Why Is Alexander’s Discovery So Effective For So Many Things?

If I was to list every kind of condition that Alexander’s Discovery has been known to assist – the Government might be tempted to lock me up.

Aldous Huxley – famous British author of Brave New World – was barely able to write for longer than 15 minutes when he first met FM Alexander. He was so impressed – that he offered to re-write some of Alexander’s books, which many people complained were too hard to read.

It’s one example of thousands – people whose lives were dramatically transformed because Alexander’s Discovery help nurse them back to physical and mental well being.

How could anything be so effective?

Of course, it is not Alexander that is being so effective – it is the design of Nature that is so effective. Alexander’s Discovered that we ignore this design at our peril.

When fear and anxiety causes us to tighten between the head and spine – not once, but continuously for year after year – our breathing, digestion, circulation all begin to suffer. Alexander’s Discovered that correcting this tendency to tighten between head and spine brought about immense benefits in our breathing, digestion and circulation.

And also, our mental health.

Healthy body, healthy mind.

A group of Alexander scientists recently got together to try to explain why Alexander’s Discovery – or Alexander Technique as it is more commonly known – is so effective. Here’s the abstract of that paper:

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“The Alexander Technique (AT) has been practised for over 125 years. Despite evidence of its clinical utility, a clear explanation of how AT works is lacking, as the foundational science needed to test the underlying ideas has only recently become available. The authors propose that the core changes brought about by Alexander training are improvements in the adaptivity and distribution of postural tone, along with changes in body schema, and that these changes underlie many of the reported benefits. They suggest that AT alters tone and body schema via spatial attention and executive processes, which in turn affect low-level motor elements. To engage these pathways, AT strategically engages attention, intention, and inhibition, along with haptic communication. The uniqueness of the approach comes from the way these elements are woven together. Evidence for the contribution of these elements is discussed, drawing on direct studies of AT and other relevant modern scientific literature.”

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Well, that’s a mouthful isn’t it?

Luckily, the new student of Alexander has only to work with a teacher to gain further insight into how your general health and well-being will be impacted. Come to one of our Introductory sessions – either online or at the Studio – to find out more.

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