The Alexander Technique was founded by a man called Frederick Matthias Alexander who was born in Australia in 1869. He was a man with a passion for Shakespeare and he loved to recite. However, he developed problems with his voice – becoming hoarse and losing his voice when he was on stage. He sought medical advice and tried various remedies but none helped. He found that after prolonged rest his voice would be okay for a while but the problem would recur when he started reciting again.
It was clear to Alexander that the cause of the problem must be something that he was doing to himself when reciting. The doctors agreed but couldn’t tell Alexander what that something was. So, he set out on a long and patient journey of self-observation and discovery – a journey that was to take many years.
Fortunately, there are now many teachers who have undergone intensive three year training programmes. Working with a teacher enables pupils to experience changes and to feel the benefits of the technique in a much shorter period of time.