Background

• The Alexander technique is an educational program that teaches movement patterns and postures, with an aim to improve coordination and balance, reduce tension, relieve pain, alleviate fatigue, improve various medical conditions, and promote well-being. Actors, dancers, and athletes use the Alexander technique with the goal of improving performance. This technique is available through wellness centers, health education programs, and from individual practitioners.
• The Alexander technique can be traced to F.M. Alexander, an Australian-English actor, who attributed his own intermittent voice loss to poor head and neck posture. Alexander believed that people could be trained to detect and eliminate harmful movement patterns and positions.
• Musculoskeletal approaches like the Alexander technique are advocated by many behavioral scientists and physiologists, although there are few scientific studies of this technique specifically.

References

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• Dennis RJ. Functional reach improvement in normal older women after Alexander Technique instruction. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 1999;54(1):M8-11.
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• Valentine ER, Gorton TL, Hudson JA, et al. The effect of lessons in the Alexander technique on music performance in high and low stress situations. Psychol Music 1995;23:129-141.