Discover our empowering courses at Think Up Academy
At Think Up Academy, we offer transformative courses to help you unlock your full potential and live with greater ease. Explore our programs below.
Catching the Wave –
3 Month Basics Program
This course is for you if you’ve never had Alexander Technique lessons before. Learn how to:
- Uncover the root causes of tension, restricted movement, and stress.
- Change unhelpful mental and physical habits.
- Learn about the importance of an expanded focus.
- Reprogram restricted movement patterns of neck, head back and shoulders, arms, legs for lasting freedom and ease.
- Enhance your performance and create more flow.
- Respond to challenges in a more helpful way.
- Enhance your mindset (auditions/concerts/exams)
- Unify body, mind and emotions.
In 3 months we’ll go deep: you’ll learn the fundamental skills of the Alexander Technique and apply them to your daily life: In this way you’ll bring flow, balance and ease in standing, sitting, sleeping, walking, computer work, music making... you name it!
Different kinds of learning
Courses at the Think Up Academy are inspired by my private practice, and my experiences teaching at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and running retreats.
I’ve found that people progress most effectively with a mix of learning approaches, which is why my courses at the Academy include:
- Private one-on-one lessons
- Dynamic online group classes
- Asking questions any time between lessons
- Regular individual feedback between lessons
- Video recordings to help put AT into practice on your own
- Access to my extensive video-library with many detailed lessons on how to move effectively, how to start with free breathing and how to bring ease in your shifting, high notes, fast notes etc.
- Live masterclasses to enhance freedom and flow
- Community sharing, observing and connecting for those who like
This approach ensures frequent, high-quality practice moments while building your independence and confidence in applying the Alexander Technique to your daily life.
Eventually, with the Alexander Technique toolkit in your pocket you will able to take charge of your own physical, mental and emotional health in the long term.
Mastering the Wave –
5 Month Transformative Program
This course is for you if you’re already familiar with Alexander Technique.
You’ll deepen and refine your skills, uncover increasingly subtle root causes of mental and physical tension, and start to explore the world of your mindset and emotions.
This program has the same mix of learning styles as the 3 Month Basics Course, see above.
Deepening the Wave –
After the Advanced Program, you can continue on a monthly membership basis.
Refreshing the Wave –
Join for a month to refresh your skills.
Contact me to see if I have availability.
“Alexander Technique lessons with Maaike are being so crucial for me since I was already some years having pain in hands and arms while I play double bass; with the pain the confidence on my playing decreased a lot since I could not trust my body anymore. Neither teachers or physiotherapists could give me the key for the muscle relaxation.
By changing my old habits for new ones, AT lessons are the best way I found till now to solve this issue.“
—Lucia Mateo, Double Bass Player, Academy Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
“Via Alexander Technique Maaike has helped me help myself. With her guidance I’ve been able to improve my technique and reduce my physical stress level. Her patience and keen eye helped me identify sources of tension and relax my neck and shoulders to improve my sound in general and specifically help me with a delicate entrance in Ravel’s “Bolero.”
—Janet Morgan, First Bassoon player, Ballet Orchestra
“A few years ago, I was confronted with an unpleasant condition in my left hand. The diagnosis was focal dystonia, a condition that unfortunately offers little prospect of successfully continuing an instrumental career. I had to unfortunately suspend all my work activities and ended up in the medical system. My only hope was, as I understood from literature, that in certain cases improved control had sometimes occurred successfully through “retraining.”
In short, I took on the challenge and chose to achieve this via the principles of the Alexander Technique. Fortunately, I could turn to Maaike Aarts’ practice!
I started from scratch, supported and guided by Maaike with her expertise and unwavering optimism and tried to gradually pick up my clarinet playing again with many “stops”, realizing that a condition in one hand does not only concern the hand but is often the expression of underlying physical problems of the whole body and mind, which have built up over a long period. Through the Alexander Technique you can gain fantastic insight into this.
Fortunately, in this way I was able to continue my career!“
—Harmen de Boer, first clarinet player, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
