Training & Experience Rajal Cohen is a 1997 graduate of the Virginia School for Alexander Technique, a 3-year, 1600-hour teacher training course certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique and recognized by affiliated international societies. She has experience teaching many different kinds of students, including performing artists, athletes, equestrians, and people with pain or discomfort that is caused or aggravated by daily activities. She received her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, with a minor in kinesiology, from Penn State University in 2008. Perspective Rajal is driven by a desire to reconcile the wonder of the Alexander Technique with the rigor of science, without compromising either one. Her teaching is lively and compassionate, balancing imagery, analysis, demonstration and hands-on guidance.

Endorsements Rajal is a calm, open person with a ready smile. She listens well - which enables her to solve the real problems. She has a wonderful sense of humor. I liked all three of my Alexander teachers, bur Rajal is my favorite. - Allen Bachelder, Professor of Trumpet, Virginia Tech Thank you so much, Rajal, for everything you have done for me. I truly believe that working with body awareness for the past year or two has given me the framework within which to tackle some old emotional stuff. But much better than that, it's given me a quality of movement and a sense of self that I love so much!!! What a gift. - Sue Daniels, Wildlife Biologist and equestrian Rajal, I'd like to thank you again for the wonderful workshop. My students absolutely loved it; it was a wonderful educational opportunity for all of us. Your obvious thorough organization and planning helped to make the event even more interesting, especially for those who had had no prior connection with the concepts. - Marianne Sandborg, Artist in Residence, Roanoke College

Partial List of Work Presented The Pennsylvania State University Theatre Department - fall semester, 2002 Texas Tech University, Departments of Music, Theater & Dance - October-November, 2001 University of the South (Sewanee, TN) Theater & Music Departments - 2000, 2001 Burrell Nursing Home Inservice (Roanoke, VA) - October, 2000 Willow Ridge Horse Farm (Riner, VA)- October, 2000 Virginia Nurses Association (Salem, VA) - July, 2000 Simple Springs Horse Farm (Floyd, VA) - May, 2000 CAMEO Institute at Selu (Radford, VA) - May, 2000 Hollins University Dance Department (Roanoke, VA) - March, 2000 Roanoke College Fine Arts - November, 1999 Hollins University Music Department - fall semester, 1999 The Center of Dance - August, 1999 (Blacksburg, VA) Virginia Tech Student Health Services Inservice - August, 1999 Southwest Virginia Dressage Association - February, 1999 Virginia Tech Women's Center Staff Retreat - December, 1998 Radford University Music Department - October, 1998 Montgomery County Health Department Inservice (Christiansburg, VA)- May, 1998 Virginia Tech Theater Department - January, 1998 The Yoga Center (Roanoke, VA) - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 YMCA Open University (Blacksburg, VA) - 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Optimal Health Associates (Blacksburg, VA) - 1997, 1998, 1999 American Guild of Organ players (Roanoke, VA) - March, 1997

Biography I grew up in Whitefish, Montana, a small town in the Rocky Mountains. I played soccer and the clarinet, and I did a lot of downhill skiing. At Wesleyan University (Connecticut) I studied jazz saxophone and South Indian singing, while majoring in psychology. During this time I began to have recurring upper back and neck pain. I lived for the next few years at a rural cooperative in central Virginia, where I did construction work and farming, organized workshops, made tofu, and taught myself to play the guitar. During these years I suffered from frequent back injuries and fallen arches, and I sprained my ankle so often that I became afraid to run. I began taking lessons and classes in the Alexander Technique because I sought insight into my physical problems, for help with stage fright, and also because I sensed something profound in the way of approaching life it offers. In the first ten lessons I learned how I was causing my back pain, and I learned to stop doing it. Over the next year of lessons I dramatically changed my relationship with my feet and ankles. I eventually returned to running, and I am now able to do heavy lifting without fear of injury. After completing a three-year training to become a teacher of the Alexander Technique, I moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwest Virginia, where I lived and taught for five years. During these years I took lessons in classical and blues guitar, and I performed at ‘open mic nights’ with a friend. I also explored various martial arts (Tai Chi, Hsing-I, and Aikido), dance forms (contact improvisation and ballroom), and yoga. My curiosity about movement, posture and well-being eventually led me to return to academia. I entered graduate school at Penn State to learn how to do scientific research investigating human motor control. In August, 2008, I graduated with a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and a minor in kinesiology. I now live in Beaverton, Oregon. I am a full-time researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, studying Parkinson's disease, and I teach Alexander Technique lessons two nights per week in my home. I feel extremely lucky to have discovered the Alexander Technique. I find it fascinating that with the same principles of careful attention and non-overdoing I can help both people who are in so much pain they can barely move and high-level performers who are able to perform incredible feats of agility, and I love that this work educates and empowers people to take care of themselves, instead of remaining dependent on a healer to take care of them.