Experienced STAT Trained Teachers of the Alexander Technique offer Alexander Lessons in Somerset, Taunton, Bristol and Yeovil Area

We began teaching the Alexander Technique in Somerset after moving from Devon in 1993 and have maintained a steady practice ever since.

"Change involves carrying out an activity against the habits of life ..."

F M Alexander

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We teach individual Alexander Technique lessons Tuesday to Friday and occasionally on Saturdays. .

Our practice is based in South Petherton and covers a wide area of South Somerset and Dorset

"When an investigation comes to be made, it will be found that every single thing we are doing in this work is exactly what happens in nature where the conditions are right, the difference being that we are learning to do it consciously"

F M Alexander

"People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures".

F M Alexander

“I can’t begin to say how much the Alexander Technique has done for me – It’s the best thing I have ever done….”

P G Veterinary Surgeon

“I was looking for a way to manage back problems. I have found a re-education for my whole body and life and developed a confidence and security in myself that I didn’t know was possible.”

Penny B - Education Consultant and Singer

Our pupils come for Alexander Technique Lessons from a wide area of Somerset and Dorset including:

Aller
Axminster
Bridgewater
Bridport
Bristol
Bruton
Castle Cary
Chard
Crewkerne
Frome
Glastonbury
Ilminster
Langport
Martock
Sherborne
Somerton
Sparkford
Street
Taunton
Wells
Wellington
Wincanton
South Petherton
Yeovil

Gail Clarke and Mike Rawlinson

Alexander Technique Teachers in
Somerset and Bristol

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'Lessons from an Alexander Technique Teacher can improve health, performance, and vitality, and help you to get more out of life!'

Introduction to the Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique has been around for well over a century and has become renowned for its effectiveness in improving performance in a wide range of activities, and for the improved posture and health benefits it can facilitate. We hope that you find the site informative and interesting.

Background to the Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique began in an unlikely way with an Australian Actor who lost his voice whilst performing one man recitations of Shakespeare’s plays.

The wonderful thing about Alexander is that he didn’t set out to develop a cure for bad backs, or to improve posture, or be any sort of therapist or guru, he just wanted to sort his voice out so he could get on with his life.

He tried conventional medicine, and maybe a few other things as well, but nothing worked, so in the end he stood in front of a mirror to see if he could work out what he was doing wrong when he tried to recite.

The rest is a long story so I’ll fast forward to the bit where he realised that what we do in our daily activities affects the way we function, and his hoarseness was caused by what he was doing to himself. Whenever he tried to recite, he pulled his head back, stiffened his neck, and constricted his throat, and when he had learned to stop doing this, his problem went away. Not only did he sort his voice out, but he realised that many of our problems are self-inflicted by what Alexander termed 'faulty use'. So the Technique that bears his name is a method for people to learn to use themselves in a better way.

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Young children generally have good use.
This two year old shows us the correct way to squat!

So What is the Alexander Technique?

The first thing to say is that the Alexander Technique is not a therapy or a treatment, we are not therapists, we do not treat any illness, and people who come to us are not patients. Alexander Teachers, as the name implies, are people who teach an improved way of 'using' ourselves.

A foal will run around and find its way to the food source within ours of its birth, because evolution has programmed it to do this. Likewise children learn the basic tasks of crawling, walking, running and so on for which evolution has prepared them. Unfortunately evolution has not prepared us for the complex physical and social environment in which we now find ourselves, so when we sit in cars, play musical instruments, ride bicycles, and worst of all collapse onto the sofa, we tend to use our bodies very badly, and in ways that are ultimately harmful. Ninety percent of people suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, and in nearly every case, it is because we have given ourselves a bad back through faulty use. To put it another way, we have all learned a lot of bad habits of use that mean we are not able to function optimally.

The Alexander Technique addresses these individual bad habits, and helps us to unlearn them so that a more natural and optimal use can emerge. The Alexander Technique is a system of re-education in which pupils learns how to use themselves in a better way, which can lead to improved health and resolution of many medical conditions, along with improved performance in many of life's activities

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And here is an (almost) sixty two year old showing off -
The Alexander Technique really does help to maintain agility!

Why do we need the Alexander Technique?

We all acquire bad habits of use during our lives. We are sent to school where we have to sit still for long periods, usually on badly designed chairs; we have to keep quiet; we may have to learn about things that don't interest us. Then there are car seats, sofas, and now video games to contend with. On top of that, children and young people copy each others mannerisms in order to fit in. When families change location, children quickly learn to speak with a regional accent that matches that of their peers, not their parents. And they copy the way they move and use themselves too, not just from peers and friends, but anyone they admire. And all this can get us into a mess, causing not only bad use and poor posture, but a whole range of musculo-skeletal and other medical problems. For more on this see the page about health benefits.

Benefits of the Alexander Technique

There are two main benefits from using yourself in a better way: The first is that whatever you do will tend to have a better outcome which is why the Alexander Technique is so popular with singers, musicians, actors, sportspeople and just about everyone else, and the other is that many health problems such as back backs, breathing difficulties, and general aches and pains have a tendency to improve. There is a lot more information about the benefits of the Technique on other pages of the site, so do have a look if you want to know more.

About Posture

The Technique is often thought of as a way of improving posture, and although posture does improve, this is merely an effect, and not the purpose of the Alexander Technique. A child who is slumped on a chair will often be nagged by well meaning parents to 'sit up straight'. Unfortunately this makes matters worse as the child, tries to correct this by pulling themselves up, and holding themselves by using inappropriate muscular tension, leading to back ache, and a return to a collapsed state as soon as they get tired, or forget to hold themselves up.

Using the Alexander Technique a pupil learns to develop a fluidity of movement, and a more coordinated use of the muscles throughout the body, resulting in posture improving spontaneously.

You can see good coordinated use in animals if you watch a horse galloping or a dog running, you will see connectedness - the whole musculo-skeletal system is working as a unified whole, and the whole being is focused on the activity. You can see it too in some long distance athletes - Kenyan runners seem to move with particular grace and ease, although this is often less apparent in European runners!

More Information

For more information about the Alexander Technique, how to find a teacher etc. use the buttons to have a look round the site.

The Alexander Technique teaches a method to stop what we are doing wrong, and if we stop what we are doing wrong, we have an opportunity to allow the right thing to happen, not only finding a better way of coming down stairs, but a better way of doing just about everything else in life.