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Misconceptions about the Alexander Technique — 17 Comments

  1. Great blog, Robert. My conception of the Alexander Technique has changed a lot. I was very interested in finding the “correct position” to hold myself in and thought this is what the AT would teach me. What I learned, however, is that there is no correct position and I that it’s best not to “hold” myself!
    My posture did indeed improve, but in a way that is freeing and releases tension and is useful to my overall functioning, rather than just superficial.
    I think this is a common misconception of both good posture and the Alexander Technique – that it is something stiff, held and difficult to maintain. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

  2. Before I started studying it, (30+ years ago) I thought Alexander Technique was sort of a martial art of consciousness study, without the usual cultural trappings attached. Actually, that preconception wasn’t too far off.
    Everyone else thought I was studying because I had a limp. I was sort of surprised when that began to disappear, because I thought that there was nothing that could be done about that other than to ignore it. I got 3/4 of an inch taller too…another unintended result.

  3. I thought the AT was about posture before I had lessons. Now I believe it’s about changing our thinking, particularly our “fixed ideas and preconceptions” (FM Alexander’s phrase that described the pupil’s greatest problem) in order to change our lives. In the process of disciplining our conscious thinking, our bodies recover, as we stop putting tension in our muscles, tension which is caused by our fixed ideas and preconceptions.

  4. I didn’t know what it was. I was dragged along to sort out my posture, which had something to do with my badly rounded shoulders. I didn’t really realise my posture displayed my apathy, my depression, my pain, my lack of confidence. So I went along and felt better which made me curious to learn more. 13 years later I am more devoted than at the start. I too gained half an inch. I may have gone in the door with physical issues but I came out with a whole new outlook, calmer mind, more aware of my emotions and a path into spirituality as well as the desired better posture and understanding what it is. A 4 dimensional person, full of life instead of a 2 dimensional up or down person surviving life. I can’t imagine not using it, philosophising about it, sharing it. I’d hate to imagine where I’d be had I not found it.

    • That’s for that Fiona. I too had no real idea what it was when I started taking lessons and, like you, can’t imagine not “using it, philosophising about it, sharing it”

      Robert

  5. Thanks for this post, Robert!
    When speaking of the cost of Alexander Technique lessons, I think it is important to remember that it is a “do it at home” technique. So when you’re studying it, you’re not just doing it for 45 or 90 minutes per week. You get to practice it hours a day, every day, as you go about your life.

  6. Has there ever been any medical reference or study done on the alexander technique? I am in the medical research field and would be interested in possibly doing a case study

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