Alexander Technique

Quotes From Famous Students of the Alexander Technique

“Mr. Alexander’s method lays hold of the individual as a whole, as a self-vitalizing agent. He reconditions and re-educates the reflex mechanisms and brings their habits into normal relation with the functioning of the organism as a whole. I regard this method as thoroughly scientific and educationally sound.” -  Professor George E. Coghill, award-winning anatomist and physiologist 

"97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique - it is only a very small minority of back pain sufferers that require medical intervention such as surgery." - Jack Stern, spinal neurosurgeon

“The Alexander Technique gives us all things we have been looking for in a system of physical education: relief from strain due to maladjustment, and constant improvement in physical and mental health. We cannot ask for more from any system; nor, if we seriously desire to alter human beings in a desirable direction, can we ask any less.” - Aldous Huxley, author

 "Mr. Alexander has done a service to the subject by insistently treating each act as involving the whole integrated individual, the whole psycho-physical man. To take a step is an affair not of this or that limb solely, but of the total neuromuscular activity of the moment - not the least of the head and neck." - Sir Charles Sherrington, Nobel Prize winner in medicine 

“I submit that Alexander demonstrated a principle of supreme importance for a holistic world-view. He made a breakthrough which is nothing less than an evolutionary step forward, when a single human being learned to take constructive, conscious control of the direction of his own use of himself.” - Sir George Trevelyan, the “grandfather” of the movement for spiritual regeneration in Britain

"Many persons have pointed out the strain which has come upon human nature in the change from a stage of animal savagery to present civilisation. No one, it seems to me, has grasped the meaning, dangers, and possibilities of this change more lucidly and completely than Mr Alexander." - John Dewey, American philosopher

"I was dubious about the effects of the Alexander Technique when I first went in to experience it, but I found out almost immediately that the benefits were total - both physically and mentally - and, happily, have also been long-lasting.” - Joanne Woodward, actress

“The Alexander Technique transformed my life. it is the result of an acknowledged genius. I would recommend it to anyone.” - Tony Buzan, author of 'Use Your Head -The Evolving Brain'

"The Alexander Technique opens a window onto the little-known area between stimulus and response and gives you the self-knowleedge you need in order to change the pattern of your response - or, if you choose, not to make it at all." - Frank Pierce Jones, American philologist

"The Alexander Technique has helped me to get to know and understand the nature of tension. It is a system that every musician should have access to." - Yehudi Menuhin, Violinist

“The Alexander Technique helped a long-standing back problem and to get a good night’s sleep after many years of tossing and turning.” - Paul Newman, actor 

“I find the Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed.” - John Cleese, comedian and actor 

"Alexander Technique really works. I recommend it to anyone who has neck or back pain. It's a way to transform stress into ease and lightness, a kind of moving meditation." - Sting, Musician