The technique has recently been receiving much attention from researchers and health experts, with a British Medical Journal study stating just a handful of lessons and exercise can reduce the symptoms of chronic back pain.
Phyllis Richmond, a certified teacher of the technique in Dallas, likes to think of the technique as less of a medicine and more of an education in posture and coordination.
Richmond explains how often people develop bad habits over time in the way that they sit, stand, move etc all of which can eventually cause a great deal of pain.
“If you think that in order to play the piano, you’ve got to raise your shoulders, which a lot of people do, then that’s what you’re going to do,” she said. “Now that’s highly inefficient and can cause pain, injury and the end of a career. What you have to do is learn to conceive of that differently.” She said.
The technique was founded in the late 19th century when Australian actor F.M. Alexander contracted laryngitis and found that stress and tension in his head and neck contributed to his condition.
The technique is now extremely popular among performers with John Cleese, William Hurt and Kevin Kline to name but a few celebrity fans.
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