How did Alexander really develop his technique?

Alexander wrote: "The Evolution of a technique" in Use of the Self. 

But this account doesn’t fit many facts as they are now known. 

So what really happened?

This course is both an academic investigation into how the AT evolved, 

and a practical journey through his early explorations and discoveries up until 1910. 

Take an insightful, practical and interactive journey

Penelope has meticulously researched & presented a most enlightening online workshop into the background and development of the Alexander Technique. As a teacher, this course has broadened my understanding and deepened my knowledge of the method. 

I highly recommend taking this insightful, practical & interactive journey into the past to inform what we teach today. It is a vital & important contribution to the Alexander Technique Work. Tessa Viotti, AT teacher, Milan

Why bother with our historical roots?

Historians tell us that you cannot understand the present without understanding its roots.

Discovering the historical roots of our work can sort much of the confusion and contradiction that surrounds modern AT work. 

FM's early procedures and methods can explain, enrich and strengthen our work.


This course will run starting 7th April 2025

8 seminars at two-weekly intervals
Scroll down for all course details.

Catch the Early Bird rate!

FREE ONLINE SEMINAR
The origins of the Alexander technique

Saturday 29th March 2025

9-10.15am and again at 5-6.15pm, UK time.
Choose the slot that works for your time zone.
Join the discussion! We'll do some practical work too.

Book your place for this:

specifying which time slot suits you.

Email Brenda at [email protected]


Alexander said:
"If you want to do what I do, you must do what I did."

But research shows he only gave us one thread in a much more extensive story.  

It’s now generally accepted that FM drew on many sources as he evolved the technique.

To do as he did, we need to know what he did. 

Finding the missing links

I wanted to express my gratitude for your deep research and investigation. These are gems of knowledge which contain most of the missing links in my AT education. I'm getting so much clearer in my understanding of this work: the procedures, the fundamentals and tools which can be used for teaching and working on oneself. Natalia Danielczyk, AT teacher, Poland

In this course, we will explore Alexander's teaching career from 1894 – 1910,
the years in which Alexander developed most of the core elements of his technique

We'll also investigate the problems and gifts that came from his Tasmanian childhood.

Tread Alexander’s path to the technique

by studying from his own sources

  • We'll play with ideas and exercises from the books Alexander read

  • We'll work from instructions in his own early articles

  • We'll explore the ideas and methods of people whose work he probably studied,

  • We'll build a strong foundation to your understanding and practice of AT

A project of deep scholarship

With ease and grace, Penelope conveys both the ideas and the practices of Alexander’s vocational forebears and convincingly connects these to AT as we know it today. Hers is a project of deep scholarship, realized by the practical skills of a long and dedicated teaching career. Thoroughly stimulating and enjoyable! Julia Norstrand, PhD, AmSAT

Walk alongside Alexander on his own path of discovery!

And along the way, learn much more about the technique itself.

  • Explore his effective protocols for natural breathing

  • Find your powerful strain-free voice

  • Discover the beginnings and purpose of inhibition and direction, antagonistic action and mechanical advantage

  • Use Delsartean explorations to understand Alexander’s procedures such as coming on toes and walking

  • Investigate to what extent the Delsarte system may underpin the AT

Alexander wove many threads together with his own genius to create the AT work

By studying these threads, a new story has emerged that shows how his understanding and methods evolved.

This course traces this development from the early articles and other sources and through the books.

My hope is that by understanding these threads we can explain many of the conundrums and problems encountered by modern day students of AT.

From this we can establish a firm foundation to our work.


Come with an open mind and let’s explore!

Correcting and verifying the account in my book

A major reason for me to go ahead with this research was to verify and correct the account of how FM evolved his work given in my book The Alexander Technique, Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement (publlished 2021). It had always been my intent to provide a longer document with referenced sources for the statements made there. 

Because of Covid, I was prevented from doing this before publication. So I am glad to have had the time subsequently to research this fully, understand FM's process more deeply, clarify what is fact (with full references) and what is speculation,  and correct errors.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Preliminaries

    • Welcome to the course!

    • Privacy policy, copyright, medical disclaimer

    • Introductory survey - Word or PDF - for those who have not yet done it!
  • 2

    Alexander’s childhood – its problems and gifts

    • Session 1 video: Alexander's childhood, its problems and gifts

    • "Alexander's Preterm Birth" by Jennifer Kelllow

    • Script, references and images for module 1

    • Timeline for FM Alexander 1869-1910
  • 3

    First lessons in the Delsarte System of Gestural Training

    • Seminar 2 recording - Learn some Delsarte

    • Script and References for module 2 - now complete

    • 20 similarities between Delsartean teachers and Alexander's work

    • Delsarte 1: Introduction to Delsarte and why we need to know about it.

    • Delsarte 2: decomposing exercises

    • Delsarte 3: Harmonising sequences - movements in opposition

    • Delsarte 4: Opposition of torso, head and hands
  • 4

    Voice problems and FM's first discoveries.

    • Session video: Voice problems and FM's first discoveries

    • Module 3 script and references

    • Table 1: Kofler vs FM - problems with clavicular breathing
  • 5

    Delsarte and Harmonic poise – finding antagonistic action and mechanical advantage

    • Session video: Delsarte and poise in movement

    • Module 4 script and references - now complete

    • Delsarte 6: sequential movements of the arms.

  • 6

    Finding breath as a primary movement and your powerful strain-free voice

    • Session video: Finding breath as a primary movement

    • Module 5 script and references

    • Table: Key points of FM’s early articles 1894-1906

    • Kofler, and Browne and Behnke, PDFs of books

    • The upward pull of the sternum
  • 7

    The "unity line" in Delsartean and Alexander’s work - coming on toes

    • Session video: the unity line in Delsartean and Alexander's work

    • Module 6 script and references

    • Delsarte 7: Coming on toes pt 1: Finding the correct standing position with harmonic poise

    • Delsarte 8: Coming on toes pt 2: Coming on toes with harmonic poise - the early directions of antagonistic action.
  • 8

    The beginnings of Alexander technique as we know it - use is primary.

    • Session video: The transition to AT as we know it, use is primary

    • Module 7: script and references

    • Table: Key points of FM’s early articles 1907 - 1910

    • Delsarte 5: decomposing the jaw and lips and whispered Ah

  • 9

    Procedures in MSI revisited and how they developed

    • M8 session video: Other procedures in MSI seen from a new perspective

    • Module 8 script and references

Bonus material

  • 9 videos of Delsartean theory and methods

    As part of my research, I made 9 videos of Delsartean work that FM would likely have encountered, and how it might relate to his work. I'm including them here for those who want to know more.

  • References

    Full references are provided for every module. I specify throughout what is based on hard evidence, and what is based on speculation, which you can check and make up your own mind.

  • Full script for each module

    By request from couse members, the full script of each seminar will be uploaded after the session, for easy review of the material presented. The instructions for all procedures and explorations are also clearly laid out in this, so you can revisit these easily.

Penelope’s story

and how this course came about

Tutor

Penelope Easten

After a degree in zoology at Cambridge university, I took my first AT lessons in 1983, then trained at Misha Magidov’s school, qualifying in 1989.

After training my use fell apart, as no-one had taught me how to work on myself. So I took lessons with Miss Goldie – then 86 - who worked alongside Alexander for 30 years. She taught me how to look after myself by thinking in activity. I realised I did not have a complete picture of Alexander’s work, and this prompted my thirty-year journey to understand the differences and power of Miss Goldie’s work. It took me to many other amazing teachers, and to scientific and alternative avenues of exploration and understanding. I have shared this understanding of Miss Goldie’s work in workshops at congresses and around the world. From these I saw clearly how different trainings teach different aspects of the work.

In 2016 I encountered Jeando Masoero’s online work: his understanding of Alexander’s original way of working on yourself with conscious control. Jeando’s understanding is, in part, based on his readings of Delsarte’s system of gestural training that FM taught around 1900. Jeando’s procedures helped me to understand biomechanical aspects of Miss Goldie’s work that I could then find for myself. This showed me a more dynamic form of the AT and enabled me to rebuild strength after recovering from thirty years of chronic fatigue syndrome. I included these theories and methods in my book: The Alexander technique. The twelve fundamentals of integrated movement, published in 2021.

However, I soon realised that some of the historical statements in my book were incorrect and they all needed verifying; unfortunately there had not been time to prepare a supplementary document with this information before publication due to Covid. I have now been researching the history in detail for three years, reading and experimenting with the methods described by FM and many authors he would have read. It became a much bigger project than I expected, and has been very fulfilling to explore. I’m also interviewing senior teachers and continuing to build my understanding of the full breadth of the AT work, past and present. I am delighted to begin to share this research with our profession through this course.

Course details

  • Dates of seminars:

    8 modules, at two weekly intervals:
    7th April, 21st April, 5th May, 19th May,
    2nd June, 16th June, 30th June, 14th July.

  • Seminar times

    All seminars: Mondays, 2.00 - 3.30pm UK time.

  • Time zone info

    2pm: UK and Ireland
    3pm: Central European time
    4pm: Eastern European time, South Africa
    11pm: Korea and Japan

    USA:
    9am New York and EST;
    8am: CST;
    7am: MST;
    6am: PST.
    Please double check the time for your region at www.timeanddate.com

  • Do I need to attend live?

    While it is always best to attend live if possible, all meetings are recorded and sent to all participants after.

  • Are there fixed hours to do the course?

    No. The only set times will be the online seminars (on zoom) but those will be recorded for those who cannot attend in person.

  • Can I join after the course has begun?

    No, this course will run as a block, so you need to sign up in time for the first seminar.

  • Who can attend?

    All AT teachers and trainees are welcome.

Early Bird Prices!

Available until 21st March.

Pricing options for all budgets.
Choose the level that suits your current circumstances.


Photographs of FM Alexander are courtesy of the Walter Carrington Educational Trust (WCET) Archive. © 2024 WCET. All rights reserved. www.constructiveteachingcentre.com