How to Learn the Alexander Technique: A Manual for Students

By William Conable and Barbara Conable

A primer for students of the Alexander Technique, a well-known method for improving freedom and ease of movement and physical coordination. This book provides the first authoritative account of William Conable's concept, Body Mapping, the study of how our ideas about our bodies affect our experience and movement. This concept is integrated with a lucid explanation of the Alexander Technique that clarifies and simplifies the task of teaching and learning the Techique. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0962259543
• ISBN13: 9780962259548
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Andover Press (OR)
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.3" x 10.7"

Customer Reviews

Body Awareness

I'm finding this book very helpful for learning about my body & the way it's meant to move & be used. I didn't realise how little I knew even though I've studied anatomy & physiology previously in my life.

Excellent supplement

After taking 5-6 lessons from an Alexander teacher, I still had trouble "getting it". Many of the concepts and techniques seemed very abstract, and I had a difficult time putting it all together. While this book is no substitute for a teacher, it did help me begin to really understand and apply what I had previously been exposed to. The section on body maps was particularly helpful. I would highly recommend this book.

An Excellent Student Resource

To learn the Alexander technique, you need a teacher. You CANNOT learn it from a book. The technique involves communication of a kinesthetic sense from the teacher to the student through hands-on learning. With that said, this book is a valuable resource to a serious student who already has, or would like to find a teacher. The sections on body-mapping are particularly useful, and can be applied even if one is not studying...

a wonderful supplement to taking lessons

I feel moved to respond to some of the reviews below, which seem to me to judge the book more in terms of what it is not, rather than what it is. This is an excellent book to read *as* you're taking lessons; the book provides a wonderful companion to your ongoing learning, offering some fascinating insights on body perception and habits of movement, insights that have stuck with me half a decade after I first read the book...

The nearest thing to a "do-it-yourself" book.

There seems to be a lot of controversy about whether someone can learn the Alexander Technique without a teacher. My own experience started with taking lessons from a teacher, but I've met several people who learned quite a bit on their own - not just learned it intellectually (which doensn't do much good anyway) but also were able to apply what they had learned to improve their posture, coordation and balance in very...