F.M. Alexander

The Australian actor Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was at the beginning of a promising acting career when he found himself becoming hoarse in the throat and even losing his voice during and after performances. In his search to overcome this problem he came to the conclusion that his difficulties were caused by the way he used himself onstage. He realised that he was interfering with his natural coordination and functioning and decided he must learn how to prevent this. And so, through many years of self-observation and experimentation he developed a technique which involved a new approach to coordination and movement. This solved his voice problems and at the same time improved his general health.

These insights laid the foundation for the Alexander Technique. In 1904 F.M moved to London where he found much support for his Technique and established the first teacher training course in 1932.

F. M. Alexander wrote four books: Man's Supreme Inheritance (1918), Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual (1923), The Use of the Self (1932) and The Universal Constant in Living (1941).