The Alexander Technique

In the News

We invite you to browse our selection of articles and videos on the Alexander Technique, many featuring AmSAT-certified teachers.

The Alexander Technique can help you (literally) unwind

In the 1890s, a Shakespearean actor named Frederick Matthias Alexander set out to discover why he often lost his voice when he performed. (Imagine yourself as a Shakespearean actor, completely dependent on your voice to pay your bills, finding yourself without a voice just when you needed to perform!) Needless to say, Alexander had to figure out why this was happening

How a Posture Coach Taught Me to Finally Stand Up Straight Like My Mother Told Me

I was tall from a young age, which meant my boobs came up directly to my male classmates’ faces for most of junior high. Now, as a 5-foot-10 adult, I like my height, but sometime in those self-conscious formative years, I developed a “don’t look at me” slump that never went away. I forget about it until somebody snaps a candid photo of me in which I’m hunched over like Quasimodo and look 20 pounds heavier than I am.

The Royal College of Music professor found a solution in Alexander Technique

I started suffering when I went to music college, back in 1972. I must have been doing something really badly because I had headaches, neck pain and numbness in the left side of my face. I couldn’t play for more than 30 minutes at a time, and it even interfered with my vision – the lines and dots would start to move around on the page.

Fine Tuning

Musicians are increasingly turning to alternative and preventive methods to stay healthy, recover from an injury, and to maintain lifelong wellness.

Try This Life-Changing Stress Hack for a More Relaxed 2015

Have you ever looked at a picture of Atlas, the mythological Greek figure carrying the weight of the planet on his shoulders and thought, Yeah, I can relate?

Looking down at cell phones and tablets may lead to degenerative changes in the spine according to new study. The Alexander Technique is recommended as a way to avoid damage.

As much as 60 pounds of pressure is put on the neck and spine by the weight of the head when it's bent in the position typical when using a smartphone or similar device according to a new study published in the journal Surgical Technology International ("Assessment of Stresses in the Cervical Spine Caused by Posture and Position of the Head").

Alexander Technique proponent makes her students sit up and take notice

Marian Goldberg grasps my head gently but firmly, her hands along my jawbones. Ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly, she helps me rise from a chair in her home office until I’m standing.

Alexander Technique could relieve chronic pain

A study was carried out for 11 months, exploring an Alexander Technique teaching service that was time-limited. Those who suffer with chronic pain may find some relief through learning the Alexander Technique in NHS outpatient clinics, research found.

Consultant advocates doctors be trained in Alexander Technique

A RETIRED west of Ireland consultant has advocated far greater awareness of the Alexander Technique in medical training and practice.

Learning to Work Pain Free – The Alexander Technique

Have you wondered how it would feel to have energy rather than low back pain at the end of a work day? As a teacher of the Alexander Technique, I know that dental hygienists can learn how to work pain free. The Alexander Technique is widely recognized in medical communities in the United States and abroad for its positive effects on pain relief. The Technique focuses on changing the postural habits that are often at the root of many physical aches and pains.

Sit Up Straight. Your Back Thanks You

EVERYONE wants to avoid back trouble, but surprisingly few of us manage to escape it. Up to 80 percent of Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives, and each year 15 percent of all adults are treated for such problems as herniated discs, spinal stenosis or lumbar pain. But back pain is notoriously difficult, and expensive, to remedy.

Healthy Manhattan: Body Movement Without Stress

Alexander Technique Helps Reduce Chronic Back Pain

Anna Zimmerman's back pain consumed her to the point she could not lift her arm for a month, which worried the aspiring violinist.

AUA 2010 - The impact of the Alexander Technique in improving posture during minimally invasive surgery - Session Highlights

It has long been recognized that laparoscopy presents challenging ergonomic issues for the surgeon. Previous investigators have found that neck, shoulder and back pain in the surgeon can all be associated and related directly to laparoscopic surgery. Researchers from Cincinnati, Ohio utilized the Alexander Technique (AT) as a process of psychophysical re-education of one’s body in order to improve postural balance and coordination and to evaluate the efficacy of this in improving posture during the performance of laparoscopic surgery.

Baby Steps to Better Breathing

Human beings breathe an average of 17,000 breaths a day. But who's counting? It's a process we take for granted, yet experts say good technique can help us slow down breath and use it to control stress. They say the movement of breath should emulate sleeping babies — with the belly gently rising and falling.