of allowing my back to support me, I stiffened my neck, shoulders and muscles around my ribcage to hold myself up, resulting in discomfort, fatigue, awkwardness and a strained, fragile-sounding voice, hardly adequate tools for an actor.
I tried very hard to be a good student and to fix the problems I was having. I performed vocal exercises, pushed my shoulders down and back and attempted vigorous exercise routines to get myself in shape, after which I would routinely fall ill. My efforts to exercise were only compounding the problem since I was exerting myself using the poor habits that I'd developed while engaging in strenuous activities such as running.
Once I began taking Alexander Technique lessons and became aware of my harmful habits, I was able to stop them and to allow improved posture and coordination to take over. My challenges suddenly became concrete and manageable rather than vague and frustrating. I would leave lessons feeling lighter, more grounded, freer vocally, happier, and filled with creativity. I understood what I needed to do to progress as an actor and my ability to perform greatly improved. I found myself sleeping more restfully felt more willing to get up in the morning, I have been through two pregnancies and, despite my scoliosis, experienced no back trouble, and I feel more energized when I exercise and have become an avid runner. The strategies that I’ve learned have given me the physical and mental stamina to achieve my goals and to to have the energy to get through a busy day. Always having considered myself shy, I found through a new confidence through the changes in how I hold my body and move.
Lindsay is an AmSAT-Certified Alexander Technique teacher, having completed a 3-year Alexander Technique teacher certification course in 2007. Lindsay is also trained in Anatomy In Motion and The Art of Running and is skilled at analyzing movement and gait.
About AmSAT Certification: AmSAT (The American Society for the Alexander Technique) exercises a rigorous credentialing process of requiring a minimum of 1,600 hours of training over three years in an Alexander Technique teacher training course approved by the organization. AmSAT members must also comply with regular continuing education requirements.
