Alexander Technique: Origins, Lessons and What Research Shows

What it is

The Alexander Technique is described by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), a professional association, as a gentle educational method used worldwide for over 100 years. [1] The idea is to learn to change postural habits and develop better coordination of the musculoskeletal system. [1] The NHS (UK) describes it as lessons to improve posture and ways of moving. [2]

Origins

It is named after Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869 to 1955), who began developing its principles in the 1890s to address his own voice loss during public speaking, according to an encyclopedia summary. [3] That summary is a secondary source and no founder biography from a teaching organization could be read, so treat these details as approximate.

What a lesson involves

It is usually taught through a series of private lessons or group classes, with gentle verbal and manual guidance from the teacher. [1] You may spend part of a lesson lying down, fully clothed, on a lightly padded table, and you may sit, stand, walk, move or speak as you practice. [4] Touch is part of the guidance, so you can ask a teacher how they use it before you start.

How it is proposed to work

A published review quoted by AmSAT says a clear explanation of how the Technique works is lacking, and proposes that the core change is in the adaptivity and distribution of postural tone. [5] That is a proposed model, not an established mechanism.

What research shows

Both trials below compared lessons with usual care, and participants knew they were receiving lessons, so expectation may play a part. Labels: promising but limited, insufficient evidence.

1. Chronic or recurrent back pain

   promising but limited

   In 579 patients from 64 English general practices, lessons from registered teachers (but not massage) remained effective at one year; six lessons followed by an exercise prescription were nearly as effective as 24 lessons. [6]

2. Chronic neck pain

   promising but limited

   In 517 patients in UK primary care, 20 one-to-one lessons or 12 acupuncture sessions each reduced neck pain and associated disability compared with usual care at 12 months. [7]

3. Parkinson's disease with balance problems

   promising but limited (NHS offers it for this group)

   The NHS says it may offer lessons to people with Parkinson's disease who have balance or movement problems that put them at risk of a fall. [2]

4. Chronic asthma

   insufficient evidence

   A Cochrane review found no trials that met its criteria, so claims cannot be tested yet. [8]

5. Posture, performance, stress, other conditions

   insufficient evidence

   Proper evidence not found in the sources read (AmSAT pages, NHS, PubMed and Cochrane records).

The neck pain trial used practitioners from two main UK professional associations, which may limit generalizability. [7] For the acupuncture side of that comparison see what is acupuncture.

Benefits and limits

The effects were modest and measured against usual care. In the back pain trial, 24 lessons lowered the Roland Morris disability score by 3.4 points compared with the control group, and days in pain over four weeks were lower after lessons. [6] In the neck pain trial the extra improvement over usual care at 12 months was 3.79 percentage points on a neck disability questionnaire. [7] The trials show benefit for these two pain problems; they do not show that the Technique treats other conditions. Details are in Alexander Technique and Back Pain: What the Trials Show.

Teachers and training

In the United States AmSAT certification requires 1,600 hours of training over a minimum of three years in an AmSAT-certified training course or equivalent. [10] The sources read did not say whether any state regulates the title, so ask about a teacher's certification and training. The trials above used teachers registered with UK professional bodies, which is a different system.

Related

See Feldenkrais Method, adapted yoga and movement and Yoga & Movement.