Although the Technique is primarily concerned with habits and control of behaviour, many positive physical changes occur. The feelings of lightness and ease of movement described above result from an improved organisation of the postural and balance systems in our bodies. The appropriate red fibre non-fatigable postural muscles are reengaged by applying the A.T. principles, aligning the body in a more natural organisation thus requiring less work to be done in standing and moving.

Changes continue over time as the student learns to apply the principles in their daily activities. We move closer to what has been termed appropriate effort in any activity thus lowering the degree of wear and tear on our whole system. Many students grow taller and their physical frame expands as they undo their unconscious contractive habits of movement. Even appearance can  improve over time with the entire muscle system including the facial muscles of expression releasing tension and returning to a more even tone.

There is a growing body of scientific research validating Alexander’s work but there is also a large extant body of literature describing how it works and peoples experiences of learning the Technique. Many eminent scientists and medical people have written about the Technique since Alexander began teaching.
 

“This story of perceptiveness, of intelligence and of persistence shown by a man without medical training is one of the true epics of Medical Research and practice”.

Professor Nikolas Tinbergen
Nobel Prize for Medicine,  1973 
 
 
 

“The Alexander Technique 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; and along with this heightening of consciousness on all levels.We cannot ask more from any system, nor if we seriously desire to alter human beings in a desirable direction, can we ask any less”.

Aldous Huxley,   “Ends and Means”.
 
 

"When an investigation comes to be made it will be found that every single thing we are doing in the work is exactly what is being done in nature where the conditions are right,  the difference being that we are learning to do it consciously."

F.M.Alexander 
 
 

"It is my opinion that habitual use of improper reflex mechanisms in sitting, standing, and walking introduces conflict in the nervous system, and that this conflict is the cause of fatigue and nervous strain which bring many ills in their train. Mr Alexander, by relieving this conflict between the total pattern which is hereditary and innate, and the reflex mechanisms which are individually cultivated, conserves the energies of the nervous system and by so doing corrects not only postural difficulties but also many other pathological conditions that are not ordinarily recognised as postural.

....Mr Alexanders method lays hold of the individual as a whole, as a self vitalising agent. He reconditions and reeducates the reflex mechanisms and brings their habits into normal relation with the functions of organisms as a whole. I regard his methods as thoroughly scientific and educationally sound”.

G.E.Coghill.  (Biologist)  in  The Universal Constant in Living.   F. M. Alexander.  1941   Dutton & Co.  P XXV111