If you have read our short introductory article, you will know that: the Alexander Technique is concerned with how people use themselves and teaches us how to improve, changing old habits of use.

This article enlarges on these ideas, covering the following topics:

What is the Alexander Technique? Who needs the Alexander Technique? How does it work? Learning through lessons Learning through classes How the Technique came about FM Alexander Key concepts Links Further reading Finding a teacher

What is the Alexander Technique?

The Alexander Technique is not a quick fix. It is a way of learning, and a way of changing, and these things take time and application.

The Alexander Technique improves the way we use ourselves in everyday activity. Unconsciously acquired habits in movements such as standing, walking or sitting distort the body and interfere with its natural functioning. We react to each stimulus to do something by overtensing or collapsing - literally winding ourselves up (or down!). This 'mis-use' results in aches, pains, tension, fatigue or simply in feeling ill-at-ease in one's body. The Technique helps us to prevent these unnecessary reaction/habit patterns and to restore our natural 'good use' of ourselves.

Who needs the Alexander Technique?

We can't escape from the fact that each person uses himself or herself in a particular way. It may be good, it may be bad. There is nobody who can't benefit from studying and improving the way they use themselves. There is nobody who can't benefit from the Alexander Technique.

People come to the Technique for help with a wide range of problems - chronic back pain, neck and shoulder tension, RSI, arthritis, recurring headaches etc. Others would simply like to stand, sit or walk more comfortably and be free of strain.

The Technique is widely used in various fields of performance such as music, acting and sports, to enhance skills and prevent injury.

Alexander's view was that the Technique leads to "an improvement of general functioning". It certainly contributes to a greater sense of well-being and enjoyment of life.

How does it work?

Alexander said, "Stop the wrong thing and the right thing will do itself". He could see that when we think of doing anything we immediately set in train a whole sequence of responses and that the way in which we respond is rooted in habit.

So to "stop the wrong thing", a new skill is necessary; an ability, when we think of doing something, to decide not to do it. Not only not to do it, but not to react or in any way get ready to do it.

Only then will there be any chance that we will let the right thing do itself.

Still there is much to get in the way of the right thing doing itself. We can help by having a clear idea of what should and should not happen at this point. Alexander thought long and hard about how things worked in the human organism. He began to realise that all our actions are governed by a very important relationship.

He realised that our balance and reflex support mechanisms are greatly affected by the co-ordination of the head, neck and back. He began, prior to action, to think about this co-ordination. He described it as letting the neck be free so that the head could go forward and up, so that the back could lengthen and widen and the knees could go forward and away.

He started projecting these new thoughts - he called it "giving directions" - and he hoped that if he could go on projecting these new directions when he returned to his original idea and carried out the activity that he would be able to keep the new directions going throughout the activity.

In this way he believed that he would eventually be able to get the better of his old habits, and be able to chose how to carry out his actions (that is, he would have control of the way that he used himself - control of his manner of use - during the carrying out of the action).

In this way the Technique works to reduce any undue tension or collapse that may be interfering with the head-neck-back relationship. Once these mechanisms are allowed to work in harmony, good use spontaneously returns. Freedom of movement, easier breathing, natural poise and good posture are restored.

Learning through lessons

In Alexander lessons, teachers combine the gentle use their hands with verbal guidance to help the pupil release unnecessary tensions and learn to prevent the habit patterns which interfere with natural functioning. This may be done in simple activities such as standing or sitting, walking or quietly lying down. As the pupil's eyes are opened to their habitual 'mis-use' and they begin to change, they can apply what they are learning to any activity from washing-up to singing to sitting in front of a computer, playing golf, playing the piano - in fact to every aspect and activity of life.

Learning through classes

The best way to learn the Alexander Technique is by having one-to-one lessons with a teacher. The teacher's words are allied to the experience given through the guidance of the teacher's hands. Also, of course, the teacher adapts the sequence of learning to suit the individual.
How can such teaching be done in groups or classes? Well, firstly the teacher will get the students to rely more on observation - of themselves and of their classmates. There will be lots of working in pairs and in groups. Secondly the ideas will work harder as the direct means of learning rather than learning through experience and letting the ideas follow. Thirdly, the teacher will do his or her best to include as much individual attention for each student as they can into their programme, either away from the group or in front of the group so that the others can learn through observation.

Group learning can take various forms. Evening classes or daytime adult education classes are the most available and the most popular. One-off workshops - a few hours, a day or two days - are also widely available. Or if you have the time you can find yourself a specialist holiday where you can devote a whole week or more, in a residential setting, to getting to know the Alexander Technique.

How the Technique came about

F.M.Alexander was an aspiring actor who began to have problems with his voice. He found that when he was performing he became hoarse and eventually lost his voice. He was unable to get any satisfactory help for this either from the medical profession or from voice teachers. Eventually it occurred to him that there was nothing wrong with his voice - except for the way that he was using it. But he had no idea what he was doing wrong. So he set out to find out.

Alexander provides a fascinating account of his search for the answer in his book, "The Use of the Self".

Briefly summarised, what he has to say is this.

His researches took him a long time. At first he could see nothing wrong. But then he began to notice that, when he went to speak, he stiffened his neck and pulled his head back. This tightened his larynx and caused him to become hoarse. If he could prevent the pulling back of his head then the hoarseness did not come about. At first he thought he was home and dry, but then he began to realise (by observation in an arrangement of mirrors) that he was not able to be sure about whether he was pulling his head back or not. In fact, often when he felt that he was not pulling his head back, observation proved that in fact he was! He began to understand that what we feel is often inaccurate. He decided that he could only be sure that he had not gone wrong if, when he decided to speak, he said to himself, "no, I'll have nothing to do with it", and thus succeeded in doing nothing. Even this turned out to be elusive, but this is meant to be a SHORT summary, so follow me on! He practised doing nothing when he thought of speaking and then, before proceeding to speak, he gave himself new instructions in line with his ideas about how he wanted to perform the act of speaking. This is the essence of the Alexander Technique: learn to stop rather than react when you think of doing something, then, before you proceed, give yourself a series of instructions or "directions" as to how you wish the act to be carried out. This is what a teacher of the Technique will seek to teach you from the very start of lessons. If you have followed me thus far, you will see that at this point your best course of action would be to have some lessons!

FM Alexander

FM Alexander was born in 1869 at Table Cape, Tasmania, the son of a farmer and horse-farrier. After some success in commerce, he embarked on a career as an actor and reciter in Melbourne. Unfortunately, within a few years he developed voice problems leading to hoarseness and occasionally to complete loss of voice. Finding doctors unable to help, Alexander reasoned that his mis-use of himself while speaking was the cause of the problem, and set about finding a solution. After years of acute observation and patient experimentation, he discovered principles of movement that, in application, removed his voice problem and greatly improved his health. Alexander's friends and associates noted the remarkable change in him, and asked if he would be willing to teach them what he had learned. Thus began a career which was to take him to England, where he eventually settled, and also the USA. He spent the rest of his life teaching, training others to teach and writing about the Technique. He wrote four books, called "Man's Supreme Inheritance", "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual", "The Use of the Self" and "The Universal Constant in Living". Today there are Alexander teachers in practice throughout the world.

Key concepts

As Alexander developed the Technique and as he wrote about it, it was inevitable that certain words and phrases would come to have a special meaning with relation to the work. Being familiar with these terms makes Alexander's books a lot easier to understand. It also aids the process of leaning the Technique. Here are the main terms, or KEY CONCEPTS that Alexander used.

• Use
• Primary control
• Position of mechanical advantage
• Inhibition
• Direction
• Faulty sensory perception
• Psycho-physical unity
• End-gaining
• Means-whereby

Links to other AT sites

Go to our LINKS page,

or visit the site of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique who have a comprehensive UK and worldwide links page.

Further reading

We sell books on the Alexander Technique at the Bloomsbury Alexander Centre. You can find out what we have in stock by visiting our "bookshop" at AlexanderTechniqueBooks. You can phone us to order a book - phone 0207 404 5348 - or send us an email to tell us what you want to buy (email S.C@btinternet.com).

Finding a teacher

Teachers of the technique are unevenly distributed across the country and across the world. In some places there are plenty of teachers and they are easy to find, in other places there are very few or even no teachers at all. The best way to find a teacher is through recommendation, so ask your friends and colleagues because someone you know is bound to have had lessons. The next best thing is to get a list from a professional organisation. You will find an excellent online search for teachers in the UK and worldwide at www.stat.org.uk, the webpage of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.

If you are looking for a teacher in or around London,UK, then get in touch with us (phone 0207 404 5348 or email us.)