Define Alexander Technique Yourself

This section is for those who have experience lessons in Alexander Technique, beyond just having read about it. Because you might be questioned by a curious friend about what you are learning, you might want to come up with your own spontaneous description of Alexander Technique, different every time and tailored to your listener's unique interests and possible applications.

This scholarly exercise in putting your subjective experience into words starts with answering three questions. Your answers to these three questions will be what comes together into your definition as a sentence.

In less than five words, what is it?
For instance, (A way, a process, a method of, something tricky to describe...)

In a short phrase, how does it work?
For instance, (By paying attention, changing habits, questioning the effort used to do things, by noticing differences...)

In a simple phrase, how can using it benefit the person you're talking with?
For instance, (So that you can do more of what you want with less wasted effort, so you can keep improving at golf, so you can move easier...)

Now, combine the answers to the previous three questions, so that they make one or two sentences, such as:

It's a learning process of questioning yourself, that helps you do more with less.

It's a way of moving differently that helps you improve your game of golf.

For practice, complete the blanks in these sentences with words you think up by yourself; or if you really get stuck here you can use some of the selections above at first to understand how this works. Think of each of these blanks as a kind of simple template to fill in with the improvised words that you think up yourself in the moment.

(You may like to record your answers or do this by writing. Often the first time people make an attempt is when they come up with some imaginative impressions.)

Alexander Technique is_________________________________________

that works by_________________________________________________

so that someone can________________________________________________

Now try it again, using less words and shorter phrases, following the same sequence;

It's a_________________________________________

for_________________________________________________

that________________________________________________

This next sentence template sentence features the benefits of Alexander Technique as an example to the other person. Assuming that you know the person who you are talking with, you would here describe how Alexander Technique could be useful to them, rather than trying to describe exactly how it works for you. For this sample sentence, you use only the last two answers. This time reverse the order, so that the last question is the first, the second stays the same.

Let's say if you wanted to (for instance, "improve your game")

______________________________________________________,

by ("moving differently")____________________________________

...you could use Alexander Technique.

Here's one more sentence to fill in:

You've probably come up with at least one pretty good definition by now if you've tried to use these templates a few times each. This time, try completely new words to answer the three questions again, but answer them for yourself, very personally.

I'm learning a new______________________________________

so that I can_________________________________________________

so that my________________________________________________

Now, can you make up a few more different sentences like this, for talking to different people?

What kind of response do you get from someone who knows nothing about the Technique when you tell them your new definition? To tailor your description for each person, think about their point of view and the ways they might be able to use what you are saying. Pretty soon you'll be able to come up with examples to describe the Technique that are uniquely each new time!

Curious what Alexander Technique really is like? The best way is to find a teacher and get a lesson from the links page ...unless you live in Marin County of the San Francisco Bay area - in which case, you can get a lesson from Franis by calling or emailing her on this page. In case you're not curious enough, you might want to check out this page where learners describe as they are experiencing.

If you can't find a teacher, here's a site with more online lessons to experiment with learning Alexander Technique without a teacher. Use it as a refresher if you've already had some Alexander lessons, here.

If you are familiar with the Alexander Technique, report your experiences here - they will be used anonymously. Web surfers would love to read your story of how and why you learned Alexander Technique, what it has done for you, and why you continue doing it - no matter if you are a teacher or an enthusiastic student. This site also collects additions and contributions for almost all of its pages, so please check out more of what is on this site here.

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