The Beginning

The Alexander Technique was first developed in the 1890s by an Australian named Frederick Matthias Alexander. As a young and promising actor, Alexander faced a problem which risked ending his career - his voice would become increasingly hoarse during performances, until he could barely produce any sound at all. He consulted doctors, but they could not diagnose any specific disease or cause of the hoarseness. If there were no clear medical cause for his problem, Alexander reasoned that he might be doing something wrong when reciting, leading him to strain or "misuse" his own vocal organs. As his only resort was self-help, he decided to observe his way of speaking and reciting to see whether he could spot anything unusual and find a solution.

What is it for?

The Alexander Technique educates the sense of kinesthesia or proprioception. This sense is used to internally calibrate bodily location, and to judge the effort necessary for moving. Alexander Technique teachers believe that humans have a built-in proprioceptive blind spot. People design habitual responses of movement and learning when faced with repetitive or important circumstances. Adapting is mostly a learning advantage, because new habits can be added onto previously trained skills. The serious drawback to adapting is that most habitual remedies are purposefully designed to disappear and run automatically in the background. Even if those habits were intended to be temporary compensations, usually no provision was made for stopping them. Over time, the sensitivity used to judge effort becomes flooded from accommodating too many opposing purposes. People forget which movement habits they have taught themselves to do, often only continuing to add more. These frustrating mysteries encourage resignation, along with loss of balance, stiffness, old injuries, social ostracizing or even a verdict of a lack of talent. According to Alexander teachers, giving up troublesome activities are not required if a learner is willing to change their old ways of doing them. By preventing these sorts of small cumulative stresses, many painful health concerns related to limited movement ability can be mitigated, improved or completely outgrown.

What are its uses?

The Alexander Technique has broad applications. It is required curriculum in the performance schools of music, acting, circus, dance, and some Olympic level sports training. It's remedially used for gaining full recovery of balance and ease of motion, for stuttering, voice loss and speech training, to unlearn and avoid repetitive stress, and to cope with dwindling mobility as in for people who have Parkinson's disease. Because self-image is linked to postural carriage, it also has an indirect positive influence on personal confidence and social standing, depression, phobias, and anxieties. It is regarded by the UK National Health Service to offer alternative complementary management for back problems. Students report freer movements, increased objectivity and descriptive ability, improved awareness, balance & and gaining an experimental attitude for choosing new responses. Commonly, adults gain height.

The immediate effect of Alexander lessons can feel very unusual. Lightness, fluidity, and many unusual metaphors illustrating effortlessness are commonly reported. Gradually, perceptual ability expands to simultaneously encompass many complex factors necessary to sustain the first fleeting freedoms experienced during lessons. Beyond the time it takes to learn, Alexander Technique can be practiced while doing any other activity, fitting into busy schedules.

Citations

1. Wikipedia,
   

2. Alexander technique,
   

3. Franis Engel, The ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE - What is it?,
   
   
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