When actor Jonathan Pryce was asked which book changed his life, he replied: The one the teacher put under my head during the Alexander technique sessions at RADA. I grew an inch and a half. ‘Q&A: Jonathan Pryce’, The Guardian, 7 March 2015 And now RADA – The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – is proposing cutting their Alexander Technique (AT) programme by 70%, and is in redundancy consultation with its director of 40 years. What’s worse, there appears to be a degree of skulduggery in the consultation process with students. Please sign the petition against RADA’s ill-conceived move. AT is f ..read more

It was a privilege to work again with the British Suzuki Music Association, this time at their National Workshop in Bristol. The three-day event was held at Badminton School in north Bristol in April, attended by around 150 young musicians and their parents or carers. As you would expect from a Suzuki event, the activities were immensely varied. There were programmes in violin, viola, cello, piano, flute, recorder and trumpet. There were masterclasses, groups, ensembles, orchestras and talks for parents and teachers. The enrichment activities comprised Alexander Technique, choir, composition a ..read more

There has been over 25 years of research into Alexander Technique (AT) and its benefits for people living with Parkinson’s Disease (PwP). The most important early study was a randomised controlled trial (RCT) which provided strong evidence that AT had a positive impact on PwP’s everyday activities, their disability and their emotions. Later research focused on the mechanisms whereby AT improves balance and mobility among PwP. The most recent study (2022) found that an online AT course had a sustained positive impact on PwP in terms of their physical performance, sense of agency and symptom man ..read more

Alexander Technique Awareness Week is 1st to 7th April, and this year it wraps around ‘Sustainable Healthcare Day’ which is on 6th April. Stress causes a variety of negative effects on our bodies, mood and behaviour. The Alexander Technique can help to manage stress in various ways such as by: reducing unnecessary muscle tension improving breathing improving mental clarity enhancing sleep preventing excited fear responses Scientists have suggested that improvements to postural muscle tone are likely to be behind how the Alexander Technique rebalances our emotions. They give three possible ex ..read more

The Alexander Technique community is a broad church and yet there is one thing it can agree on: the importance of ‘Direction’. It is an essential Alexander Technique skill. The best introduction to FM Alexander’s own use of the term is by Jean Fischer. But this article has a different purpose: to provide a practical guide to Direction for students and practitioners. If you can get your head around what I’m presenting below, you’ll have an amazing (and free) tool at your disposal for improving your quality of life.  This is quite a long post but, if you wish, you can easily jump to se ..read more

Almost a million people in the UK are now too sick to work because of back or neck pain, according to a recent Guardian article. This number has apparently increased by 28% in the last four years. Over the last few weeks, The Guardian newspaper has devoted several articles to the topic, but there has been a fair degree of ‘missing the point’. The elephant in the room – barely acknowledged by these articles – is what modern pain science tells us. I’ll come to that at the end. But first, let’s see what The Guardian reports have been saying. Four main reasons for the increase in back and neck pai ..read more

It’s a privilege again to be on the faculty at the European String Teachers Association (ESTA) summer school, this year held at Dean Close School in Cheltenham. Check out their Facebook page for updates on signing up. I’ll be presenting a broad range of themes for attendees under the heading ‘Seven wonders of wellbeing’. First of all, we’ll take a deep dive into tackling performance… Source ..read more

A recent article about the emotional challenges during the Christmas season – and how we tend to revert to our childhood selves – caught my attention. It reminded me of some insightful writing on how the Alexander Technique can give us a new perspective on tricky personal relations. The passage ends with a thought on ‘non-doing’, one of the principles of the Technique: Anyone who thinks… Source ..read more

Most professional actors have come across the Alexander Technique. The list of famous names endorsing the Technique is long and includes actors such as Judi Dench, William Hurt, John Cleese, Jeremy Irons and Keanu Reeves to name a few. Now a recent documentary about Lily Gladstone, lead actor in Martin Scorcese’s recent film, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, opens with her thoughts on Alexander… Source ..read more

FM Alexander formulated a unique approach for dealing with the way habit interferes with human potential. Speaking well on stage was Alexander’s own preoccupation, but the approach can be applied to any activity, or ‘end’. Examples range from ‘simple’ actions such as standing up from a chair or typing at a laptop, to complex activities such as playing a musical instrument or sports. I’ve used the... Source ..read more