IAN JACKSON
Ian Jackson is something of a philosopher. He's a deep thinker
with a talent for seeing common things in uncommon ways, for
cutting through the fluff to the heart of matters, for linking
apparently separate ideas."
Joe Hendeson Editor, Runners World
About Ian Jackson
Ian Jackson has been playing the edges of athletic performance for a long time. He has played those edges as a long-distance distance runner, swimmer, big wave rider, skin diver, soccer player, yoga adept, and student of classical ballet. Whatever physical challenge has engaged his interest over the years, Ian has always pursued excellence with single-minded determination--seeking the keys to power, grace, and endurance. His engagement in these various pursuits has been marked with an intensity of focus that he brings in equal measure to his BreathPlay coaching.
As a trainer of Olympic athletes and corporate executives, as an Ironman triathlete, and as a technique coach for 7-Eleven's America's Team--the first American cycling team to enter the Tour de France, Ian has performed at a consistently high level. Ian is as fully available to the average as to the world class athlete. He responds to the genuine desire to improve with total devotion of his considerable teaching gifts.
Jackson took up cycling in the 1970s, when he was studying at the Palo Alto Dance Theatre with ballet master Richard Gibson. During his studies with Gibson, Ian distilled the essence of classical ballet, integrated it with the essence of running BreathPlay, and developed a radically different approach to cycling technique and training. In short, he pioneered a pathway to unprecedented power and endurance on the bike--one which also serves as a reliable portal to that fabled bodymind state know as the zone, in which extraordinary performances are possible. Ian's cycling strength caught the attention, among others, of Talbott's Racing Team, which in 1980 recruited him to help set a new record for the city hall to city hall ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Unwilling to be constrained by conventional compartmentalized thinking, Ian has a gift for distilling and integrating the essence of various disciplines so as to facilitate the full utilization of our resources--physical, mental, and spiritual. The ideas of those such as Milton Erikson, MD, Moshe Feldenkrais, Hans Selye, B.K.S. Iyengar, Joe Henderson, Joel Kramer, and Ernst Van Aaken, among others, have been instrumental in Ian's efforts to articulate the path he's developed for achieving ever higher levels of performance--levels higher than would otherwise be attainable.
Over the years, few have explored Jackson's ideas, and many have dismissed them. However, for those who have entered the BreathPlay adventure, the rewards have always been surprising and impressive. To quote a typical comment, those rewards have been "nothing short of amazing!"