Our Work

Our work highlights the research and insights of our community. Share your contributions by collaborating with ASO here. Subscribe to our free newsletter here.

Alexander Studies Online 11/1/22 Alexander Studies Online 11/1/22

Alexander Technique group lessons in an exercise program for women following treatment for breast cancer: An Interview with Alazne Larrinaga

This month we release an interview with Alazne Larrinaga, an Alexander Technique teacher based in Galway, Ireland. Alazne talks about her MSc research project where she introduced Alexander Technique group lessons into an exercise program for women following treatment for breast cancer.

Alexander Studies Online 10/4/22 Alexander Studies Online 10/4/22

A New Alexander Technique Publication in the British Medical Journal on Low Back Pain: An Interview with Carolyn Nicholls

This month we release a talk with Carolyn Nicholls about a helpful and first-of-its-kind research project for the Alexander world that achieved publication in the prestigious British Medical Journal in 2021.
Led by Joseph Little, this research paper helps us understand the effects of a combination of Alexander Technique private lessons and group teaching on low back pain and demonstrated significant positive results.

Alexander Studies Online 9/6/22 Alexander Studies Online 9/6/22

The Healthy Young Musician Project: Alexander Technique Research at the Royal Academy of Music

This month we release a discussion about the Healthy Young Musicians research project carried out at the Junior Royal Academy of Music in the UK. This innovative project involved a series of Alexander Technique group lessons for young musicians at the Academy and included a research study running alongside to assess student change and progress in terms of mindset, health, and well-being. The collaborative approach taken by presenters helps pave the way for greater health in young musicians and demonstrates interdisciplinary collaboration as a modern and positively impactful way to better understand and share the Alexander Technique.

Alexander Studies Online 8/2/22 Alexander Studies Online 8/2/22

Violin, Science, and the Alexander Technique: An Interview with Researcher Alison Loram and Special Guests

This edition releases a fascinating conversation that lies at the intersection between science, music, and the Alexander Technique. Centered around Alison Loram’s research with violinists titled ‘Proactive Selective Inhibition Targeted at the Neck Muscles: This Proximal Constraint Facilitates Learning and Regulates Global Control’ Gabriella Minnes Brandes leads a discussion that spans personal reflection, technical insight, and rigorous research with three professional musicians: Alison Loram, Joan Blackman, and Domagoj Ivanovic.

Alexander Studies Online 7/5/22 Alexander Studies Online 7/5/22

Is it time to take stock of Alexander Teacher education? Research offers the means whereby.

Technological advances combined with the Covid-19 pandemic have brought about new practices in AT teaching and teacher education that were unimaginable only a few years ago. This month we release three videos in which Terry Fitzgerald PhD, MAusSTAT shares his insights and thoughts on Alexander Technique teacher training informed by his 2007 doctoral thesis that examined AT teacher education in the first decade of the millennium.

Alexander Studies Online 6/7/22 Alexander Studies Online 6/7/22

A Technique for Musicians

This month we release a paper written specifically for ASO by Malcolm Williamson (MSTAT). Malcolm played the viola professionally for over twenty years and draws on his extensive knowledge of the writings of F.M. Alexander and others to share his insights from working with students at the Royal Northern College of Music and professional musicians.

“By ‘sticking to principle’, as we say, we gradually and surely develop new ways of being true to ourselves, responding each time in ways that (re-)affirm the integrity of you as a person.”

Alexander Studies Online 5/3/22 Alexander Studies Online 5/3/22

Psychological and other ‘non-physical’ changes following Alexander Technique lessons

Many AT teachers will tell you that learning and applying the AT is helpful for stress, anxiety, and wellbeing, however until now the research evidence for these types of outcomes has never been put together and highlighted. In this 19th edition, Debbie Kinsey (PhD, ClinPsyD) and Lesley Glover (PhD, MSTAT) help summarise their recently published realist review on psychological and other ‘non-physical’ changes following Alexander Technique lessons.

Alexander Studies Online 4/5/22 Alexander Studies Online 4/5/22

Finale - Working With Musicians: Application of The Alexander Technique to Music Making Part III

This 18th newsletter is the finale of a series on the Alexander Technique and music making. It includes the final two video interviews between Dr Gabriella Minnes Brandes (CANSTAT, STAT, AMSAT, ATI) and Lorna McGhee, principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, adjunct music professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Alexander Technique student.

Alexander Studies Online 3/1/22 Alexander Studies Online 3/1/22

Working With Musicians - Application of The Alexander Technique to Music Making Part II

This 17th newsletter continues a fascinating series on the Alexander Technique and music making. It includes the first two video interviews of a four part series between Dr Gabriella Minnes Brandes (CANSTAT, STAT, AMSAT, ATI) and Lorna McGhee, a professional musician, adjunct music professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Alexander Technique student.

Alexander Studies Online 2/1/22 Alexander Studies Online 2/1/22

Working With Musicians - The Application of The Alexander Technique to Music Making Part I

This 16th edition of the Alexander Studies Online (ASO) newsletter is the first of a series of blogs that focuses on the Alexander Technique and music making. This month begins with an introductory video, and a paper by Dr Gabriella Minnes Brandes (CANSTAT, STAT, AMSAT, ATI) that includes three video interviews between Gabriella and Jennifer Condie, a musician and Alexander Technique pupil of Gabriella’s.

Alexander Studies Online 1/4/22 Alexander Studies Online 1/4/22

One year into the Alexander Studies Online project - how are we doing?

In this 15th edition of the Alexander Studies Online (ASO) newsletter we reflect on a year of progress and learning, think about next steps for the year to come, and reach out you - the ASO community - for your thoughts.