ABOUT THE TECHNIQUE
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Phone: 865-387-7600
Lilly @ LillySutton dot com
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“It may look as if I’m working on a student’s leg. However, I don’t work on a leg: I work with a person.”
F.M. Alexander was a pioneer in the holistic health field. In the late 1800’s, he realized that the body
and the mind are inseparable. For its time, this was a radical idea.
Who Studies the Alexander Technique and Why?
Most students initially seek help for physical symptoms, such as poor posture, back pain, neck tension, carpal tunnel pain, or breathing and anxiety issues.
There are also many performers, such as actors, musicians, and professional speakers who study to improve their craft or to deal with performance anxiety.
Nearly all students discover surprising benefits that reach beyond their initial reasons for study.
Since our body, mind, and emotions are inseparable, the benefits aren’t limited to the physical. Students often describe the effect as “calm, yet energized and alert”. Students have reported diverse benefits such as less stress, more restful sleep, improved digestion, less reactivity to frustrations, decreased anxiety, and overcoming of “stage fright”.
Well-known students include Paul McCartney, Dr. Andrew Weil, Aldous Huxley, John Clese, John Dewey, Jane Brody, Judi Dench, and Nobel Laureate for Physiology and Medicine Nikolaas Tinbergen. Hear what Dr. Tinbergen said about the Alexander Technique in his acceptance speech by clicking here.
Alexander Technique Knoxville | Lilly Sutton | 865-387-7600 | Lilly at LillySutton dot com
“I didn’t expect my first lesson to be so powerful…I discovered that the proper use of the body is more subtle than I realized, and easier....Driving home,
I was so relaxed that I had to remind myself to go more than 20 miles an hour.
My singing voice in church the next morning was unusually clear.
And the first tai chi set I did after the lesson was more gentle and free
than any I could remember.
Thank you for the transformative lesson!”
--Jenny Arthur, M. Div.
Community Minister
Can you remember what it was like to run, jump, and play as a child?
What is the Alexander Technique?
We are designed to move easily with natural poise, balance, and comfort. This natural ease can be seen in the movement of a cat, horse, dog, or toddler. Over time, we develop habits of tensing that we aren’t even aware of doing.
This excess tension interferes with natural balance and causes you to work against gravity so that it feels like an effort simply to stand, walk, or even to sit. Lessons help you to be more aware of what you are doing so that you can do less--you release the tension that interferes with easy posture and comfortable movement.
The Alexander Technique is a process of learning to be aware of what you’re doing so that you have a choice.
~ You learn how to let go of extra tension that causes pain.
~ You discover that “good posture” can feel effortless and balanced.
~ You become more flexible in your body, & more flexible in your responses to life.
“ You can observe a lot by watching.”
--Yogi Berra
Who was F.M. Alexander?
The Alexander Technique was developed by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor who lived from 1869 to 1955. Early in his acting career, Alexander developed voice troubles that doctors could not relieve.
Taking matters into his own hands, Alexander not only solved his vocal problem but he discovered a self-help method that can improve ease and freedom in any activity. When others saw and heard the changes that he had made, they asked him to show them what he had done and that’s how he began teaching his discoveries.
Help for Back Pain
The British Medical Journal published a study on
the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique for
Back Pain. To watch a video from the British Medical Journal,
