Frederick Matthias Alexander lost his voice in the middle of a scene while reciting Shakespeare. The problem kept coming back, threatening his career, so he sought help from the doctors of his time. When they couldn’t guide him, he decided to look for a solution by investigating himself.

For years he experimented, observing himself in the mirror. He discovered that he pulled his head back at the mere thought of producing sound: an unconscious response of his body to his intention. Alexander developed a way of re-educating the way we “use ourselves”.

We normally move automatically, through habits acquired over the course of our lives that allow us to act without thinking about how we do things. Sometimes these habits lead us to make far more effort than we need, and create unnecessary tension.

Is there another way of “using ourselves”?

Yes. By pausing to pay attention to how we do what we do, we can generate new ways of acting and moving that are better aligned with our anatomical design, reducing everyday effort. We can also pause to observe our thoughts and check whether we’re aligned with the present moment. This gradually creates the possibility of a space between stimulus and reaction, so we can choose a response instead of reacting automatically. We practice with simple everyday activities, such as standing up from and sitting down on a chair, walking or talking.