About Cate: nationally certified and insured member of Amsat
If there's a single process that teaches someone to facilitate healthful change through touch and movement training, in my cumulative experience of many modalities, it's the Alexander Technique.
My learning about the bodymind has come through a wide range and depth of studies, activities and 30 years of experience, capped off by the three year teacher certification training of the Alexander Technique. From the classroom and self study to the stage and inner screen, every phase of my life has in-formed my integration and coordination. The right use of my movement is transmitted to the student's whole self assisted by my hands-on thinking.
Life Changing Results
( Left: After 126 lessons, Right: before 1st lesson )
"With Cate McNider's Alexander Technique at The Listening Body®, I'm consistently seeing ground breaking shifts in my mental and physical habits. Cate's extensive body and energy work combined with her acting and dancing experience, make Alexander Technique a natural fit. Alexander Technique sessions are subtle, in this Actors opinion.
Cate helped me relax and stay present for a recent short film I was cast in. My usual habit of critical voices and physical tension was gone. I was free from moment to moment and fully connected to the work. Cate taught me the Alexander Technique "Lie Down", "Whispered Ah's", combined with Meditation, Yoga, that I use daily and make part of my acting preparation. My sessions with Cate, cultivated an awareness of my habits, developing tools to release the habits and making significant changes in my life and work as an actor." ~ET, NYC"
My Experiential Studies
- Alexander Technique certification from American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) and AmSAT membership 2016
- School for Body-Mind Centering®, Practitioner & Somatic Movement Therapist, Amherst, MA 2002
- Deep Memory Process® Practitioner: Certified 2010
- 500-hour Yoga teacher training: Certified 2007
- Human Anatomy, cadaver dissection, at NJ School of Dentistry, 1998
- Genny Kapuler, Master Iyengar teacher: 1996-present
- Reiki, 2nd Degree, 1995
- Cranio-Sacral Therapy, certified 1994
- Solo Downtown Multi-media Dance performances 1994-2017
- Dance - Contact Improvisation at PS 122, 1992
- Swedish Institute, College of Health Sciences, Massage Therapy, NYC 1990
- The Pilates Method, Kane School: Certified 1996
- The Drama Studio, London, Classical acting training, London UK, 1984-85
- Sweet Briar College, Amherst, VA: BA in Theatre 1983
- Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, CT 1982
Cate's Spinal healing and Art story:
Healer Heal Thyself
At the age of 14, I proclaimed to my parents I wanted to be an actor and I set about auditioning at the local community arts center. Simultaneously we discovered my spine was diverting from its straight path, the early beginnings of S-curve scoliosis. Since I had always been a mover/dancer (ballet and modern), I begin stretching on the living room floor constantly and made up exercises to counteract the developing pain. I refused to allow a cast or Herrington rod, amazingly, my parents let me handle it.
I arrived in NYC after college graduation and two years post-graduate studying acting and Martha Graham technique in London. I auditioned in NYC for 5 years with an agent, but landed most roles on my own, but was not artistically fulfilled. I turned to writing poetry and then painting showed up, then a friend introduced me to Contact Improvisation(dancing) and I performed at downtown venues. I created my own solo multi-media pieces at Collective Unconscious, Williamsburg PAA and Dixon Place.
I became licensed in massage therapy in 1991 which afforded a flexible schedule for continuing my arts and delving deeply into healing my spine and heart. The healing and art work was intertwined and interdependent, for example, a painting I did based on an image that came to me while receiving bodywork, became the cover of my first published collection of poetry, Separation and Return. I came to uncover, release and unwind the deep emotional pain that was stored in the tissues through several kinds of healers and somato-emotional work. In pursuit of my own healing gave me many insights and compassion into working with others, ‘healer heal thyself’.
By giving up the putting on the masks of character, my choice for living in a body with less pain, had me deconstructing my own masks! AdditionalIy I was certified in: Cranio-Sacral®, Body-Mind Centering®, Reiki, Pilates, Yoga and Deep Memory Process®; diversifying my bodywork and movement practices in tandem with my personal healing process.
After 23 years of practicing massage and added modalities, I was burnt out. My forearms ached, my wrists were strained, I was tired of the extra laundry, I was letting go of a lot of old stuff. So, I took care of my aging dog, sat quietly a lot and asked myself what am I going to do next? One night, while I was online, I found myself typing in Alexander Technique teacher trainings; there was my answer! I audited the class at ACAT the following week and the rest, as they say is her-story.
Eight years later, and a three-year training of 1600 hours of Alexander work by senior teachers, my spine is now centered!! In addition to practice of the Alexander principles, I continued my own energetic unwinding practices which contributed as well. I am living proof it is possible to heal the distorted curves and most importantly, the content that holds the tension.
In the course of my meditations over the years, I came to understand the source of my spinal distortion and took full responsibility for reacting the way I did in order to survive my tumultuous family dynamic. I released those internal triggers for 38 years and my bodymind was allowed to respond in the natural direction - health!!
The Listening Body® welcomes you!
Watch the Mindset Artistry podcast interview on their YouTube channel, where I am a guest of Amanda DeBraux and Janel Koloski talking about healing practices I teach, what they can do for you, and how I came to them!