Who was F.M. Alexander?

_WHO WAS F.M. ALEXANDER?

Frederick Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania in 1869. As a young man, his theatrical career was off to a promising start when recurrent vocal difficulties began to set in. In search of relief, he consulted doctors: even though he followed their recommendations, the only thing that offered any meaningful help was resting his voice. This seemed to address the problem for a time, but Alexander found that as soon as he went back to reciting, his vocal difficulties returned.

Determined to overcome his problem, Alexander decided to undertake some investigation of his own. Through long and patient observation using three mirrors, Alexander discovered that when he went to recite, he tended to pull his head back onto the top of his spine in such a way that compressed his entire body. This tendency was exaggerated under stress, but closer scrutiny revealed that it was also present in everyday activities, although to a lesser degree. Further exploration led him to discover many things about how the mind and body are connected, as well as how to use both his attention and intentions to train himself to respond in new ways.

Among Alexander’s most significant discoveries was the realization that the relationship of the head to the trunk acted as a kind of barometer for the tone or tensional balance of the entire body: if there was excess tension or interference anywhere, it tended to be reflected in the relationship of the neck, head and back. He also realized that this head to trunk relationship acted as a kind of master switch for the whole person: by altering the relationship of the head to the trunk, he could redistribute tension or tone throughout the entire body. The more he looked into this, the more he discovered that it was a matter of coordination, or inner relationship, rather than position. Alexander also made some key discoveries about how our sense of where our body is in space can become unreliable over time, as it becomes conditioned by the habits that we acquire.

With the help of all he had learned, Alexander was able to solve his vocal difficulties and return to the stage. However, he was increasingly called upon to help other actors with similar issues. This soon led to referrals from physicians of patients with various chronic ailments. Gradually, Alexander began to realize the far-reaching impact of the process he had discovered, He was eventually persuaded to move to England, where his work gained greater prominence. He maintained a busy teaching practice until the week before his death in 1955.

“The Alexander Technique gives us all things we have been looking for in a system of physical education: relief from strain due to maladjustment, and constant improvement in physical and mental health. We cannot ask for more from any system; nor, if we seriously desire to alter human beings in a desirable direction, can we ask any less.”

- Aldous Huxley, author