Alexander Technique
THE ART OF NON-DOING

The name is derived from Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869 Tasmania - 1955 London), an Australian actor who developed a method to help him overcome his own problems with his voice. This method is still unique because it treats the person as one psychosomatic unit of body and mind.

 

His empirical research led him to the conclusion that we cannot fully trust our body awareness, either in acting or in feeling.  Breathing, standing, walking, sitting, as movements, tend to suffer from deficiencies in the way in which we carry them out. As a result of this untrustworthy sensory awareness, it is very difficult to give verbal instructions on how to correct faulty movements and poor posture.   

 

This is precisely why the Alexander Technique uses hands in addition to verbal instructions. This is a highly refined skill, developed through years of intensive training, which guides the student in everyday movements and helps to increase body awareness.

 

The Alexander Technique emphasises the human being as an embodied mind, not as a composite of different parts.  This means that just taking a step forward will involve the whole of the integrated person, and not just the part that is initiating the movement. Through everyday actions we gain insight into how we react to stimuli.  It is a learning process which places special emphasis on "inhibition" as the most important mental process between stimulus and action.

 

The ultimate goal is to teach kinaesthetic and awareness skills that will help us to normalise the tone of our posture and learn to move without excessive tension.  However, rather than movement itself, the work focuses on mental alertness and preparation.