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Frequently Asked Questions on the Alexander Technique Source: Joan Arnold for the American Society of Alexander Technique
How do I learn the Alexander Technique? Individuals learn the Technique from a highly trained professional in a series of one-on-one sessions. Some teachers offer group classes, but the Technique is most commonly offered privately. The teacher gives you expert coaching tailored to your specific needs. What happens in an Alexander Technique session? In an Alexander Technique session, your teacher instructs you — with words and touch — to approach movement differently. Using a mirror, s/he helps you recognize your ingrained patterns and highlights how your movement style relates to your symptoms. Your teacher uses a specialized hands-on method to help you release areas of tension and elicit your body's capacity for dynamic expansion. With this expert guidance, you learn the skills to replicate that ease and expansion on your own. Over a course of sessions, you strip away the movement habits at the root of your discomfort. You acquire a way to guide yourself through daily activities that stays with you for the rest of your life. What do I wear? Come to your Alexander lesson wearing loose, comfortable clothing. What is an Alexander studio like? The Alexander teacher's studio is a low-tech environment with a chair, bodywork table and a mirror. How long are sessions? Usually 45-60 minutes, the Alexander lesson is instruction tailored to your needs. What's the point of a lesson? An Alexander Technique session is an opportunity for you to unwind and observe how your mind and body work. Your teacher gives you focused, supportive coaching on how to use your increased awareness to calm your system and raise your level of functioning. What will we do? The Alexander teacher observes you doing simple actions, such as sitting, standing or walking. Using a mirror, s/he helps you see and sense how your movement style relates to your problem. There are two aspects to an Alexander lesson: Table work - While you lie clothed on a bodywork table and settle into restful state, the teacher gently moves your head and limbs, encouraging expansion. S/he guides you with a unique, informative touch that does not intrude or manipulate, but suggests soothing release and an enlivened kinesthetic sense. Guidance during activity - While you perform ordinary movements, the teacher gives you verbal, visual and conceptual cues to help you sit, stand, walk or reach more comfortably. You consider activities you would like to enhance, such as public speaking, lifting and carrying, computer work, practicing yoga or a martial art, playing your favorite sport or even sleeping comfortably. Performers can choose to work on a monologue, an aria or a dance movement. If you would like to refine a specialized activity - such as how you swing a tennis racket, lift a child or play an instrument - the teacher can help you reduce compression and increase overall physical support as you do it. How long will it be before I see results? Each lesson will bring new insights that you can apply immediately, and you will probably feel the effects of your Alexander Technique work within the first 6-10 lessons. As you continue and your understanding grows, you will be able to apply what you've learned to a wider range of activities. Instead of a quick fix with a fleeting effect, you will experience a gradual change and long-term results. How long should I take lessons to get the full benefit? Like any skill, it takes practice. A series of 30 lessons, once or twice a week for three to six months, is the best way for you to learn the Technique. Does everyone need the same number of lessons? The number of lessons you need depends upon your goals, interests and physical condition. Some students study for 3-5 months, others continue taking lessons after reaching their initial goals and continue for years. Duration of study is up to you. Do the Alexander Technique's benefits wear off when I stop taking lessons? Not if you continue to use what you have learned! While taking lessons, you reclaim your body's natural sense of ease and increase your understanding of how you function. This practice enables you to take the mind/body process wherever you go and apply it to anything you do, such as riding a bike, sitting through a long meeting, playing an instrument, swinging a racket or carrying luggage. You can continue to build your skills on your own after you stop taking lessons. Is the Alexander Technique just another health fad? Now over 100 years old, the Alexander Technique has a long track record of helping people with back problems, chronic pain and tension, posture and movement disorders, asthma, migraines and whiplash. As its wide applications are understood and its successes continue to multiply, the reputation of the Technique is growing. Today there are about 2500 teachers worldwide, with about 700 in the United States. What are Alexander Technique teachers like? Many have come from the performing arts, such as dance, theater or music. Some are physical therapists, massage therapists or teachers in another field. What training is required to be an Alexander Technique teacher? AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teachers must complete 1,600 hours of training over a minimum of three years in an AmSAT-approved training program. Alexander practitioners are trained in careful visual observation to spot the source of movement problems. They are schooled in teaching skills that encourage learning in a non-judgmental, supportive atmosphere. And they are trained in the unique Alexander touch, a complex combination of kinesthetic receptivity and the subtle suggestion of expansion and lightness in movement. Additional studies include anatomy, study of F.M. Alexander's theoretical writings, literature and research by Alexander scholars and those in related fields. What is AmSAT? The American Society of the Alexander Technique is the largest professional association of certified Alexander Technique teachers in the United States. Its mission is to maintain the integrity of the Alexander Technique as developed by F.M. Alexander (1869-1955). AmSAT maintains the nation's highest standards for teacher training, certification and membership and maintains affiliations with similar credentialing bodies worldwide. Since its formation in 1987, over 600 teachers have completed a rigorous training process to earn AmSAT certification.
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