What is the Alexander Technique?

Finding harmony in mind and body

A woman smiling, with dark hair, wearing a white shirt and gold hoop earrings, sitting near a white brick wall.

The Alexander Technique (AT) has transformed every part of my life; how I coach, how I parent, and how I perform. It has helped me move with more ease, meet challenges with less tension, and show up more fully in everything I do. That’s why every cello lesson, coaching session, and performance I offer is grounded in AT principles - because AT doesn’t just improve how we move, it changes how we think and live. After more than 20 years as a student, I was inspired to become a teacher so I could share those same life-changing benefits with others..

The Alexander Technique is a tool for self-awareness.

It is a means of observation, of looking at our thoughts, movements, feelings, and actions to better understand ourselves. Using the Technique, students gain a new perspective on what is most important to them:

  • relationships with coworkers and family members

  • job satisfaction

  • athletic performance

  • musical performance

  • pain management

  • injury rehabilitation and recovery

  • health and well-being

A man playing a cello and smiling indoors.
“My coachings with Miriam have been truly transformational! Her gentle approach has allowed me to find a renewed comfort in my daily body use, and her musical understanding has helped clarify how to integrate the principles of AT in my musical performance. Every coaching has a tangible effect that improves my life - whether it’s a new piece of information about how my body works, or even just a simple question she asks that rings in my head for weeks after the coaching. I highly recommend!”
— Mike Block, cellist
“It’s not an understatement to say you saved my career. I could not have continued to be a musician without your teaching”
A woman with shoulder-length dark hair smiling, wearing a white blouse, in front of a white brick wall with a green plant partially visible on the left.

Our habits guide all we do.

The Alexander Technique leads to increased awareness and insight into those habits, giving us agency over what to keep and what to change.

AT can help reduce pain, stress, anxiety, discomfort, and tension. It is a means for re-educating our bodies and our thinking. Ease of movement and thought create new possibilities, allowing students to discover greater connection between intention and action. 

During lessons, students experience AT through activity, conversation, and through subtle physical touch. Touch is a means of exploration and can enhance the lesson experience, but hands-on work is not manipulative, nor is it required. Hands-free lessons can be incredibly powerful, and many students enjoy the availability of online lessons.

Like many mind/body therapies, the experience of an Alexander Technique lesson is unique to each individual. “Improved Posture” is a phrase often heard in combination with the Technique, and while students may notice a postural shift, “fixing” is never the goal. Students often experience increased ease in movement. The benefits of this freedom extend far beyond the lesson. As one student put it,

“I’m starting to think AT is about more than the pain in my back.”

For a deep dive into the evolution of this evidence-based approach, click here.

“The craziest thing about it is that it looks like she was doing so little, but what she was doing helped me to do so much more and feel so much more.”
— Rhys, student
“It’s not an understatement to say Miriam saved my career. I was seriously considering switching majors before I started AT. Without Miriam and her teaching, I probably would not be playing music anymore.”
— Nate, student

Alexander Technique Q & A’s

    • The Alexander Technique benefits anyone who wants to move, perform, and live with greater awareness and more ease. AT can help with pain, posture and everyday movement, performance and creativity, stress and anxiety, recovery and rehabilitation

    • Rather than working ON the body, AT works WITH the body. It is not a treatment or set of exercises. It is about how you think and move.

    • Not at all! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

    • Everyone learns at their own pace. In our first lesson, we will decide together on the next steps. Some people notice meaningful changes after just a few lessons.

    • Absolutely! Zoom is a great way to connect.

    • Nearly every student notices a change in how they think, stand, sit, and move. Improved posture becomes a natural result of better coordination, not something you have to force.

    • Reach out!  Contact me via my website or social media, and we will find a time to meet.

A woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a white t-shirt, smiling at the camera, sitting against a plain light-colored wall.

Do you have a question?

Send your question to Miriam using this form, and she’ll reply with answers and more information. Thank you!