The Alexander Technique is a method for developing a conscious use of oneself in all activities of living.
The Technique was evolved by F. Matthias Alexander (1869–1955) who described his discoveries in great detail in four books published between 1910 and 1941:
- Man’s Supreme Inheritance (1910, 1918)
- Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual (1923)
- The Use of the Self (1932) and
- The Universal Constant in Living (1941).The summaries, which were checked and approved by Alexander himself, were made in the late 1940s by the journalist Ron Brown, a pupil of Alexander.
Each summary provides an accessible, chapter-by-chapter synopsis of each of Alexander’s books. The abbreviated form provides an excellent introduction to Alexander’s writings and an overview of the development of his thinking over 30 years.
The summaries condense Alexander’s four books to about one fifth of their original word length. These shortened versions help to elucidate many points, crystallise the reasoning behind the arguments, and bring out the full force of Alexander’s practice and theory.