The Alexander Technique teaches people how to move and how to use their bodies skilfully.
What is the Alexander Technique?
Who provides the Alexander Technique?
What is the evidence for the Alexander Technique?
What can I expect?
Where to get the Alexander Technique?
More information
What is the Alexander Technique?
Many people who have taught or tried the Alexander Technique find it difficult to describe. The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique describes the Alexander Technique as follows:
“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 Technique 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 Alexander Technique is about learning lifelong skills for self care that help people recognise, understand, and avoid poor habits affecting postural tone and muscle coordination
Who provides the Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique is taught by teachers of The Alexander Technique. To ensure your teacher is trained and qualified in teaching the technique, make sure he or she is a member of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT). Although teachers of the Alexander Technique are not regulated in the UK, members of STAT have to have completed a recognized three year course and adhere to the society's code of conduct.
What is the evidence for the Alexander Technique?
One large randomized controlled trial concluded that the Alexander Technique can give long-term benefits to people with persistent low back pain, especially when it is combined with exercise.
What can I expect?
Learning the Alexander Technique involves changing long-standing habits of movement, and relies on your active participation. The Technique involves no specific exercises, requires no special equipment, and can be practised wherever you are.
The number of lessons you take can be discussed with your teacher and depends on your particular needs and goals. Your teacher will use gentle hands-on guidance and verbal explanations to help you find ease and balance within yourself in simple movements and everyday activities such as sitting, standing, walking or bending.
Through experience and observation you gain increased awareness, enabling you to change long-standing habits and to function more efficiently. In time you will be able to use your new understanding and skill in more complex and demanding activities; you can bring awareness and poise to anything you do.
Part of the lesson may include your lying down in the classic Alexander Technique semi-supine position which allows maximum support and relief for the back.
Where to get the Alexander Technique?
At the moment the Alexander Technique is primarily available from private teachers. In some places teachers of the Alexander Technique may also work for the NHS.
To find a teacher of the Alexander Technique in your area, search BackCare's database of Professional Members or visit the STAT website.
More information
http://www.stat.org.uk/index.htm Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT).