Often, people new to Alexander Technique are confused: When they are seeing an Alexander Technique practitioner, do they become a ‘student’ or a ‘patient’? A student, because an Alexander Technique session immerses the student in new way of feeling and thinking, and even though there is no ‘homework’, there is a natural learning and exploration that happens after the lesson. Studies show that this knowledge has long term retention even after just 6 lessons https://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a884

A definition of a ‘patient’ is: A person who is seeking medical care.

As an Alexander Technique teacher, I don’t presume to give any medical advice. If a student suffers from pain, quite often there will be a dramatic improvement when the tension distribution changes and the movement becomes more efficient and better oriented. This is a gradual learning process. When I turned to Alexander Technique due to a very unfortunate knee surgery, it took me five lessons to realize that if my back is working properly, my knee can function without pain. It took me another year to reach some level of consistency in this new way of being.

I think we all want to learn how to be, how to deal with our own body’s tricks and with what the external world throws at us. F.M Alexander technique can really take us out of ourselves and into a kinder life.