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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
