Having developed chronic voice troubles and enjoying only temporary relief by following his doctor’s advice, Frederick Mathias Alexander (1869–1955), an Australian actor, decided to take matters into his own hands.
This story of perceptiveness, of intelligence and of persistence shown by a man without medical training, is one of the true epics of medical research and practice.
Nikolaas Tinbergen, 1973 Nobel Prize winner for Medicine and Physiology.
Through careful inquiry and direct experience he came to understand that there exists an innate, dynamic and critical relationship of the neck to the head, the neck and head to the torso and limbs: a Primary Control that regulates tensional balance throughout the musculature to help us move freely. When misused, it greatly interferes with the proper functioning of the organism as whole and accelerates the wear and tear that contributes to discomfort, disease and injury.
Over the course of nine years, F.M. Alexander developed a technique that skillfully addresses the tensions that limit our freedom to move; the habits that keep them alive; all the while freeing up the thinking patterns that support our creative potential. He dedicated his lifetime to teaching the principles of his technique. His work is still highly significant today and is taught throughout the world.
A detailed account of his brilliant journey can be found in Alexander’s The Use of the Self. Find contemporary scientific research about the A.T. at Alexander Technique Science: Peer-reviewed Research on Mind, Movement, and Posture.
Nikolaas Tinbergen, 1973 Nobel Laureate for Medicine and Physiology, devoted a significant portion of his Nobel lecture to talk about F. M. Alexander, the Alexander Technique, and the importance of Alexander’s discoveries.