Celebrities who have used Alexander Technique.

Given how Alexander Technique makes for more ease and efficiency, it is no surprise that many household names are amongst the celebrities who have trained in Alexander Technique.

Amongst them are:

John Cleese, Hugh Jackman, Greg Chapel, Roald Dahl, Kenneth Branagh, Linford Christie, Dame Judi Dench, James Galway, Jeremy Irons, Barry Humphries, Prunella Scales, Jennifer Saunders, Julia Sawalha, Roger Woodward, Robin Williams, Sir Paul McCartney, Christopher Reeeve, Paul Newman Sting, James Galway Kevin kline Daley Thompson William Hurt Yehudi Menuhun

John Dewey, Aldous Huxley, George Bernard Shaw, Raymond Dart, George E. Coghill, Charles Sherrington, and Nikolaas Tinbergen. 

Some quotes:

97% of people with back pain could benefit by learning the Alexander Technique - it is only a very small minority of back pain sufferers that require medical intervention such as surgery. 

Jack Stern, spinal neurosurgeon 

I find The Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander teacher to show it to you. 

John Cleese, actor 

The Alexander Technique will benefit anyone whether they are an elite athlete or whether they just wish to live life without the aches and pains that many people suffer and accept as part of life. It is a pity that these techniques are not shown to us all at an early age for I have no doubt that this would alleviate many of the causes of ill health in our communities. 

Greg Chappell Australian test cricketer 

The Alexander Technique works... I recommend it enthusiastically to anyone who has neck pains or back pain. 

Roald Dahl, writer 

Mr Alexander has done a service to the subject [of the study of reflex and voluntary movement] by insistently treating each act as involving the whole integrated individual, the whole psychophysical man. To take a step is an affair, not of this or that limb solely, but of the total neuromuscular activity of the moment, not least of the head and neck. 

Sir Charles Sherrington, neurophysiologist 

Alexander students rid themselves of bad postural habits and are helped to reach with their bodies and minds, an enviable degree of freedom of expression. 

Michael Langham, 

Director, The Juilliard School, New York USA 

The Alexander Technique can be sustaining; it is something that if learned well, can be carried along with you for the rest of your life. It gives you confidence to be who you are when you are up in front of an audience. 

Patrick Maddams, 

managing director, Royal Academy of Music 

Of all the disciplines that form the actor training program, none is more vital, enriching and transformative than the Alexander Technique. 

Harold Stone, Associate Director, Theatre Department, The Juilliard School, New York USA 

We already notice, with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness and mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures, and in such a refined skill as playing a musical instrument. 

Professor Nicholas Tinbergen, 

Nobel Prize winner for medicine and physiology 

Balance is a vital aspect of good hammer throwing and getting the head, neck, spine and pelvis in the correct relationship enables the balance of the throw to come so much more easily. Once the balance is settled there is an enormous improvement in turning speed. 

Howard Payne, 

Commonwealth record hammer thrower 

Alexander established not only the beginnings of a far reaching science of the apparently involuntary movements that we call reflexes, but a technique of correction and self control which forms a substantial addition to our very slender resources in personal education. 

George Bernard Shaw, writer, 

Nobel Prize winner for literature 

It gives us all the things we have been looking for in a system of physical education: relief from strain due to maladjustment, and consequent improvement in physical and mental health, increased consciousness of the physical means employed to gain the ends proposed by the will and, along with this, a general heightening of consciousness on all levels... We cannot ask more from any system of physical education; nor, if we seriously desire to alter human beings in a desirable direction, can we ask any less. 

Aldous Huxley, writer 

I love the Alexander Technique. It has corrected my posture, improved my health and changed my life. 

Alec McCowen CBE, actor 

The Alexander Technique has played an important and beneficial part in my life. 

John Houseman, actor, producer and director 

The Alexander Technique has helped me to undo knots, unblock energy and deal with almost paralysing stage fright. 

William Hurt, actor 

The Technique's many benefits for actors include minimised tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation, and responsiveness, mind/body connection and about an inch and a half of additional height. 

Kevin Kline, actor 

I can definitely say without hesitation that I wouldn't have had the rowing success that I have had the luxury of experiencing in my short time on the water, without finding the AT and the great teachers that I have had the privilege to work with. 

Valerie Thompson-Williams, rowing masters gold medallist 

The Alexander Technique makes a real difference to my often tense and busy life. Its thoughtful approach has made me calmer, improved my concentration and given me a clearer sense of my own well being. I am grateful for it. 

Joan Bakewell, TV presenter and journalist 

The Alexander Technique changed my life. It enabled me to devote more time to creating beauty. This inner strength is essential for all. 

Andrew Logan, sculptor

return to blog main
(or use arrows below to browse by date)