Who was F.M. Alexander 

F.M. Alexander was a Shakespearian actor in Australia in the late 1800’s. He began to lose his voice during performances, and other than telling him to rest, doctors were of no help.
Alexander thought that since he only had this problem while reciting, that there must be something that he was doing to cause the problem. By watching himself with a mirror while he recited, Alexander noticed that he had a tendency to pull his head back and down and compress his spine. This interfered with his breathing and put pressure on his throat, which caused the vocal problem.
What troubled Alexander was that the harder he tried, the less he was able to prevent this tendency. Only by teaching himself to send messages from brain to body in a certain way was he able to achieve a sort of indirect control. This new approach allowed him to see himself and his reactions more objectively.
Alexander resumed his acting career and enjoyed much success. Other actors began to see him for acting lessons, and Alexander soon saw that most, if not all people had this same tendency to pull the head back and down.
Alexander found he could use his hands on the student to demonstrate how to prevent this. Many of his acting students saw improvements in their health and relief of chronic disease. Soon, doctors were referring patients to Alexander for such varied problems as nervous tension, asthma, stuttering, angina pectoris and arthritis.
Alexander’s fame spread to England and soon he followed. After many years of private practice Alexander opened a school to train new teachers in his technique. Graduates of his school and their successors have since been working to raise awareness of his discoveries.