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28th March 2024 

The Benefits

'97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique - it is only a very small minority of back pain sufferers that require medical intervention such as surgery.'
- Jack Stern, spinal neurosurgeon, NYC



With the Alexander Technique you can look and feel better, improve your vitality and mobility, and relax more and stress less. Musicians learn the technique so that they can perform without tension and actors so that they can speak and move freely.

But, to be honest, most people initially come to the Technique because they are in some physical difficulty or pain.

In 2008, the British Medical Journal published the results of a clinical trial investigating whether the AT could help with back pain. The result was an emphatic yes -- the conclusion was that "One-to-one lessons in the Alexander technique from registered teachers have long term benefits for patients with chronic back pain." For back pain, it really works. CLICK HERE for BMJ article

Apart from back ache, the Technique can help prevent or alleviate:

  • neck and shoulder pain,
  • poor postural and breathing habits
  • digestive and other problems due to stress and anxiety
  • post operative and injury pain and rehabilitation
  • and it can help you feel more optimistic and in control of yourself


It's also very useful for people with hypermobility problems, including Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type (hEDS). I have a particular interest in this as it affects some of my family members. For further information as to how the Alexander Technique helps recovery and self-management of HMS have a look at Dr Philip Bull's article in the HMSA Journal, Spring 2015 CLICK HERE.

The Alexander Technique is something you can practice anywhere and at any time - when you are standing at a bus stop, in the build-up before an important meeting or presentation, in the dentist's chair, when the world is driving you mad, or when making dinner, playing tennis or enjoying a work-out at the gym.

It's a skill that will undoubtedly help you live your life to the full.