ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

noun (Health and Fitness) A complementary therapy which aims to correct bad posture and teach people a balanced use of their bodies as an aid to better health. Etymology: The name of F. Matthias Alexander, who invented the technique. History and Usage: The Alexander technique was developed by Alexander, an Australian actor who subsequently devoted his life to physiotherapy, at the end of the nineteenth century, and was promoted by the writer Aldous Huxley in the forties. It was not widely taken up by the general public until the seventies in the US and the early eighties in the UK, when complementary medicine and alternative approaches to health became more socially acceptable than previously. It continued to enjoy a vogue in the late eighties, since it fitted in well with the New Age approach to self-awareness. Although not claiming to cure any organic health problems, teachers of the Alexander technique maintain that it can relieve or even remove symptoms, notably back pain, as well as helping people to prevent pain and discomfort in later life. The Alexander Technique is a very careful, gentle way of increasing awareness; it was a joy to learn how to listen to myself. Out from the Core Feb. 1986, p. 5 I saw an ad...for a cheap introductory course in Alexander technique and as I had poor posture and...an aching back, I went along. Good Housekeeping May 1990, p. 17