The Alexander Technique teaches you the skills to help you move well and live better, in all that you do.
How the Alexander Technique can help me with:
What is the Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique is a skill for self-development teaching you to change long-standing habits that cause unnecessary tension in everything you do.
Whatever your age or ability, the Technique can help boost your performance in any activity and relieve the pain and stress caused by postural habits, like slouching or rounded shoulders.
Working with your teacher, you will learn to recognise your usual reactions to the stresses of life. You will find out how you have been contributing to your problems, how to prevent them and regain control.
Alexander Technique can help you with the following problems:
- Back, neck and joint pain
- Muscle tension and stiffness
- Poor posture
- Breathing and vocal problems
- Anxiety and stress-related conditions
I had suffered from lower back pain for around six years and regular chiropractic wasn't really helping me. It was only by chance that I saw an Alexander Technique course advertised and it turned out to be such a fantastic investment in myself. After my first lesson I had my first pain free week in six years!! Now that the course has finished, I have remained pain free.
I started the Alexander Technique because of headaches and lower back pain. Both of these are almost eradicated, but after some months of seeing my Alexander teacher I no longer require my steroid inhaler for asthma either.
I hadn't realised I was a victim within my own body. The Alexander Technique has provided me with the power to control my body again, which in my case has been transformative.
As a sufferer of ankylosing spondilitis: a chronic rheumatic condition, the Alexander Technique helped me discover relationships between physical and psychological ways of “letting go” in order to control pain. In particular, exposure to the Technique has enabled me to break self-perpetuating circuits of pain associated with inflammatory conditions by focusing on inhibiting learned muscle tensing habits which feed on pain and each other.
I would not say I am a fan of the technique – I am a disciple. For many years I suffered with chronic neck pain following a horse riding accident. When my HR manager recommended the Alexander Technique I was intrigued. Her father, a stroke victim, had experienced an incredible recovery from practising the Technique – to the point where he no longer needed a walking stick. After the first lesson I felt a dramatic difference; my neck felt long and free like a giraffe.
What are the core principles of the Alexander Technique?
- How you move, sit and stand affect how well you function.
- The mind and body work together intimately as one, each constantly influencing the other.
- Becoming more mindful of the way you go about your daily activities is necessary to make changes and gain benefit.
- The relationship of the head, neck and spine is fundamental to your ability to function optimally.
Conditions such as backache, neck and shoulder pain, as well as other sorts of long-term musculoskeletal pain are often the result of misusing our body over a long period of time, such as moving inefficiently and standing or sitting with our weight unevenly distributed. The aim of the Alexander Technique is to help you "unlearn" these old habits and achieve a balanced, more naturally aligned body, and we have the evidence to support it.
Go to Alexander Technique research
Who we are
The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT) is the largest professional association of Alexander Technique Teachers worldwide, established in 1958 by teachers trained by FM Alexander.
We are responsible for maintaining professional standards of our members and for the promotion of the Alexander Technique. Only teaching members of STAT are eligible to use our stamp of approval, identifying them as fully trained Alexander Technique teachers who abide by the Society's Rules and Regulations.
When looking for a teacher, look out for this seal of approval:
