About F.M. Alexander

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was an actor who began his career as a Shakespearean orator and developed chronic laryngitis while performing that interrupted his burgeoning career as an actor. Frustrated by this limitation, he studied his own movement for the cause of his problem. Determined to restore the full use of his voice, he carefully observed himself while speaking, and noticed that undue muscular tension in his head, neck and entire neuromuscular system accounted for his vocal problem. He sought a way to eliminate that restriction.

Over time, he discovered and articulated a principle that profoundly influences health and well-being: the crucial importance of the relationship between the head, neck and spine in controlling posture, breath and movement. When neck tension is reduced, the head no longer compresses the spine; the spine is free to lengthen and the postural muscles engage, restoring the body’s natural buoyancy and poise. Alexander restored his own natural capacity for ease by changing the way he thought while initiating action.

From this work on himself and others, he evolved a hands-on teaching method that encourages all the body's processes to work more efficiently as an integrated, dynamic whole.