Customer Reviews

Body, Breath and Being: A New Guide to the Alexander Technique

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an Alexander Technique devotee I was recommended this book by an AT teacher and it is great. Simple explanations making the Alexander Technique more accessible to everyone. I would recommend it to anyone. There is something in this book for all.

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to try the AT for themselves at home, the instructions are clear and interesting, it has the added benefit of an audio CD included.

This, in my opinion, is the best book you can find on the Alexander Technique. It's written with humour, and introduces the reader to the technique and how it can help them in their daily lives. There are many interesting examples and personal stories. Very easy to read, very practical and includes a CD which I downloaded onto my ipod for daily use, even when I'm away from home. Finally a book on the AT that is modern and very accessible. I am an Alexander technique teacher and I recommend this book to all my pupils who want to read up a little on the technique.

I can't imagine why this book got such enthusiastic reviews. Reviewers of one other book, The Alexander Technique Manual by Richard Brennan, complained that it's like an Alexander Technique sales brochure. Actually, that book has vastly more practical advice and guidelines than this one, which is utterly dependent on the reader taking one-to-one lessons from an Alexander Technique practitioner. The text is good for spiritual and theoretical guidance, but woefully thin on actual, helpful exercises. And the attached CD is a disaster. Delivered in an affectless, off-putting voice by the author's daughter, who has not been given any training in proper mike technique and is very poorly recorded, much too close up, so that the poor voice quality and the multiple plosives make the thing almost unlistenable. Worse, the so-called recorded 'workshops' are badly written and emphatically do not expand on the written text. Thumbs down on this one! Teach Yourself Alexander Technique by Richard Craze is the most helpful book I've come across to date.

I bought this book whilst recovering from spinal surgery and found it invaluable. It's very accessible and thought provoking. Written with great knowledge but also gentleness, it's a life manual as much as an introduction to the alexander technique. It has helped me find a new way to be in my body as well alleviating post-surgical depression. I would recommend it unreservedly.

I have been having Alexander Technique lessons since 2002 with great results, indeed one might even say life changing. However the journey has been somewhat challenging, not least of all because some of the simple concepts that the technique relies upon are difficult to put into words, which for me lead to quite some frustration. This book really helps to explain some of the techniques and procedures in a way which I would have found very useful had it been available to me early on. I think it is a very useful and practical guide for anyone who is becoming interested in the technique - and for people like me who have been involved for some time it has some very accessible and relevant things to say.

This is a welcome addition to books on The Alexander Technique. It's a great book with clear illustrations for the novice, and even has a CD to help with your understanding. Well worth a look.

This is an excellent book, but beware! The advertised free CD was missing and Amazon tell me (sic):

"Unfortunately, the item "Body, Breath and Being: A New Guide to the Alexander Technique " we have acquired from our suppliers doesn't accompany a CD. This issue has been raised among all our networks and we are working towards resolving this at the earliest."

They have given me a 20% refund, so 4*

I am new to Alexander Technique but have been interested in it for some time now. This book is written so conversantly and is appealing at so many levels. I am now convinced to take up AT especially with the current buzz arising from the researches and articles published by the British Medical Journal about the benefits of learning AT. The cover of the book looks great!! Who is she?

One of the thngs that is so impressive about this book is that everything is explained so clearly. There is no mumbo jumbo. Different chapters explain how the body should function when carrying out various daily activities, and how it so often fails to function as it should.

The author describes what ways of thinking might be useful to deal with such problems. She describes how such thoughts might be combined with actions to produce an improved result.

For example there is a whole chapter about sitting, which is rather useful for people who subject their bodies to considerable strain by slumping in front of a computer for hours on end and then go home to slump in front of a TV for another few hours.

At the end of each chapter there are suggested exercises which combine thought and action for readers to practise, which will give them some idea about how the Alexander Technique might be useful to them.

The photos (lots of them) are outstanding and the CD, enclosed in the book giving audio guidance neatly complements the clear explanations in the book.

And what a great cover photo!

All in all an exceptional introduction to the benefits of the Alexander Technique for the interested reader.