What is Alexander Technique?

"Life changing; freedom of movement, freedom from pain, improved alertness, able to learn again, improved confidence, better health, improved breathing, inner calmness, to mention but a few changes."

The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique - pupil survey 2006

The Alexander Technique teaches the skilful 'use of the self'; how we move, how we stay still, how we breathe, how we learn, how we organise our awareness and focus of attention and, above all, how we choose our reactions in increasingly demanding situations.

It is a subtle and thoughtful discipline, but essentially practical and problem solving. The Alexander Tech ique works through re-establishing the natural relationship between the head, the neck and the back - the 'core' of the body that supports the strength of the limbs and which provides the structural environment for breathing and for the internal organs.

The natural working of the head, neck, back relationship can usually be seen to be working powerfully, beautifully and effortlessly in small children.

At the same time as learning to access the natural relationship between the head, neck and back, conscious and reaasoned body awareness, spatial awareness and behavioural awareness are developed so that long-held patterns of movement, posture, breathing and muscular tension, and habits that, for example, affect our learning abilities and psychological stress reactions can be reassessed.

Learning gradually to refine and to utilise an improved relationship between the head, neck and back is powerfully health-giving. Good habits of diet and exercise are well understood in their capacity literally to 'change what we are', the long-term effects of good habits of the 'use of the self' are less well known, but no less life-changing. You get stronger, you become both more relaxed and more alert, aches and pains fade, you feel calm, confident and self-reliant, you have more stamina, you think more clearly, you recover from injury more quickly, you cope with stress better.

The Alexander Technique can enhance personal performance across teh whole spectrum of human activity, from elite athletic or artistic performance to the management of disability, pain, illness or injury. Although the effortless upright posture of small children is in sharp contrast to that of most adults. It is possible for practically anyone to rediscover freedom and ease in movement by learning to become aware of, and then learning gradually to strip away, the habits of movement, tension and reaction that interfere with, distort or obscure natural and healthy patterns of co-ordination.

Learning the Alexander Technique is like learning any complex skill, such as playing a musical instrument or sailing a yacht; you need a teacher who has been 'playing' or 'sailing' for their own pleasure and benefit for years, to teach you new skills, and to help you to incorporate them into your own understanding and yuor own practice. Similarly, the real value of the Alexander Technique lies in becoming able to apply its principles, by yourself, to your daily activities.

Alexander Technique and Research

Recent research, published in the British Medical Journal in August 2008, has established that the Alexander Technique is effective (and cost-effective) in the treatment of chronic back pain.

Patients receiving 6 Alexander lessons were reporting, a year after the lessons, a drop of days in pain per month from 21 to 11. Patients receiving 24 lessons fared even better, reporting on average a fall from 21 to 3 days in pain. The control group showed no improvement.

A second article, containing an economic evaluation of this randomised controlled trial, was published in the BMJ in December 08.

Further details can be found by visiting www.bmj.com and searching for 'ATEAM' - the title of the research programme.

Alexander Technique and Clinical Research

In recent years, the number of medical and scientific studies into the Alexander Technique has grown rapidly. Here is a selection:

BMJ 2008

"One to one lessons in the Alexander technique from registered teachers have long term benefits for patients with chronic back pain"

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) : Guidelines for the management of Parkinson's disease 2006:

"The Alexander Technique may be offered to benefit people with Parkinson's Disease... helping them to make lifestyle adjustments that affect both the physical nature of the condition and the person's attitudes."

A comprehensive series of studies of the underlying physiological mechanisms of the Technique have been conducted by Dr David Garlick of the University of New South Wales. These may be found in The Lost Sixth Sense - A Medical Scientist looks at the Alexander Technique.

Further Contacts

All teachers are members of STAT, the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, 39-51 Highgate Road, London NW5 1RS 0845 230 7828 www.stat.org.uk

If you are a practitioner interested in working out of the Healing House in Headington, please email us at Show email address..