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What does research tell us about the Alexander Technique?

Photograph of a stack of text books

If you decide to visit an Alexander Technique teacher, it may be helpful to know that you won’t be receiving treatment for any specific condition. Instead, you’ll be learning a practical self-help and self-care method that enables you to function better overall. This includes enhancing your postural support, coordination and balance, as well as your sense of choice and agency in how you move and respond. There is, however, a reason why anyone with a specific problem they wish to address might still be interested in learning the Alexander Technique. As our overall functioning improves, we often find that specific issues naturally ease or resolve.

When it comes to research, it is very hard to design studies that encompass the full scope of the many different impacts of learning the Alexander Technique. The exploratory research project I discussed last time is taking some small steps in this more integrative direction. Most research studies, however, understandably focus on one particular outcome or area.

Even so, when we look across all the different studies done on the Alexander Technique, the picture that emerges is both wide-ranging and intriguing. Research has explored benefits across health, wellbeing and performance, alongside investigations into how learning the Alexander Technique brings about changes. There are also some studies about how the Alexander Technique is taught. Here is a selection of some of the key research findings.

Large, well-designed randomised controlled trials have shown that people living with persistent back pain or neck pain have experienced long-term reductions in pain and disability after taking Alexander lessons [1,2]. In the neck pain study, participants also reported increased confidence and improved capacity for self-care [3,4].

Benefits have also been demonstrated for people living with Parkinson’s. A randomised controlled trial showed a reduction in disability, leading the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to recommend that clinicians ‘consider the Alexander Technique for people with Parkinson’s disease who are experiencing balance or motor function problems’ [5,6]. As with the back and neck pain studies, this research was based on one-to-one Alexander lessons with STAT-registered teachers.

A systematic review bringing together many smaller studies reported a range of positive outcomes for psycho-social wellbeing and agency. These benefits included improvements in mood, stress, sense of control and self-acceptance [7].

Improved postural support, movement coordination and balance following training in the Alexander Technique have been shown across a series of different studies [for example: 8,9,10] and these ‘physiological’ changes may help to explain some of the wider benefits observed. Additional research has explored improvements in balance and walking gait in older people, as well as reductions in performance-related anxiety in musicians [11,12,13].

Overall, research into the Alexander Technique has covered a broad range of outcomes and areas. While the number and size of studies remain relatively modest compared with what is typically required for an approach to become mainstream, the existing evidence is promising. Alongside this, the collective experience of teachers and their clients spans many areas that have not yet been formally researched. As with other complementary approaches, research in this field is limited by the lack of industry or government funding. Even so, both the growing research base and more than 100 years of practical experience continue to point to the Alexander Technique as a valuable and empowering approach to supporting health, wellbeing and performance.

References

  1. Little P, Lewith G, Webley F, et al. Randomised controlled trial of Alexander Technique lessons, exercise and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain. British Medical Journal 2008;337:a884.
  2. MacPherson H, Tilbrook H, Richmond S, Woodman J, Ballard K, Atkin K, Bland M, Eldred J, Essex H, Hewitt C, Hopton A, Keding A, Lansdown H, Parrott S, Torgerson D, Wenham A, Watt I. Alexander Technique lessons or acupuncture sessions for persons with chronic neck pain: A randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 2015;163:653-62.
  3. Woodman J, Ballard K, Hewitt C, MacPherson H. Self-efficacy and self-care-related outcomes following Alexander Technique lessons for people with chronic neck pain in the ATLAS randomised, controlled trial. European Journal of Integrative Medicine 2018;17:64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.eujim.2017.11.006.
  4. Wenham A, Atkin K, Woodman J, Ballard K, MacPherson H. Self-efficacy and embodiment associated with Alexander Technique lessons or with acupuncture sessions: A longitudinal qualitative sub-study within the ATLAS trial.  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2018;31:308–14.
  5. Stallibrass C, Sissons P, Chalmers C. Randomized, controlled trial of the Alexander Technique for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Clinical Rehabilitation 2002;16:695–708.
  6. Parkinson’s disease in adults. July 2017. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71.
  7. Kinsey D, Glover L, Wadephul F. How does the Alexander Technique lead to psychological and non-physical outcomes? A realist review. European Journal of Integrative Medicine 2021; 46: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2021.101371.
  8. Cacciatore TW, Gurfinkel VS, Horak FB, Cordo PJ, Ames KE. Increased dynamic regulation of postural tone through Alexander Technique training. Human Movement Science 2011;30:74–89.
  9. Cacciatore TW, Gurfinkel VS, Horak FB, Day BL. Prolonged weight-shift and altered spinal coordination during sit-to-stand in practitioners of the Alexander Technique. Gait Posture 2011;34:496–501.
  10. Cacciatore TW, Mian OS, Peters A, Day BL. Neuromechanical interference of posture on movement: evidence from Alexander Technique teachers rising from a chair. Journal of Neurophysiology 2014;112:719–29.
  1. Dennis RJ. Functional reach improvement in normal older women after Alexander Technique instruction. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 1999;54:M8–M11.
  2. Hamel KA, Ross C, Schultz B, et al. Older adult Alexander Technique practitioners walk differently than healthy age-matched controls.  Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 2016;20:751–60.
  3. Klein SD, Bayard C, Wolf The Alexander Technique and musicians: a systematic review of controlled trials. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2014;14:414. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-414.