Arthur Lessac developed the Lessac System from over 45 years of study and professional work combined with practical studio teaching to a wide variety of students ranging from businessmen and clergymen to athletes, actors, singers, children, and clinical referrals. In 1965 he was distinguished visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and in 1966 he returned to conduct special workshops for the drama faculties in the Teatro Escolar with high school fine arts' programs. In 1970 he was invited to join the faculty of the State University of New York at Binghamton. Since then the number of SUNY faculty members expert in his work has steadily increased and a substantial graduate program has developed. In 1977 Professor Lessac lectured and conducted workshops at the Hanover State Theatre in West Germany and the Yugoslav State Theatre in Zagreb. Professor Lessac's experience has been as a teacher, theatrical performer, professional singer, director, and expert in speech and voice therapy. His academic background includes studies at the Eastman School of Music, studies in speech therapy at New York University, graduate work in speech education, speech pathology, and physiology at New York University, work in anatomy and neurology at Bellevue Hospital, a clinical internship at St Vincent's Hospital, and a years psychoanalytical training.

This introductory text details Arthur Lessac’s proven procedures for understanding, training, and improving the voice and speech of the performer by exploring the varied qualities of the physical energies associated with producing sounds.

This release of Body Wisdom marks the forty-first anniversary (1978-2019) of Arthur Lessac's groundbreaking work that incorporated an unusual philosophy, a sensible system of creative work and exercises, and a vital concept of psychosomatic health into a single discipline applicable to theatre, athletics, therapy, and life in general. Upon its initial release, Body Wisdom was praised by Theatre Quarterly as a "personal system that is brilliant in its simplicity and as effortless in its flow" - that "incorporates and inter-relates many principles of Yoga, Alexander, and Laban." Over the last forty years, the book has served as a fundamental source used in the evolution of Lessac Kinesensic Training, a sensory-based approach applicable to all uses of the body with "body" defined in its broadest sense to include the physical, vocal, spiritual and imaginative. In a new introduction to this edition of Body Wisdom, Master Lessac Teacher Deborah Kinghorn situates the original manuscript as an important archive in the overall development of Lessac Kinesensics and provides insight into how some of the original terms coined by Arthur Lessac have shifted, while still offering up new possibilities for self-discovery and learning within the larger areas of Bodymind, Embodied Learning, Sensory Integration Therapy, and Theatre Training.

Written to save careers one voice at a time through scientifically proven methods and advice, this resource teaches people how to protect and improve one of their most valuable assets: their speaking voice. Simple explanations of vocal anatomy and up-to-date instruction for vocal injury prevention are accompanied by illustrations, photographs, and FAQs. An audio CD of easy-to-follow vocal-strengthening exercises--including Hum and Chew, Puppy Dog Whimper, Sirens, Lip Trills, and Tongue Twisters--is also included, along with information on breathing basics, vocal-cord vibration, and working with students who have medical complications such as asthma, acid reflux, or anxiety.