Alex-tech.net - Alexander Technique Online Resource

Q. What is the Alexander Technique?

The Alexander Technique teaches how to become aware of one's habitual reactions, and how to change them. The Alexander Technique is not a cure or a treatment, it is a teaching through which the student can learn to change and improve his functioning. This has curative properties as a by-product. The Alexander technique can be described as a technique for developing constructive awareness. Awareness of what is going on inside and outside ourselves - while it is going on, and helping us to improve the way we handle ourselves in any situation.

Q. What does the Alexander Technique do?

The Technique sets out to re-educate the sensory and motivating nerve circuits of the whole body by means of a series of half-hourly lessons during which time the teacher, by a number of simple limb and body manipulations, allows the pupil to become aware of the correct sensory awareness in how to use the whole body. This sensory awareness grows stronger and stronger until the pupil is able to use the body correctly and to put the body into the best position of advantage in all daily activity so that any lapse into the hold habits of misuse can be avoided. Over sixty years of practice by the fortunate few who have had the benefit of the Technique has proved conclusively that the Technique does keep the body healthy, mentally and physically efficient and in addition provides a spiritual calm and confidence that makes living a pleasure and not an existence.

Q. How long does it take to learn?

Normally it is recommended to have between 25 and 30 lessons with as close interval as possible when new to the Alexander Technique. Since one is working against the habits of a lifetime it is sometimes said “The more, the merrier.” Many students also come to experience the Alexander Technique as a continuous learning experience and thus go on having occasional or regular lessons long after this initial period.

Q. What happens in a lesson?

A lesson typically lasts 30 – 45 minutes, and during this time the teacher, using hands and voice, will work with you in discovering habitual reactions, and gradually induce new sensory experiences of behaviour outside the habitual. You will not have to wear any special clothes, altough skirts may be unsuitable as some work involves handling the legs while the pupil is lying on a table.

Q. Who developed the Alexander Technique?

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Tasmanian reciter who gradually developed a condition of voice hoarseness which impaired his ability to perform to the point where he felt that he no longer could practice his profession. He sought medical help, and his doctor suggested he should rest his voice completely for two weeks before giving an important recital. Alexander followed his advice, and there was an improvement in his condition. When he again started to recite his voice deteriorated anew, and in the end, he could not complete his performance. Alexander thus postulated that the loss of voice was caused by something he did when attempting to recite, something his doctor agreed seemed plausible. What that something was, unfortunately, the doctor could not tell him. Based on this, Alexander set out to discover the causes for his hoarseness by himself.
This was the beginning of the development of the Alexander Technique.

Q. Who uses the Alexander Technique?

The Alexander Technique has is being used in schools of drama and teather training worldwide, as well as in orchestral training and music conservatories. More recently the technique is becoming popular among many martial artists and zen buddhists.

Here are some people you may know, that are benefiting from the Alexander Technique:

Psychology and Science
Frederick (Fritz) Perls- Originator of Gestalt Therapy
Nikolaas Tinbergen-Nobel Prize Winner for Physiology/Medicine
Robertson Davies, Aldous Huxley, George Bernard Shaw, John Dewey

Performance Arts
William Hurt, Kevin Kline, John Cleese, Mary Steenbergen, Robin Williams, Paul Newman, Maggie Smith, Jeremy Irons, John Houseman, Keanu Reeves (Check out his back in The Matrix II - bad film, good use!), Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sir Colin Davis, Paul McCartney, Sting, Joel Gray, and many more!

Q. Are there any dangers in learning the Alexander Technique?

There is nothing agressive about the Alexander Technique whatsoever, and there are no dangers involved in learning the technique itself. However, if you have injuries or other medical problems it is advisable to consult your doctor before coming for lessons.

Q. Will the Alexander Technique cure my bad back?

The Alexander Technique is not a cure or a treatment, it is a teaching through which the student can learn to change and improve his functioning. This has curative properties as a by-product.
Pupils of the Alexander Technique frequently experience drastic improvements in functioning paired with dissapearance of pain in a multitude of different parts of the organism.

Q. How will the Alexander Technique help me evolve as a musician, dancer, martial artist or performer?

Because Alexander work heightens sensitivity and facilitates precision, it has a positive impact on any activity that you may wish to perform well. Through Alexander work, you will not ADD more complexities to your performance, but you will learn how to become aware and to STOP the things you didn't know were blocking you. Thus it can be said that the Alexander Technique is subtractive rather than additive, when we increase awareness we gain the possibility to stop blocking ourselves and allow for a natural flow to co-exist with our intention. The Alexander Technique has been succesfully taught at music conservatories and schools of dance for half a century, and is widely recongised as a powerful asset for any performer.

Q. Is the Alexander Technique like Pilates or Yoga?

The Alexander Technique is neither like Yoga nor Pilates, it will, however help you improve your performance in both these activities if you learn it.
Unlike Yoga and Pilates, the Alexander Technique does not teach exercises, since any unconscious undue tension and restriction the pupil is carrying also will be taken into any new activity he or she chooses to perform.
Instead the Alexander Technique works without fixed forms or exercises, increasing awareness of destructive habits and tensions so that they can be changed and released.

Q. Is the Alexander Technique like meditation or a spiritual discipline?

The Alexander Technique is not a spiritual system, it is a practical teaching through which awareness is increased.
There are certain parallells between Alexander and some eastern spiritual teachings, but the Technique in itself is original and self-supporting.
There is no doubt, though, that people who do practice meditation will benefit greatly from the direct teaching of inhibition to different stimulae given through the Technique. Also in the prolonged sitting practiced in many meditation systems will the Alexander Technique be of great value: sitting can be effortless, upright with free breathing rather than painful, congested and slumped - the typical problems of the desk-worker who takes up meditation.

Q. Can I learn the Alexander Technique without any preparation?

Yes! You do not need to be fit or have any special training to take up the ALexander Technique. All that is required to really benefit is perseverence and a wish to develop.

Q. Can I learn the Alexander Technique without a teacher?

In theory it is not impossible, but no-one so far has been capable of it. Alexander once said "Anyone could do what I did - If they'd DO what I did!" But of course, nobody does. Because the technique deals with changing habits and the way we percieve sensory input, a teacher is neccesary. Unconscious habits are invisible to the awareness of a person without special training and the teacher will help to discover them, and gradually raising in the pupil the will and understanding required to begin working independently.

Q. What books could I read on the Alexander Technique?

Lately a veritable jungle of books of very variyng levels of insight has appeared on the market. Here are a few recommendations:

Bodylearning - Michael Gelb, is a simple and easily digestable introductory book.

The Alexander Principle - Dr. Wilfred Barlow, is an exposition of the Alexander Technique from a medical perspective written for laymen.

Freedom To Change - Frank Pierce Jones, is an attempt at a more scientific exposition of the Alexander Technique.

The Alexander Technique As I See It - Patrick Macdonald, is a very precise exposition of how the Alexander Technique is taught. There is also an interesting section of notebook jottings.

Alexanders Books: - Frederick Matthias Alexander, are more demanding a read, but also more rewarding to read once one has some experience. These books are:

Man's supreme Inheritance
Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual
The Use of the Self
The Universal Constant In Living

Q. Are all Alexander Teachers the same?

As all people are different, so are teachers of the Alexander Technique. The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique holds a list of more than 3,000 teachers world-wide. Many national societies are affiliated with STAT and can be found through their site. There are also STAT-qualified teachers that choose to not be members of this society. Within the society, most teachers have been trained by Mr. Walter Carrington or by graduates of his school. Mr. Carrington was a student of F.M. Alexander along with many others, such as Mr. Patrick Macdonald and Dr. Wilfred Barlow who taught in a different way than Mr. Carrington. It is advisable to try different teachers with different backgrounds to get a wider perspective on what constitutes learning the Alexander Technique.

Q. How do I train to teach the Alexander Technique?

If you want to train, you are faced with a difficult task of discrimination. There are many schools with different attitudes to the learning process. Some senior teachers trained by Alexander have even suggested that there should be a complete halt as to opening more schools.
1600 hours distributed over three years is the basic requirement for becoming a teacher, but any decent school will admit that a skill as the Alexander Technique does not easily conform to a curriculum, and that more time often is needed.

You will have to visit many different schools and pay attention to the discipline of the teacher and the impression you get of the quality of the understanding of the students of the school. At The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique there is a list of different schools availible in the UK.