He began by watching himself in mirrors to see if he could figure out what he was doing as he spoke. In regular speaking he didn’t notice anything particular, so he began to watch himself recite. As Alexander himself said "I was particularly struck by three things that I saw myself doing. I saw that as soon as I started to recite, I tended to pull back the head, depress the larynx, and suck in breath through the mouth in such a way as to produce a gasping sound." Gradually he figured out that this was also happening in his regular speech, just not to such a noticeable degree. He began to understand that how he was using his body as he spoke was causing him to lose his voice. Over a period of nine years he watched himself, experimented and discovered the importance of what he called the "Primary Control," or the relationship of the head, neck, and back in movement. This relationship exerts a continuous influence on everything we do in our daily lives. "The "Primary Control" can be seen to be working at its best in animals (albeit unwittingly) with their beautifully coordinated movements, the head leading the body in all that they do." He also began to understand that the difficulties he was having were not just physical ones, they involved his mind and his body. This is the single most important differentiation between the Alexander Technique and other techniques –the involvement of the mind and the body together.
Alexander discovered that what he called the "stimulus" was the thing which was causing him to stiffen his neck, depress his larynx, and gasp. In this case the "stimulus" was the recitation. To avoid his reaction to the "stimulus," Alexander got ready to speak and then decided to lift his arm or touch his toes or do something else. He learned through this experimentation the importance of consciousness in what we do throughout the day. Our habits are so deeply ingrained that it is really crucial to do what Alexander called "inhibit," or say no to the stimulus. "We are too quick and unthinking in our reactions. In our quickness, we lose sight of ourselves." If we take time we can say no to our habitual reaction and have choices about how to respond. "By paying attention to the quality of his action rather than to his specific goal, Alexander began to free himself from his unreasoned control of his organism."
Alexander began to have a great deal of success as an actor and his breathing difficulties and hoarseness were a thing of the past. Many performers came to him for lessons and gradually the medical community began to recognize him and his work. A famous surgeon convinced him to move to London to "gain the recognition his work deserved," and so in 1904 he moved to London.
Alexander worked in both London and the United States during the early part of the century. He had studios in London and in New York. In 1930 he established the first three year training course for teachers of the Alexander Technique. Today accredited teacher training courses are still three years in length – requiring the student to take 1600 hours of classes before completing the certificate. He himself trained a small number of teachers. Those teachers started their own training courses and now there are teachers of the Alexander Technique all over the globe.
Alexander died in 1955. His ideas were revolutionary. He discovered the importance of consciousness in what we do every day and how what we do with our minds and our bodies affects our physical health and mental well being. "The most valuable knowledge we can possess is that of the use and functioning of the self, and of the means whereby the human individual may progressively raise the standard of his health and general well being." F.M. Alexander
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