The Use of the Self

by Frederick Matthias Alexander, Wilfred Barlow (Introduction)

Frederick Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania in 1869. In his twenties, he became a professional reciter of dramatic pieces. After almost completely losing his voice, he pioneered a method of improving the “use” of his body musculature in all positions and movements, curing his vocal problems without medical aid. Alexander came to realize that most people stand, sit, and move in a defective manner and that the incorrect “use of the self” might be the cause of much human suffering. He moved to London and established a school, publishing several books and achieving international success. Alexander died in 1955, but his technique of mind and body re-education lives on through the work of the many teachers of his method. The Use of the Self is the foremost text on Alexander’s revolutionary technique.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Psychology, Fitness, Self Help, Philosophy, Bodies

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Frederick Matthias Alexander (20 January 1869 – 10 October 1955) was an Australian actor who developed the educational process that is today called the Alexander Technique: a form of education that is applied to recognize and overcome reactive, habitual limitations in movement and thinking.

Reviews

[Semi-Academic Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found interesting his autodidactic search for and discovery of the means to recover from his health problem that hindered his orations. He shows us a method of independent study that may be useful. His training of others after he integrated his discoveries shows us the value of a tutor or gifted and sensitive mentor.

[Deena · Rating 4 out of 5]

hard in style/language to read but excellent in content, life changing

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice principle but a long way of saying "neuroplasticity". The last paragraph was great though!

[Jonny Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does the body rule the mind, Or does the mind rule the body?? I dunno?

[Holly Redshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of it is in a very old fashioned tone and mannerism, but as a long time Alexander Technique student I still got huge amounts out of this book by really exploring the foundations of it from the man himself. Revelations for me as a musician and my use of self, and that's after having lessons for a few years already!

[Tine!]

I’m not gonna lie; I love this man, but his book is pretty repetitive. Note to self: give up doing what feels right but brings about negative results in favour of what feels initially wrong but brings about positive results. Houdini your way out of the restraints of habit.

[Louisa]

was lead here from a footnote in peter levine’s in an unspoken voice. not much to see here, but i do miss the way oldies write, how books and thought processes are structured. favourite part was probably the rebuttal in the preface to the 2nd edition LOL. wish he were still alive so we could’ve gotten some clips of him

[Isaak · Rating 2 out of 5]

es kommt immer ne person zum autor, dann sagt er, dass die person unglaublich schlecht mit ihrem körper umgeht (z.b. sehr angespannt rumsteht), daraufhin macht er ne wunderheilung und erzählt wie viel besser es der person danach geht. f.m. alexander verrät aber nie, wie genau er den leuten geholfen hat, weil dann könnte er ja kein geld mehr verdienen.

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finisht it. It was interesting at first but kind of dry, excessively personal and detailed. Didn't help me with my problems, it seems like my problems stemmed much more from paying excessive attention to all these things actually. It seems like Dr. Sarno's approach is much more effective, at least it was for me and hundreds of thousands of people.

[Andriy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book presents some very interesting ideas. It describes a remarkable achievement of a remarkable man.

[Billy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this quite outdated and self-absorbed. It wasn't a very enjoyable read. I had to sift through a lot of pointlessness to get the point. Although, I am still interested in his technique.

[Lucia Medizza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for an into to the Alexander Technique and somatica, but I wouldn't say it is a very useful book if you already have some basic understanding.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you weed through the convoluted sentence structure and endless run-ons, you find that UoTS is actually one of Alexander's better books.

[Josh Montez · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought the chapter on stuttering was amazing. the book has some long sentences that are hard to get through, but there are some great ideas living in this book.