Alexander Technique

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Shakespearean orator who developed voice loss during his performances. After doctors found no physical cause, Alexander reasoned that he was doing something to himself while speaking to cause his problem.

His self-observation in multiple mirrors revealed that he was contracting his whole body prior to speaking. He developed the hypothesis that this habitual pattern of pulling the head backwards and downwards needlessly disrupted the normal working of the total postural, breathing and vocal mechanisms.

After experimenting to develop his ability to stop the unnecessary and habitual contracting in his neck, he found that his problem with recurrent voice loss was resolved. While on a recital tour in New Zealand (1895) he began to realize the wider significance of head carriage for overall physical functioning.

Further, Alexander observed that many individuals commonly tightened the musculature of the upper torso as he had done, in anticipation of many other activities besides speech.

Alexander believed his work could be applied to improve individual health and well being. He further refined his technique of self-observation and re-training to teach his discoveries to others. He explained his reasoning in four books published in 1918, 1923, 1931 (1932 in the UK) and 1942. He also trained teachers to teach his work from 1930 until his death in 1955.

In the 1960s, there was enough interest to start the first dedicated school, called The American Center for the Alexander Technique, in New York City.

Famous people who have studied the Alexander Technique include actors Michael Caine, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Judi Dench, Suzanna Hamilton, William Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Jackman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Kevin Kline, Patti Lupone, Paul Newman, Mary Steenburgen, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams; musicians Madonna, Paul McCartney, Yehudi Menuhin and Sting; playwright George Bernard Shaw; writers, Robertson Davies, and Aldous Huxley; and Nobel Prize winner for medicine and physiology Nikolaas Tinberge