Well – known Students of the Technique

Notable people have studied the Alexander Technique over the years and have spoken about it in many ways.

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“The Technique’s many benefits for actors include minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation, and responsiveness, mind/body connection and about an inch and a half of additional height.”  

Kevin Kline, Actor

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“I started in radio at age 23. When I get nervous my voice tends to get higher and faster and I sounded like Minnie Mouse. The thing that really helped me is that I took Alexander Technique lessons for many years.”           

Terry Gross, host of “Fresh Air”, a radio show on NPR

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“Using the Alexander Technique empowers me and gives me a balanced sense of tension rather than relying on creating tension to do something in order to produce a sound or an act that is preconceived.

I realized that I cannot control a set of circumstances outside of myself so I can go on a journey relying on the state of mind and body that the Alexander Technique gives me.”

Alan Rickman (1946 – 2016), Actor

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“Mr. Alexander has done a service to the subject [of the study of reflex and voluntary movement] by insistently treating each act as involving the whole integrated individual, the whole psychophysical man. To take a step is an affair, not of this or that limb solely, but of the total neuromuscular activity of the moment, not least of the head and neck.”

Sir Charles Sherrington, (1857 – 1952),  Noble Laureate in Medicine 1932

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“Together with improved physical and mental health I have found that the Alexander Technique has brought about a general heightening of consciousness on all levels.”

Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963), Writer

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“Good acting is revealing yourself, not covering yourself up. If your body is free, your mind is free. [The Alexander Technique allows] you to feel what it’s like to stay open physically, and also stay fully involved in whatever you’re supposed to be doing.”

Annette Bening, Actor

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“Alexander established not only the beginnings of a far reaching science of the apparently involuntary movements that we call reflexes, but a technique of correction and self control which forms a substantial addition to our very slender resources in personal education.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), Nobel Laureate in Literature 1925

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“I find the Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get you to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander teacher to show it to you.”

  John Cleese, Actor, Comedian

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“We already notice, with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness and mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures, and in such a refined skill as playing a musical instrument.” 

Nikolaas Tinbergen, (1907 – 1988), Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine 1973

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“Forty years ago, after one of my concerts, Adrian Boult told me that if I continued to conduct like that I’d become a cripple, and that I must take lessons in the Alexander Technique. Today I am still having lessons – as with music, there is no end to the learning process. It affects not only the use of the body, but also one’s views of oneself and one’s behavior. For the aches and ills that come with the years, the Technique can work miracles.

Sir Colin Davis (1927 – 2013), Conductor

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“The Alexander Technique makes a real difference to my often tense and busy life. Its thoughtful approach has made me calmer, improved my concentration and given me a clearer sense of my own well being. I am grateful for it.”

Joan Bakewell, TV presenter and journalist