Alexander Technique is based on principles that are fundamental to all spheres of life. It may have an obvious influence on poise and movement, but the practice of Alexander Technique can also have an impact on one’s very personality. With improved sensitivity to our predispositions, we can be more discerning in choosing our responses. Alexander Technique helps us to regulate how we react to others and how we express ourselves. In this way, Alexander Technique may support the user if tensions arise in interpersonal relationships.

Creativity, spontaneity and adaptability to change were described by AR Alexander as the hallmarks of Alexander Technique. These qualities may be the best antidote to the challenges of life during a pandemic.

In common usage, the word ‘hip’ may refer to the pelvis, the joint where the leg meets the torso, or both. This leads to some confusion and it is worthwhile to find out just how your legs connect to, and move with, the rest of your body.

Taking the time to tune your instrument is always worthwhile, and balancing the instrument’s components to suit the current environment and create the desired sound is quite an art. Alexander Technique considers one’s whole being to be the instrument for performance. Taking the time to make our whole selves in-tune with the current environment enhances any activity.

After the extended lockdown in Melbourne, we are glad to return to face-to-face teaching. In-person sessions are available from 1st November and online sessions will remain optional until the end of the year. Please cooperate with the studio’s COVIDsafe policies.

FM Alexander named one of his books ‘The Universal Constant in Living’. It seems he hit upon something fundamental that transcends time and place - Alexander Technique is just as relevant and profound in our current unprecedented situation as it was in his era. This article considers some applications of Alexander Technique while we are in ‘lockdown’.

During the pandemic crisis, face-to-face Alexander Technique lessons are not possible. Manual guidance is the time-honoured method for teaching Alexander Technique and is core to the tradition. While the benefits of physical contact are many, the ultimate goal of Alexander Technique is that the pupil learns to apply the technique independently. Without the teacher’s touch, pupils will not get the full Alexander Technique experience but, using online video communication platforms, your teacher may still give you constructive guidance to enhance your application of Alexander Technique. It wont replace the hands-on experience, but will offer some support for your practice while we remain socially distant.

The most profound learning of Alexander Technique does not happen during a lesson: it happens when pupils take the skills and sensitivity they are working on and apply these in ‘real life.’ Alexander Technique is designed to be used in action, whether at work or play. Yet when we are active - especially when it is an engaging or stressful activity - this is the time when students find it most difficult to remember to use the Technique.

One of the core principles of Alexander Technique is the inseparability of body and mind. Although the Technique is often associated with ‘physical’ improvements in posture and movement, these benefits are initiated through a change in thinking. The practice of constructive thinking empowers the student in sustaining positive physical and mental attitudes.

For many, driving a car is a challenge to easeful and buoyant poise: the cabin design, seat ergonomics, driving controls and dynamic motion of cars oblige drivers to use the car seat’s backrest. Like any external support, we can collapse into it, brace against it, or find a way to use it to enhance our comfort and ease in driving.

A general introductory article by Jeremy Woolhouse published by the Burwood Bulletin, issue 153, Winter 2019.

For the podcast called “I Used to Play Piano”, hosts Ioanna and Zara interview Jeremy Woolhouse to chat about Alexander Technique, piano technique, experiences with pain at the piano and solutions to technical problems.

If you experience pain when playing piano, your body is telling you that you are at risk of injuring yourself. Piano technique is not inherently painful. Even a mild discomfort is an indication that you can improve on piano technique; whether this may be the specific movement of fingers on the keys, the balance of the whole body to support your hands, or a combination of both.

The spine gets a bit grumpy with complex movements. It is fine with flexion, rotation or side bending, but if two or more of these movements are combined the demand on the musculature increases and the risk of injury increases. Alexander Technique is a framework for reducing potential injury, increasing ease and efficiency.

Alexander Technique is an effective method for managing stress and cultivating efficiency. If we use the Technique when we are stressed and rushed, its effect is profound. If we feel we must wait for a quiet moment to use it, we may not realise the potential Alexander Technique has for enhancing and creating ease during performance. Too often, the situations in which we could most benefit from Alexander are also the situations in which we feel we haven’t the time to use it.

Video: This tensegrity toy can teach us about some principles of human movement and coordination. We use these principles in the learning and practice of Alexander Technique.

The Australian Federal Government is introducing legislation effectively preventing private health funds from continuing to offer rebates for Alexander Technique lessons from April 1st 2019. This is in contrast to international precedent. The government'’s statement that there is “no clear evidence demonstrating the efficacy of the excluded natural therapies”  is misleading. There exists high quality evidence for the effectiveness of Alexander Technique.

‘Whenever I use Alexander Technique, it helps. But I keep forgetting to use it! Sometimes I get to the end of a job and realise I didn’t think of it once.’

Even when we appreciate the benefits of Alexander Technique, remembering to engage with it can be a challenge. This is all the more difficult if we are unaware of ourselves in the moment in which we are moving or resting with poor quality.

To practise Alexander Technique is to use thought skilfully. There are some special Alexander Technique thoughts which we use to embrace a greater scope for ourselves, including intentions which give rise to ease and efficiency in work. As we recognise that the way we think affects our capacity for comfort and function, we may naturally begin to align all our thinking processes with the principles of Alexander Technique.

Alexander Technique is a skill which is practised in order to experience associated benefits. The many ways in which we may study or apply the Technique are all based on two particular kinds of thinking: inhibition and direction.

This article presents a simple entry point for beginners to Alexander Technique.  Those with experience will recognise it as a core practice for using the Technique at any level.  Leaving space for customisation, expansion and refinement, let’s start with an ABC: Availability, Buoyancy and Continuity.

Instrumental technique may be considered as the interface between concept and sound.  Our technical prowess determines how effectively our ideas flow from imagination, through the instrument, to the listener.  The definitions we create of technique, guide our practice and teaching.  They may be a liberating or limiting factor.  We inevitably acquire a set of judgements around what is appropriate technique, and what is not.

Semi-supine, also known as ‘active rest,’ ’constructive rest,’ or ‘lying on the floor with your head on books,’ is a learning tool and ongoing part of practising Alexander Technique.  Semi-supine gives a framework for positive movement towards ease and comfort. This guide is intended to support independent practice.

Piano instruction books often depict ‘the right posture for playing piano.’  They may illustrate a pianist with a straight back, feet on the floor, and forearms parallel to the floor.  There are advantages and disadvantages to presenting images like this.  If a student were to hold this position, the holding may become very limiting for piano technique, not to mention tiring!  Through an investigation into positive poise, we can explore some principles of coordination for playing.

When asked about school chairs, FM Alexander is quoted as saying “We need to educate our children, not our furniture.”  The same can be said about the piano stool - it is far more profound and fundamental to learn to change one’s coordination than to learn where to put one’s stool.  The former also informs the latter.  We can look to Alexander Technique not for a prescribed position of piano stool, but for principles which can guide our decision making.

Moving from pain management and prevention of injury, to confidence, technical and musical proficiency at the piano.

Of all the instruments, piano may appear to have a most straightforward ergonomic. The pianist doesn’t have to hold the instrument, control breathing, deal with major symmetry challenges or contort for fingering. In spite of this, the rate of pain reported by pianists is high. Wrist pain, hand or forearm tension, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, frozen shoulder and back pain are commonly experienced by pianists.

The May 2018 edition of Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice presents a qualitative study of the 2015 clinical trial of Alexander Technique and Acupuncture.  While previous publications have dealt with the quantitative results, this study analyses the participants’ experiences and investigates how the modalities attained positive results.

A nineteen year old aspiring to become a professional pianist, got to the stage where he’d be writhing on the floor from back pain after playing for fifteen minutes.  Three Alexander Technique lessons gave sufficient perspective to manage the crippling back pain.  This is the story of how I came to Alexander Technique and the fundamental learning of my first three lessons.

A fine balance is required in the performing arts.  Attention must be divided among essential specifics, and simultaneously be united towards coordinated performance.  Too much attention on one aspect is as disastrous as too little.  

When musicians perform, we consciously initiate certain aspects of coordination and action.  Many more processes are managed outside of our consciousness.  Some, we can learn to become aware of, and we may learn to directly modify these.