The Alexander Technique offers a way to organize and integrate your mind and body, which results in increased clarity and freedom of breath, movement, thought and expression, restoring overall balance.
Over time, each of us develops habits of thought and habits of movement that constrain us. Gradually these habits become subconscious, and we identify with them so fully that they are no longer visible to us. While habits in themselves are not necessarily bad—indeed, without habits we would not be able to live very well—we develop many habitual patterns which do not serve us very well; they waste our effort, don’t serve the purpose for which they were meant, etc, etc. By becoming aware of these habits through the Alexander Technique we discover that we can make fresh choices and can regain freedom from the constraint of unconscious habitual patterns.
The originator of the technique, Frederick Matthias Alexander, recognized that the mind and body are truly one, and cannot be dealt with as separate entities. In keeping with this realization he developed over the course of his lifetime, not just a theory, but a concrete and practical way to bring about greater awareness and unity.
Combining verbal guidance and feedback with a sophisticated use of his hands, he was able to bring about in his students a new experience of breathing, coordination and balance, one which they were gradually able to bring about for themselves.
His realizations have been borne out by science and continue to be supported by current studies in neuroscience. Find more information at www.amsatonline.org/research.
The Alexander Technique is now taught worldwide; there are societies of teachers in over 18 countries, and over 30 teacher training schools in U.S alone. While the Technique has proven to be beneficial to anyone who is interested in what it has to offer, it has long been especially popular with musicians, dancers and actors and is a required field of study at many conservatories. Many artists credit it as a major influence in their art, among them the actors William Hurt, Joanne Lumley, Michael Caine, Judi Dench, Alan Cummings, Juliet Stevenson, and Lupita N’yong-o, musicians like Yehudi Menuhin, celebrities like Victoria Beckham, and writers such as Aldous Huxley, George Bernhard Shaw, and Robertson Davies.
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