“The Alexander Technique remains the best of the self-care strategies to prevent the sequel of poor posture and poor breathing.”
Harold Wise, MD, PC
“Alexander Technique has made me more aware of the relationship between body position and the impact of events occurring in my life. It has made me more cognizant of the need for changes.”
Terri Steele, MD
“The Alexander Technique stresses unification in an era of greater and greater medical specialization. Its educational system teaches people how to best use their bodies in ordinary action to avoid or reduce unnecessary stress and pain. It enables clients to get better faster and stay better longer. This is undoubtedly the best way to take care of the back and alleviate back pain.”
Jack Stern, MD, PhD, Neurosurgical Group of Westchester
“I fell and suffered a compression fracture of the back. Upon recommendation of a fellow therapist, I started treatment in the Alexander Technique. I have noticed not only a steady reduction of pain, but improvement in my general flexibility, balance and bearing. I use the Technique in conjunction with other physical exercise, and have found no contraindications.”
Jean P. Binnie, MA, MS, NCPsychA, Hamptons Counseling Center, Hampton Bays, NY
“The Alexander Technique makes sense in that appropriate use of the body will lead to reduction of various musculoskeletal disorders and remediate others which are established. No equipment is needed, just the skill and training of the teacher. This technique is very worthwhile as a primary preventative therapy. It is especially useful when posture is a key factor in back injuries while lifting and for workers who perform repetitive tasks while sitting.”
Robert D. Greene, MD, Emergency Department, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT
“I recommend people to the Alexander Technique who have not improved with traditional rehabilitative therapies. Part of their pain may be due to posture and the improper use of their bodies. Many people who have neck or back pain and have gone through heat, ultrasound and massage with no relief can be helped by learning the Alexander Technique. It definitely works. Nothing works for everyone. As one well-versed in using physical therapy and biofeedback, I know how valuable this technique is. I highly recommend it.”
Barry M. Scheinfeld, MD, Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine and Pain Manageme
“Mr Alexander is an educationist, and not a ‘healer’ or physical culturist. His teaching embodies with complete precision those principles of psycho-biological behaviour, which are among the most recent deductions of experimental physiology, and applies them in man to a constructive art of living.”
— A. Rugg-Gunn, M.C., F.R.C.S., Senior Surgeon, Western Opthalmic Hospital, UK
“In addition to its physiologic and musculoskeletal benefits, the Alexander Technique is extremely helpful in relieving the psychological states of depression and anxiety that so often accompany chronic pain and disease. It is my belief, based on professional experience, that the Alexander Technique should be part of all preventative health and education programs. It is as basic as good nutrition.”
Jill Sanders, DO
“The Alexander Technique can help relieve pain and prevent recurrences by correcting poor posture and teaching proper patterns of movement.”
— Andrew Weil, MD, pioneer in the field of integrative medicine
“As an ENT surgeon, neck problems were an occupational hazard. After years of physiotherapy and medication with only short-term relief, I was skeptical about the Alexander Technique. Yet the results have been remarkable—my posture has improved, and my neck mobility is back to levels I hadn’t experienced in over twenty years. What more could one ask for?”
— Kieran Tobin, Senior Surgeon, University College Hospital Galway, Ireland. Past President of the Irish Otolaryngological Society
“I found the Technique to be so beneficial in my condition that I have been referring patients in certain situations for Alexander lessons over the last several years.”
Howard L. Rosner, MD Director, Pain Management Service, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
“Habitual patterns of scrunched and tense use of the body are so engrained in our lives that the concept may seem extraordinary that unlearning these patterns can actually relieve pain and discomfort–but lessons in the Alexander Technique not only succeed for many people, they also allow a welcome sense of new ease in performance of all physical activities, e.g., playing a sport, using a computer keyboard, or playing a musical instrument. Research in which I have been involved has also shown enhanced strength of the muscles of breathing after a course of lessons.”
John H.M. Austin, MD, Professor Emeritus of Radiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
“I think I have given my patients something almost as good as magic. I have taught them what to do and not do when their backs give them trouble, and how to reduce unnecessary stress and pain. As a result, they no longer have to feel afraid and helpless when back pain occurs. Many consider themselves cured because they have been able to return to an active, normal lifestyle.”
Deborah Caplan, PT, certified Alexander Technique teacher and author of Back Trouble, New York, NY
“Not only do I see the therapeutic benefits of this work with various patient problems, but it has helped me deal effectively with my own adverse muscular tension. I continue to experience a newfound freedom of movement in my own body that I believe is making me a more effective therapist.”
Howard W. Makofsky, MS, OCS, Mastic Beach, NY
“In common with most doctors, my life has brought me into contact with many very intelligent people – many of them people of the highest talent. For what it is worth I must place on record that I found in Alexander an imaginative genius and an adherence to scientific method which I have not seen out-matched by anyone. I think he transformed the human condition although as yet on a tiny scale.”
— Wilfred Barlow, M.D.
“This story of perceptiveness, of intelligence, and of persistence shown by a man without medical training, is one of the true epics of medical research and practice… (During the Alexander lessons) very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness, resilience against outside pressures, and in such a refined skill as playing a stringed instrument. So from personal experience we can already confirm some of the amazingly fantastic claims made by Alexander and his followers, namely, that many types of under-performance and even ailments, both mental and physical, can be alleviated, sometimes to a surprising extent, by teaching the body musculature to function differently.”
— Professor Nikolaas Tinbergen, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine and Physiology
“The Alexander Technique has been very helpful in identifying the postural and breathing habits that contribute to my fatigue and muscle soreness. I found it a good value: cost effective, making me less dependent on chiropractors and more comfortable at work.”
Douglas J. Bush, DMD, Chester, NJ
“When, in spite of my instruction, a patient is having difficulty understanding how to make changes in habitual movement patterns or has a profession with particular physical demands, I typically suggest the Alexander Technique. I have found it very helpful for patients who have low body awareness or who have trouble relaxing. Improvement in these areas facilitates many physical therapy modalities, especially cervical spine joint mobilization.”
Gail King, PT, MS, Backtec Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, New York, NY
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