You may be interested in the Alexander Technique to deal with posture or health, particularly back pain. Alternatively, if you are an actor, public speaker, singer, musician, dancer or a sports person, you may have come here to improve your performance and avoid problems. The technique is excellent for all of these, and more, as we shall discover.

Background Tension
The Hidden Problem

For most people, long before any back pain or other problems have occurred, there was background tension.

You probably know the feeling: a few aches or pains, or a bit of tension in your shoulders, your neck or maybe in your back, but this is the tip of the iceberg.

Throughout your body, there has usually been tension quietly gathering in the background so gradually, that you have not noticed it. In fact most of us have been quietly gathering this tension since about age three. It works against your posture, your energy, your performance and your health in ways nobody ever explained to you.

Natural State

To deal with this, the Technique is actually a way of getting rid of that background tension and getting back to the natural relaxation, poise, coordination and liveliness that most of us had as a young toddler. It takes us back to the freedom, efficiency of movement and alertness of naturally living animals.

It is based on

Getting rid of the background tension,

Keeping our awareness open: a practical form of mindfulness, which allows us to

Bypass unhelpful ingrained habits of movement, alignment and even thinking, which again have built up since childhood.

Just three things to learn and apply. And it's easier than you think...

Posture

When you mention the Alexander Technique, most people associate it with posture and/or back pain – and they often suddenly try to sit or stand up straighter. The Technique actually improves posture, not by giving the usual advice such as “shoulders back” or by giving exercises for “core strength” as most people have plenty of that, though it is usually working in the wrong direction! Instead, it does it by getting you to let go of the background tension that pulls people out of line, and by putting aside the mental and physical habits which distort our natural poise, alignment and coordination. It is not doing something extra to improve things… It is undoing what has been causing the poor posture in the first place.

See more about Posture, and Poise, and how they bring about  Aliveness here

Health

In the case of health, back pain provides a good example. A person may or may not be able to maintain what they think of as good posture, but the extra background tension in their body will be over-compressing their spine and causing the muscles that are trying to keep them upright, to have to work harder. Relieve this tension and the habits associated with it– and the pain is highly likely to reduce, even where there has been an injury or a ‘slipped disc.’ (See the 2008 research into improving back pain, published in the British Medical Journal.) The same principle applies to all structures and organs of the body: stop excess tension and unhelpful habits and it reduces strain, wear and tear, excess toxins and waste products from damaged tissues, and excess work for all our organs.

See more about your Health and Wellbeing here.

Performance

Your performance improves in the same way. Less tension means freer, more coordinated, more accurate, more efficient movement, with more effort available in the right direction when you need it, instead of being held back by opposing tension you were unaware of.

Many people have taken up the Technique to improve performance and prevent injuries as a sports person or dancer, to improve dexterity and avoid problems while playing instruments, or to reduce tension, improve resonance and projection, and improve poise and presence while singing, pubic speaking, or acting. In fact, just about any activity can be improved by learning and applying the Technique.

There is more about Peak Performance here.

Mental Emotional and Social

I myself took up the technique in order to deal with posture, as I stooped rather a lot. Within a few lessons, this was greatly improved. What surprised me though, was that my mind got a lot clearer.

This is partly due to a technique for being more present in the moment, similar to mindfulness. This then enables you to make better choices and decisions and to bypass unwanted habits.

However, less tension relieves your brain of a lot of unnecessary background work, so it brings about a clearer mind, more calm, more alertness, and freedom from unhelpful mental habits.

Put it together, and poise, freedom of movement, mental clarity and aliveness make you feel more confident and brighter in yourself. And this shows as greater presence, charisma, approachability, and being taken more seriously by the people around you. Many people who have learned the Technique describe it as like learning Zen, only faster and easier, and all without the need for candles or sitting cross legged.

Find more about how poise brings about confidence and aliveness here.

I am David Owen, and I have been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 35 years.

I have written three articles for Alexander Technique International's ExChange magazine and am due to present at their Autumn conference in Frankfurt, Germany. I also presented at the International Alexander Technique Congress in Dublin in 2025 and wrote for their Congress Papers.

I myself had Alexander lessons for two and a half years before training as an Alexander teacher. And although I noticed significant benefits after just a few lessons, it was five years later, during the last year of my three year training that I properly understood how the Technique actually works.

Whereas the workings of the technique have seemed mysterious or confusing to many, I have learned how to help you to understand all its core principles much more quickly and clearly, and apply them easily to yourself. This way, what took me about five years to learn, I can teach to most people in about ten weeks. This makes it much more affordable and accessible to far more people.

All this is available, easily and quickly here in Plymouth, Devon, right now.

How I Work

I recommend 2 one hour sessions per week for two weeks to get you as relaxed as possible, as quickly as possible, and to coach you to stay alert, and to learn how to set aside unwanted habits.

I then space out lessons to once per week, where I mostly teach you to trust and stay out of the way of your natural poise and coordination. As your background tension reduces, the sessions may get shorter to avoid overloading you.

I then wean you off being tempted to rely on me, as I space sessions further apart. Here I teach you to generate the principles for yourself and apply the technique to all areas of your life. You are obviously still welcome to build on this basis with me or any other teacher, especially if you have specific applications or challenges, but you will be self-sufficient with all the basics.

You are welcome to a one hour free session. There I will demonstrate some of the principles of the technique and assess you, your health, your situations and your needs. I will then adapt my teaching to your circumstances if you choose to continue with me.

For many people, the processes are similar. Some people take longer to let go of background tension, especially older people or those in pain, and for these people, I also have to ease them out more gradually and carefully. For others, they are already more loose and relaxed than most, and I can more quickly move on to fine tuning their poise and coordination and applying them to specific applications that they want to develop. Some people have become collapsed and I have to use more encouragement for their poise to reassert itself and draw them into alignment. And for some people, particularly as a trauma and diversity informed practitioner, I need to attend to people's particular needs and accommodations. However different people are, I adapt to them and yet give them the whole benefits of the technique.

Do You Want to Have Alexander Lessons?

Did you come here already knowing you wanted to have Alexander Technique lessons? In which case you have come to the right place.

Call me, preferably on my mobile 07791 930028 at any reasonable time to enquire or arrange an appointment.

If you want to find out if the technique is suitable for you, I am happy to give you a free one hour consultation, assessment and demonstration.

I charge £50 per lesson or £400 (less than many car repairs) for a course of 10 lessons.

I usually work from a yoga studio near the middle of Plymouth with parking nearby and can be flexible about when and also where I work. I can travel to you if you have mobility or transport difficulties. This is free within 10 miles of the centre of Plymouth and I only charge a modest mileage fee beyond that. See my Lessons & Classes page for fuller details.

If you are not yet clear that you want to learn the technique with me, feel free to read the rest of this site or even phone me to find out if I can help you any further.