Is It Therapy ?

No. Therapy is a response to disease or injury, with the direct goal of remedy, rehabilitation, or cure.

The Alexander Technique is a re-educational process. It imparts thinking skills with the direct goal of ending habitual, unconscious misuse of the self. To the degree that our ailments are the result of our own misuse, ending it allows the body to heal itself. Thus, the Alexander Technique can bring indirect health benefits.

Whereas people stop therapy when the condition is cured, many Alexander students choose to continue lessons for the manifold pleasures of conscious living that are continually being discovered in the work.

Is It Mind Control?
No. It is more like mind release. Alexander’s Technique provides the moment and the skill to make a conscious choice, whatever it might be, in our response to all the stimuli of life, rather than to respond by unconscious habit. This is the means whereby we stop doing the things that are bad for us.

Is It Like Yoga? Tai Chi?
While some results may feel similar, the method of the Alexander Technique is distinctly different. Rather than focus on a set of movements to be practiced systematically, the Alexander Technique develops the skill to analyze any movement – from simple walking to a challenging yoga pose – and execute it with greater ease. The Alexander Technique enhances the ability to participate in these and other disciplines.

Is It Massage?
The use of the hands by Alexander teachers is distinctly different in intent, manner, and result from that of massage or “body work” practitioners. Alexander teachers use their hands to assess kinesthetically what the student is thinking, to impart kinesthetic information to the student, and to guide the student in experiential learning. They are never used to evoke direct change of the condition of body tissue or range of motion. The Alexander teacher’s hands are educative and non-invasive.

Is It Exercise?
The Alexander Technique is not a thing to do, but a way of doing anything, including exercise. There are no exercises that in and of themselves teach improved use of the self. People bring their habits of use to exercise; any habitual misuse is continued during exercise, only harder.

When Do I See Results? How Many Lessons Do I Need?
The bar is set by the student, not the teacher. Each lesson brings insights which can be applied immediately, and you will feel the effects of the work usually within 5 or 10 weeks.

Results depend on your capacity for change. Some problems can dissipate in a short time. But realistically, if you are changing habitual patterns built up over many years, a permanent change won’t occur overnight. It’s the difference between addressing a symptom and addressing a cause. Instead of a quick fix with fleeting effect, the Alexander student experiences gradual change that can last a lifetime.

Quite apart from “results”, there is also a certain irony: whereas most students come to the Alexander Technique because of things going wrong, very many continue because of things going right. In the words of educator/philosopher John Dewey:

 “As one goes on [with lessons], new areas are opened, new possibilities are seen and then realized; one finds himself continually growing, and realizes that there is an endless process of growth initiated.”

My teaching goal is to provide an understanding which the student can apply independently, outside of the lesson. A rule of thumb is that this comes after about 30 lessons.

Do I Need a Teacher Who Specializes In My Field of Interest?
No - the skills you need to learn are the same no matter what your reason for taking lessons. The Alexander Technique's principles and processes are fundamental to human behavior; they apply to all learning and activity. Even if a teacher does not pursue the same activity or have the same condition as you, if you explain your needs, he can show you how the Alexander Technique applies to you.