The Alexander technique is similar to yoga, Tai chi and Qigong in as much as you need a practitioner to teach you; but once learned you can incorporate it into your daily life.
The technique was invented by an Australian actor.
He was born in 1869 in Tasmania.
The stress of performing affected his voice.
Often he could barely finish a recital.
Doctors advised him to rest his voice, but this had little or no effect and hardly helped his career.
The actor devised a technique that cured his voice.
In addition, he found that the postural techniques also seemed to cure his bad temper and he became a more positive and likable personality.
He came to the conclusion that the head, neck and spine were interconnected and what we did with one affected the others and the health of all organs.
Most adults have terrible posture and many of these habits were picked up in childhood.
Children get plenty of education about scrubbing their teeth and making sure their shoes fit, but the spine is rather neglected.
Poor posture not only leads to wear and tear on the lower lumbar region of the back and base of the neck, it weakens the back muscles, puts pressure on joints and ligaments and stores up trouble for later life.
By preventing full abdominal breathing, bad posture constricts blood vessels, starving the organs of oxygen and nutrients, and compresses the stomach and lungs exacerbating poor digestion, asthma and a host of other conditions.
Practitioners treat all parts of the body, not just the head, but when an osteopath treats babies and children the touch is light and they rarely use the crunching, high velocity thrust used on adults.