Alexander technique

Al·ex·an·der technique

noun, often capitalized T \ˌal-ig-ˈzan-dər\


: a technique for positioning and moving the body that is believed to reduce tension

Biographical Note for ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

Alexander, Frederick Matthias (1869–1955), Australian elocutionist. By the 1890s Alexander had established himself as a professional reciter or elocutionist, touring the Australian outback in a one-man variety show that included the declaiming of Shakespeare. Episodes of crippling hoarseness became increasingly frequent until he was forced to quit and seek a solution to the problem. His discovery that he tended to pull his head back, thereby depressing the larynx, during the act of declaiming led him to develop his technique for a stress-reducing alignment of the head, neck, and back. In addition to greater ease in his public speaking, he noticed an improvement in his overall health and well-being. He devoted the rest of his life to the teaching and propagation of his technique. A course for training teachers in the Alexander technique was established in London in 1931.

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