The Alexander Technique: what it can do for us

Professor Niko Tinbergen, 1973 in his speech upon receiving the Nobel Prize for medicine:

„ We discovered that the therapy is based on exceptionally sophisticated observation, not only by means of vision but also to a surprising extent by using the sense of touch…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 also in such a refined skill as playing a stringed instrument…“

Comments by students of the technique

Mrs. U. (office employee): „For me the Alexander Technique is remembering my body, myself as a whole. I have realized that I am not a machine that always has to function.“

Martina P. (mother and housewife): „the Alexander Technique is a means of becoming more free and independent of problems.“

Lars (student): „My mind frees up. I generally feel lighter…I often muddle along all day long, and now I have learned to take time for myself.“

Jürgen G. (actor): „through this work I have become more alert and more present on stage.“

Andreas S. (teacher): „I took pivate lessons because of back pain, the Alexander Technique helped me a lot with that. I have found a means of working on myself.“

Adrian: „I experience moments in which everyday movements suddenly become simple and so completely new. I am developing a new fascination for my own possibilities of development. Wonderful.“

The Alexander Technique is not a panacea. It is an opportunity to experience one´s own way of „being in one´s body“ – and fundamentally re-learn a new way. It is a technique to promote personal development.