With the Alexander Technique you can
- be poised, without stiffness
- move gracefully, with less effort
- be alert and focused, with less strain
The Alexander Technique is a simple and practical method for self-improvement and self-help.
Anyone can benefit.
Poise, vitality and coordination improve.
Breathing and speaking become easier. Movement becomes freer, lighter and more enjoyable.
Why do it?
You can use the Alexander Technique
- To perform better
Performs can improve stamina, increase clarity of perception, free up spontaneity and manage stage fright. Sports people can improve flexibility, timing and efficiency, to be on form more consistently.
With the Alexander Technique you learn to understand the basis of coordination and how to attend to process.
Performing artists and athletes of all standards around the world apply the Alexander Technique to their practice. It is also thought at many performing arts schools and colleges. - For your health and well-being
Learning the Alexander Technique can help you to prevent or alleviate conditions associated with undue tension or poor posture. These include: many difficulties with coordination and movement; joint and muscle problems; breathing disorders; and stress-related conditions.
It can enhance rehabilitation after operations, injury, or illness, and provide support during pregnancy and preparation for childbirth.
It can improve management of stress, and pain, and provide coping skills for chronic illness and disabilities. - For your self-developement
The Alexander Technique offers you a method for lifelong learning. You can use it to develope self-awareness and self-reliance.
The Technique can add a new dimension of creativity to your life and lead to on going self-discovery.
How can I learn?
You learn the Alexander Technique through one-to-one lessons with a qualified teacher. This setting provides the best opportunity for your individual needs to be addressed. The number off lessons you take will depend on your particular needs and goals, and these can be discussed with your teacher. Please note that Alexander teachers, although highly trained, are not medical advisors and do not make medical diagnoses.
Learning the Alexander Technique involves changing long-standing habits, so improvement relies in part on your active participation. A cours of 20 to 30 regular lessons can provide a good foundation for on-going self-discovery for most people.
What happens in lessons?
Your teacher will use axplanation and a guiding touch to help you re-discover balance and ease within yourself. You start by working with simple movements and positions- such as sitting, walking, or bending your knees – which are basic to all activity.
Through experience and observation, you learn how your coordination works – how you create tension and how you can prevent or release it. This awareness enables you to change longstanding habits and function more efficiently. In time and with practice you will be able to use your new understanding and skill in more complex and demanding activities and situations in your daily life. You can bring awareness and poise to anything that you do.
Alexander lessons involve some movement, so you may be asked to wear non-restrictive clothing and remove your shoes.
About STAT
The Alexander Technique has been thought for over one hundred years. In 1958, the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT) was founded in the UK in order to ensure high standards of teacher training and practice, and to promote public awareness of the Technique. It has affiliated societies in other countries.
Teaching members of STAT:
- Are certified (MSTAT) to teach the Technique after successfully completing a three-year, full-time training cours approved by the Society or an affiliatedsociety;
- Are required to adhere to the Society’s published Code of Professional Conduct and to hold professional indemnity insurance.