Frederick Matthias Alexander (20 January 1869 – 10 October 1955) was an Australian Shakespeare Actor who developed the educational process that is today called the Alexander Technique.

The Alexander Technique is a method of re-education that teaches you to recognise and change long-standing habits in movement and thinking that can contribute to aches and pains or just a feeling of not being in control.

Children require a natural balance to learn to stand upright because their heads are proportionally large compared with their bodies. They do this effortlessly, moving with ease and grace. As we grow older, we gradually lose this natural balance. Modern life often requires us to sit for long periods and use computers, mobiles, and other technology, which encourages tension and affects the way we move.

The technique helps you develop greater awareness of how you use your body. It teaches you to move more efficiently and comfortably, so you can pursue your goals with more ease...

Quotes:

The Technique is not a method of accumulated information nor the art of learning something new. It is, instead, the art of unlearning, which is much more subtle, and sometimes a more difficult endeavor - unlearning that which is habitual, instead of natural; letting go of old patterns and of those repetitious opinions arrived at in times and circumstances totally different from those of the present. 'Aldous Huxley'"

"The great phase in man's advancement is that in which he passes from subconscious to conscious control of his own mind and body" F M Alexander

The Alexander Technique eludes precise definition because it involves a new experience - the experience of gradually freeing oneself from the domination of fixed habits. Any attempt to put that experience into words is necessarily limited, rather like trying to explain music to someone who has never heard a note. 'Michael Gelb'

Scientific Research:

British Medical Journal 2008; 337:a884 - Little P, Lewith G, Webley F, Randomised controlled trial of Alexander Technique lessons, exercise & massage ATEAM) for chronic & recurrent back pain

One to one lessons in the Alexander technique from registered teachers have long term benefits for patients with chronic lower back pain. For full article and results go to: The BMJ and for further medical research and articles go to::
https://alexandertechnique.co.uk/alexander-technique/published-research

UWE Bristol.2012: Research and evaluation of Alexander Technique lessons for pain clinic patients (SEAT). Project Report - McClean, S. and Wye, L.

Chronic pain sufferers may benefit from learning the Alexander Technique in NHS outpatient pain clinics according to a service evaluation project. More than half of the service users in the study stopped or reduced their use of medications between the start of the lessons and three months, making cost savings to the NHS. These preliminary findings warrant further investigation in a large controlled trial.  Read more about this study here:
http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16903/

Journal of Body & Movement Therapies 2015;19:473–481 - O'Neil M,  Anderson D, Allen D, Ross C, Hamel K 

Balance in movement (dynamic stability) is often impaired in older people. They tend to have greater sideways (medio-lateral) sway when walking, which is a known risk factor for falling. The researchers investigated the walking patterns and medio-lateral movement. The results showed that those who had had Alexander Technique training walked with greater stability and were therefore potentially at less risk of age-related falls compared with the control group.  In conclusion, the authors stated there was superior control of movement among the Alexander Technique participants compared with the control group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/