PILANDES is the Alexander Technique (almost)

PILANDES reframes F. M. Alexander’s work - inspired by Marjorie Barstow - by shifting it from singular methods to creative, activity-based practice.

Today is my personal Letter in our series, so you can safely skip this one, unless you are curious to understand the origins of PILANDES...

As I wrote at the outset of my 21 PILANDES Letters, I do not warm to the name Alexander Technique. This is one reason I have so freely reframed my work as PILANDES, but make no mistake – PILANDES is based on the discoveries of F.M. Alexander.

While FM was still alive, no one called it "the Alexander Technique". Back then, it was simply referred to as the work. Today, it comes in many different varieties. When you look at the development of Pilates, you see the same thing: all kinds of Pilates sprouting up everywhere.

There are the different training methodologies, each with their own philosophy and flavour — ZenPE, Balanced Body, BASI and at least 7 more. Then there are the hybrids, such as Yogalates, Aqua Pilates, Barre Pilates, Aerial Pilates, Piloxing, Cardio Pilates and so on. You can also find niche-targeted versions such as Clinical Pilates for rehabilitation or Prenatal Pilates for mothers-to-be. Today, there are even newer high-intensity studio brands like SolidCore and Lagree, which have quietly dropped the name Pilates altogether while keeping the reformer and most of the principles.

All of this — from one man, working in a small studio in New York, who called his method Contrology. Alexander was no different — working from 1911 in a room at 16 Ashley Place in London, until his death in 1955. During all of that time, FM's main way of teaching was by taking people in and out of chairs. However, he commented about this:

It's not getting in and out of chairs even under the best of conditions that is of any value: that is simply physical culture. It is what you have been doing in preparation that counts when it comes to making movements. — FMA Teaching Aphorism 15

This is still a feature of PILANDES — as I illustrated in yesterday's lesson with Sachiko — but missing the in and out of chairs part.

So how did I change?

Back in 1986, I was still this kind of traditional Alexander Technique teacher – taking people in and out of chairs. I had been doing it this way since I first started training in 1976. 10 years – and I slowly came to hate it. Frankly, I was bored by this way of working. Meanwhile, my sister and fellow teacher Rosemary loved it, so this is a personal thing to me, not a criticism of my profession. Its just not me.

I began to seriously think of returning to my original career in the performing arts.

Then Marj appeared. (pictured above)

Marjorie Barstow (1899–1995) was a miracle in my life.

She was 86 years old when I started studying with her. Marj graduated from Alexander's first training school in 1933: she was the first person to receive an official teaching certificate from FM. I remember once travelling with her on a plane to a workshop in Paris, when she turned to me and remarked:

Oh my, I haven't been to Paris since the Germans came and went.

By then, she was already 89, yet still vigorous and travelling the world teaching workshops I had arranged for her with my sister Rosemary. This itself is a huge testimonial to the health benefits of Alexander's discoveries. I sometimes tell people – if you want a longer and more productive life, study Alexander's discoveries.

It was Marj who revolutionised my way of teaching.

To me, it felt like she tapped me on the shoulder and told me to stop looking at the moon reflected in the lake.

There, she said, look up there — as she pointed to the moon in the sky.

It was then that the true depths of Alexander's discoveries touched my heart. It was still the same in my head, but somehow everything in my heart shifted deeply.

Marj only worked with people in their daily activities – I never saw her taking people in and out of chairs, as FM had done all his teaching life. She explained why during that first workshop I attended with her in Australia in 1986. One day, she told us, this thought occurred to her:

Wouldn't people learn better if they were doing something they were interested in?

This is how PILANDES was born. By shaping Alexander's discoveries into a form that relates to what you are interested in: Pilates. Thanks Marj.

I thought it was useful for you to know that.

NEXT: No More Quossums Jerry

Stay tuned.

Footnote: Today, teachers who follow Alexander's way of teaching additionally offer 'Tablework.' This consists of working on a student as they lie in semi-supine on a table. Marj did not work this way, nor do I. And if truth be told, neither did Alexander.

PILANDES Workshops 2026
LONDON: August 8 | 23
NEW YORK: October 24 | 25

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