The cool thing about the AT is that it addresses the intersection of thinking and moving. There are other holistic modalities that address this as well, but not as directly. This is the crux of what the AT is about. We Alexander Technique teachers have manual techniques that feel relaxing – like massage - and we can guide people through exercises – like a PT - but behind everything we do is this idea that your thinking determines your movement and your posture. This puts the AT in a unique position when it comes to studying the relationship between the mind and the body. It also means that the AT helps us heal in a different way from other modalities. We are harnessing the neuro-physical mechanisms which determine our posture and movement, and finding a way to use those mechanisms in a healthier way.

So, when FM Alexander “discovered” his method for harnessing the mechanisms of posture and coordination, science was in a very different place. There wasn’t a lot of information about psycho physical unity. The best explanation at the time was Rudolph Magnus’ theory of reflexes to describe why the relationship of the head to the neck seemed so important to our overall coordination. This theory is now outdated. In the exciting world of neuroscience and motor control today, there are lots of people studying the relationship of the brain and the body. How do we know where our bodies are in space? How is muscle tone regulated? How does that Kohnstamm phenomenon work? Check it out if you haven’t heard of it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohnstamm%27s_phenomenon.

Huge subject, check out https://www.alexandertechniquescience.com/ if you want to jump into the weeds. Or stay tuned for my slow ruminations.