Alexander Technique

Lessons in the Alexander technique, named after Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), teach people how to stop using unnecessary levels of muscular and mental tension during their everyday activities. It is an educational process rather than a relaxation technique or form of exercise.

Practitioners say that such problems are often caused by repeated misuse of the body over a long period of time, for example, by standing or sitting with one's weight unevenly distributed, holding one's head incorrectly, or walking or running inefficiently. The purpose of the Alexander technique is to help people unlearn maladaptive physical habits and return to a balanced state of rest and poise in which the body is well-aligned.

Petra qualified as a professional Alexander Technique teacher in 2015, trained by Ron Murdock and Nadia Kevan. She also participated in workshops with Vivien Mackie and Bob Britton. She assisted Nadia Kevan during Alexander Technique workshops for musicians at Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Germany, as well as for orchestra members of the Noord Nederlands Orkest in the Netherlands. Two articles of Petra, How the Alexander Technique can change our view and The Alexander Technique as a "means whereby", were published in professional journals in Great Britain and in the United States. She works as an Alexander Technique teacher in The Netherlands.