Frequently Asked Questions

Encouraging student's left leg to release, creating more space in her hip joint

Why "Teacher" not "Practitioner?" & How many lessons do I need?

The technique is a learning process and so the relationship is teacher/student.

Teachers work "with" not "on" a student. The teacher is simply a catalyst.

Teachers facilitate an experience of heightened self-awareness.

Students discover how to preempt unwanted habits, release tension and stress. and allow another pathway of action to emerge.

As with all education, the process continues beyond the studio. Whenever and wherever a student so chooses, with or without a teacher, they have access to deepening their understanding of the principles of The Alexander Technique.

Alexander Technique teachers are educators not health care professionals and so do not diagnose medical conditions nor do they address medical issues.

How many lessons do I need to notice a difference? Approximately 6.

The technique is a practice in which one change patterns of movement, breathing, & posture.
There are many factors involved in how a student absorbs it's teachings. Everyone is different.
Much depends upon how:
Deeply you want to learn the technique
The time you give to processing it. Some come twice a week for a few weeks and then drop down to once a week. Some immediately apply what they've learned in their normal activities.
Generally, in order to get a sense of what the technique is and whether or not you want to continue studying I would suggest 6 lessons. Most often people take 20-30 lessons over 6 months, once a week Many continue studying after that period on their own, as a lifetime practice, checking in with a teacher from time to time.

How to dress for my lesson?

Comfortable, loose clothing & socks

Street clothes are fine, short or long sleeves preferred.

Who studies the Alexander Technique?

Those of all ages, from all walks of life who seek to walk their walk in the most efficient, easeful manner possible.

Those who hope to better cope with or overcome chronic pain since a side-effect of studying The Alexander Technique may include health benefits

A sampling of personages, those of whom studied with teachers other than myself

Annette Bening, Kenneth Branagh, John Cleese, George E. Coghill, Linford Christie, Raymond Dart, Dame Judi Dench, John Dewey, James Galway, Barry Humphries, William Hurt, Aldous Huxley, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Jackman, Kevin Kline, Sir Paul McCartney, Yehudi Menuhun, Paul Newman, Lynn Redgrave, Christopher Reeve, Jennifer Saunders, Julia Sawalha, Prunella Scales, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Sherrington, Sting, Daley Thompson, Nikolaas Tinbergen, Robin Williams, Joanne Woodward

Here is what some of them had to say on the merits of The Alexander Technique

97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique - it is only a very small minority of back pain sufferers that require medical intervention such as surgery.

Jack Stern, spinal neurosurgeon

Good acting is revealing yourself, not covering yourself up. If your body is free, your mind is free. [The Alexander Technique allows] you to feel what it's like to stay open physically, and also stay fully involved in whatever you're supposed to be doing."

Annette Bening, Actress

I find The Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander teacher to show it to you.

John Cleese, actor

Mr Alexander has done a service to the subject [of the study of reflex and voluntary movement] by insistently treating each act as involving the whole integrated individual, the whole psychophysical man. To take a step is an affair, not of this or that limb solely, but of the total neuromuscular activity of the moment, not least of the head and neck.

Sir Charles Sherrington, neurophysiologist

We already notice, with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness and mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures, and in such a refined skill as playing a musical instrument.

Professor Nicholas Tinbergen, Nobel Prize winner for medicine and physiology

It gives us all the things we have been looking for in a system of physical education: relief from strain due to maladjustment, and consequent improvement in physical and mental health, increased consciousness of the physical means employed to gain the ends proposed by the will and, along with this, a general heightening of consciousness on all levels. We cannot ask more from any system of physical education; nor, if we seriously desire to alter human beings in a desirable direction, can we ask any less.

Aldous Huxley, writer

The Alexander Technique has helped me to undo knots, unblock energy and deal with almost paralyzing stage fright.

William Hurt, actor

The Technique's many benefits for actors include minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation, and responsiveness, mind/body connection and about an inch and a half of additional height.

Kevin Kline, actor