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F.M. Alexander and the history of the Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique was discovered and developed by F. Matthias Alexander (1869 – 1955). An Australian actor, F. M. Alexander developed severe laryngitis at the prime of his career. When voice teachers and physicians were not able to provide effective, long-term solutions, he began to study himself. He believed that he must be “doing” something to cause his difficulties and then determined that he was in fact “doing” something: he was unconsciously habitually pulling his head back and down onto his spine, causing a contraction of his whole torso and creating excess tension on his larynx which led to his laryngitis. The Technique is the process he used to become aware of and correct the “misuse” of himself to cure his vocal issues.
The implications of the work turned out to be far greater than solving laryngitis. In the beginning, he shared his technique with fellow actors who had similar vocal and breathing troubles. It was soon clear that many other ailments (physical and emotional) resolved through Alexander’s technique and he began to receive referrals from physicians as well as his colleagues. Alexander departed Australia in 1904 for England, where he eventually taught his technique to such notables as George Bernard Shaw, Aldous Huxley, John Dewey and Raymond Dart.
Initially, F. M. trained his brother A. R. Alexander to help him teach the Technique, but he did not open a formal teacher training course until 1931. Today, standard teacher training encompasses a required 1600 hours of training over a minimum three year course of training. Presently, there are training centers and Alexander Technique teachers all over the world.
Additionally, F. M. Alexander wrote and published 4 books:
The Universal Constant in Livng
The Use of the Self
Conscious Constructive Control of the Individual
Man's Supreme Inheritance
Sessions in the Alexander Technique
The teacher enables this learning by eliciting the student to observe and contrast such movement performed habitually with the same movement performed using the teacher’s gentle hand-guided redirection. Through repetition, this contrast reinforces learning how to let go of, ie., “inhibit” habitual patterns of excess tension and unnecessary “doing”, thereby replacing old patterns with new, easier, more balanced and poised, less stressful and more comfortable “use”.
To reinforce the critical learning process, which is the goal of the Alexander Technique, a portion of each session is also devoted to “table work” where the releasing and lengthening effect of “taking direction” through gentle hand guidance, and the “feedback” learning enabled through it, can be experienced in the less distracting condition of laying on the back. For those in pain, this can be a vital entranceway into re-enabling more active, re-directed movements as well as a tension releasing, re-energizing experience for everyone.
Typically, private sessions conclude when the client and teacher recognize not only greatly facilitated, more natural, stress-free “use” in the client, but also when concomitantly it is mutually clear to both client and teacher significant understanding of the unique and critical learning process enabled through “taking direction” has occurred.
The Alexander Technique
Brings Us into Neutral ….
We Are Then Ready to Move
in Any Direction
A Goal of the Technique
is to Create Flowing, Fluid, Easy Movement
"The Alexander Technique is based on exceptionally sophisticated observation, not only by means of vision, but to a surprising extent by using the sense of touch. I noticed with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness, mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures and also in such refined skills as the playing of a stringed musical instrument."
~ Nikolaas Tinbergen, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine and Physiology