„Alexander Technique came into my life around the same time that I was diagnosed with scoliosis. However, through Alexander Technique I am able to manage my back pain and use my body more efficiently! At the end of a lesson I feel grounded but floating on air. I cannot thank my Alexander Technique teachers enough for the wisdom and health they have given me.“ –Rebecca Gausnell, Voice Coach, London
The Alexander Technique
is a skill for self-development teaching you to change long-standing habits that cause unnecessary tension.
Whatever your age or ability, the Technique can help to improve your performance in any activity and relieve the pain and stress caused by postural habits, like slouching or rounded shoulders. Everyday things like tensing when the phone rings, rushing to pick up the children from school or worrying about deadlines lead to physical and mental strain. Over the years, this accumulates and can cause illness, injury or common aches and pains that may seem to come from nowhere. Working with your teacher, you will learn to recognise your usual reactions to the stresses of life. You will find out how you have been contributing to your problems, how to prevent them and regain control.
A method of re-education
Alexander Technique lessons stimulate your ability to learn simultaneously on different levels; physically, intellectually and emotionally.
You learn to recognise your harmful habits, how to stop and think, and to choose a better response.
Gradually you learn to apply your new understanding and skill in everyday activities and more complex ones, to bring awareness and poise into everything you do.
Just like riding a bike, once learned, the Technique stays with you for life!
Self-Awareness
The Technique teaches us an effortless use of the body when moving, resting, breathing, learning and choosing how to react to increasingly demanding situations.
You learn to become aware of, and then gradually strip away, the habits of movement, tension and reaction that interfere with natural and healthy coordination.
Balanced body, balanced mind
Coordination and poise rely on the natural balance of the head, neck and back, what FM Alexander called “the primary control”. The Technique works through re-establishing this natural balance to promote easy upright posture and efficient functioning of body and mind.
The Alexander Technique is a subtle and thoughtful, but very practical method that can be practised in any setting. Neither exercises nor costly gadgets are needed – it’s all in your mind!
How to start
Come for a trial lesson, in English, and see if the technique works for you, without any further commitment.
These initial thirty minutes will give you a new sensory experience – a first impression of how effortlessly your body can function when the mind is at ease.
Lessons cost € 50 each.
Georg Schmidt Born in 1963, I was initially a cabinetmaker and commenced training as an Alexander teacher in Jerusalem, Israel in 1997. After graduating in 2000, I returned to Germany and taught in Würzburg until 2010, when I moved to Lübeck to open my practice in the historic town centre. I regularly take part in continuing professional development. I am married and blessed with two children.
„I received my first Alexander lesson about 13 years ago when I hurt my back. After the first lesson I felt 95% better. I felt WHOLE. And I continue to receive lessons twice a month.“ –Carol Meade, Wallingford CT USA