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Alexander
What is the Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique is a mind-body discipline and re-education. It can help us to be more of the person we want to be by showing us how we interfere with our natural good functioning and by giving us the choice and skills to interfere less.
The Technique, established and practiced for over a hundred years, is more relevant than ever now as we often struggle to cope with the fast pace and increasing demands of our busy and stressful lives.
The Technique, established and practiced for over a hundred years, is more relevant than ever now as we often struggle to cope with the fast pace and increasing demands of our busy and stressful lives.
The Alexander Technique is often associated with posture and back pain relief but it's origins stem from one man's exploration to find a solution to his own recurrent vocal problems on stage. For this reason the Technique is of great value to actors, teachers, singers, presenters and essentially anyone who needs to use their voice!
History of the Technique
The principles of the Technique were developed by an actor and reciter in the 1890s. His name was Frederick Matthias Alexander, a young and ambitious man showing great promise in his chosen career. But then he came up against a serious problem that threatened his future prospects. He found that when he performed on stage he increasingly suffered vocal problems resulting in him losing his voice. His doctor could find nothing medically wrong with him so, being a self-reliant Tasmanian, Alexander set out to find the cause of the problem himself.
He knew that when he rested his voice his vocal condition improved, so he realised that it was something he was doing to himself when he performed that was causing the problem.
Through extensive observation using mirrors Alexander found that when he recited it caused a specific pattern of tension to occur. He found that he stiffened his neck, pulled his head back and down and depressed his larynx. This went with an audible gasping for air as he opened his mouth to speak. It gradually became clear to him that this was part of a bigger pattern of tension involving the whole of his body. Additionally Alexander noticed that he only had to think of reciting and this tension pattern manifested itself.
Over a number of years Alexander worked out a way of changing his habitual and unhelpful reactions thus enabling him to avoid his old patterns of tension. He found that this not only improved his use of voice on stage but also benefited his health and functioning in general.
Alexander was not unique in suffering the effects of these patterns of habitual muscular tension. In fact he found that these habits of muscular tension were almost universal as a manifestation in others.
Alexander started teaching his discoveries in Australia, went on to set up a thriving practice in London and from the 1930s set up a programme to train others to teach his Technique.
Today the Technique is taught world-wide by several thousand qualified teachers.
The principles of the Technique were developed by an actor and reciter in the 1890s. His name was Frederick Matthias Alexander, a young and ambitious man showing great promise in his chosen career. But then he came up against a serious problem that threatened his future prospects. He found that when he performed on stage he increasingly suffered vocal problems resulting in him losing his voice. His doctor could find nothing medically wrong with him so, being a self-reliant Tasmanian, Alexander set out to find the cause of the problem himself.
He knew that when he rested his voice his vocal condition improved, so he realised that it was something he was doing to himself when he performed that was causing the problem.
Through extensive observation using mirrors Alexander found that when he recited it caused a specific pattern of tension to occur. He found that he stiffened his neck, pulled his head back and down and depressed his larynx. This went with an audible gasping for air as he opened his mouth to speak. It gradually became clear to him that this was part of a bigger pattern of tension involving the whole of his body. Additionally Alexander noticed that he only had to think of reciting and this tension pattern manifested itself.
Over a number of years Alexander worked out a way of changing his habitual and unhelpful reactions thus enabling him to avoid his old patterns of tension. He found that this not only improved his use of voice on stage but also benefited his health and functioning in general.
Alexander was not unique in suffering the effects of these patterns of habitual muscular tension. In fact he found that these habits of muscular tension were almost universal as a manifestation in others.
Alexander started teaching his discoveries in Australia, went on to set up a thriving practice in London and from the 1930s set up a programme to train others to teach his Technique.
Today the Technique is taught world-wide by several thousand qualified teachers.
"From the outset I felt very comfortable with Sarah's approach.....I would thoroughly recommend the Alexander Technique and Sarah Matthews in particular".
Robert Golby
Robert Golby
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