Testimonials

I am very grateful that I chose to learn the Alexander Technique with Dr. Anderson. Working with her enabled me to significantly expand my vocal range and presentation skills which were put to the test shortly after our last lesson together.
I credit her with the dramatic improvement in my public speaking performance which was apparent to my colleagues but, more importantly, to myself. That she managed to combine these key development areas with an interesting and fun approach made the improvement and learning process easy and enjoyable.

Michael Payne, employee at the United Nations

One day when I was at home suffering from flu and bad back pain I just happened to pick up a book about the Alexander Technique. I devoured it – I had never before heard of this therapy – and was thrilled and amazed. Could it be true? That just by thinking I could be free of back pain?
In the preceding years I had had frequent intermittent back pain. Sometimes bad, sometimes not so bad, and somehow I had almost just got used to it. Inspired by my reading and after an Internet search I found Harriet Anderson to teach me the Alexander Technique and have struck lucky.
The sessions with Harriet and the Alexander Technique are a great enrichment. After each session I feel as if I’ve grown taller, tensions disappear and pain is alleviated. I still find it difficult to let go, not having to do anything - only thinking the directions. Yet after even only a few lessons with Harriet I could notice an effect: my back pain is more seldom and when I do have it I now have tools and know-how which help me to alleviate the pain.
I find it particularly impressive to discover how many other areas of my life are connected to my body posture – everyone must discover that for themselves – but I can integrate the Alexander Technique and the body awareness it brings into my daily life in many different ways.
To summarise:
The Alexander Technique deals with the causes of back pain and tension by correcting bad posture and unfavourable habits of movement as well as beliefs (e.g. am I really sitting straight or do I only think so?). The Alexander Technique can easily be integrated into daily life and helps to mobilise new energy.

Alexandra, business executive

I had coaching in the Alexander Technique with Harriet Anderson in 2010. Since then I cannot imagine my daily life as a university professor of singing without AT; I have integrated its ideas and ways of observing into my teaching and into my daily life and have become calmer.

My students are developing a greater ability to recognise certain harmful patterns in their own use, particularly in the neck, head, back area, as well as refining their own body awareness. As a result they are producing much better sounds.

These improvements are also the result of the workshops which Harriet has held at our Department. I am most grateful to her. I and my students certainly hope that further workshops will follow.

Regine Köbler, Professor of Solo Singing, Department of Singing and Musical Theatre, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

I have profited enormously from the Technique. It has made me more aware of my body and how I use it in everyday situations. The voice coaching I’ve had from Harriet Anderson has been very beneficial to me especially in my professional life, which involves a lot of speaking. It helps me to use my voice more efficiently and with greater ease.

Dr Gunther Kaltenböck, University Lecturer

About one year ago I first came across with the Alexander Technique. I had had an operation and for a long time afterwards I suffered from pain, my posture was incredibly bad, and everyday life was just exhausting and draining. In my search for therapies I came across the Alexander Technique and after a few sessions I decided to stay with it.

The kind of awareness and way of thinking which you learn in the Alexander Technique has made my life not only much easier and pleasanter, it has also enriched it and made living more interesting. It’s incredibly fascinating to experience how thought influences the body (and vice versa) and to keep on learning new things about yourself.

And what’s of course really important is: the Alexander Technique works! My physical state improved massively, particularly in the first few months.

Although the quick results and successes have stopped now, I still experience in the sessions with Harriet Anderson that there is always more room to come up and that you can always move through life more easily.

Bernhard Gösweiner, student

I took part in a workshop of Harriet’s and I really appreciate what she did and how she did it. It was a truly amazing experience.

Martina, teacher

Since I am a priest and a teacher, I have to speak in front of large groups. I soon noticed that after teaching for several hours or presiding at two Masses, I was exhausted and barely able to speak. I suffered from back pain and tension in several parts of my body. A friend told me to try Alexander, and during my first lesson, I soon felt free and discovered a much more dynamic way of interacting with myself and those around me. I was refreshed, not so quickly tired, and my communication skills improved noticeably.

Now, after weekly lessons with Harriet Anderson, I find there is hardly any part of the day that can’t be enhanced through the Technique. From praying to studying, from individual counselling to public preaching, I often think back on my weekly lesson and apply the principles I have learned.

Working with Harriet is a treat for me because she is very practical. I often bring things to the lesson from my daily life (how to read, write, speak, sing) and we work on them according to my own pace and my own needs. Some people ask me how I am able to master an immense work load and still remain centered and calm. I often then think to myself that without AT, I would not be able to do so.

Pater Dr Alcuin Schachenmayr O.Cist., priest and teacher

Working with Harriet Anderson and the Alexander Technique has made me aware of how tense my whole neck area used to be - and my voice sounded like it, too! With Harriet’s guidance I can now make free, supported and tuneful sounds. Altogether my awareness of my body and above all my breathing has increased. And – last but not least – I have learnt that in every way less is more.

Renata Schmidtkunz, Journalist and moderator for Austrian national radio (ORF)

A friend suggested I try out Alexander Technique to help me with pain in my neck, shoulders and knee. Beforehand I had tried chiropractors and masseurs. These various therapies were all good, but Alexander Technique teaches me to get to know my body better and to return to the home which is my body. I learn how to let go of tension and alleviate pain myself.

Hillary Keel, teacher and writer

I came across Harriet Anderson and the Alexander Technique because I wanted to go in a new direction as regards the voice. … In the sessions with Harriet I discovered the Technique in a very individual way. I learned how I could apply it to the most diverse everyday situations and how to apply it to breathing and vocalisation. Harriet answered my questions in a very practical and understandable way and was happy to deal with my special requests. … Gradually I noticed what a positive impact the Technique was having on me as a person, on my body, my voice and my mood. …It was always very harmonious and enriching and I got a lot of good ideas about how to go about my everyday life. The sessions with Harriet did me good; I’m very grateful.

Elisabeth Bertsch, speech and voice therapist

My first experience of the Alexander Technique was in Tokyo in 2000. I am a professional concert pianist and it was recommended to me by a pianist friend and colleague. I was immediately impressed by the changes brought about in my body. When I moved to Budapest six years ago I started lessons with Harriet, travelling to Vienna to do so. I immediately felt comfortable with Harriet and knew I wanted to continue learning the Technique with her despite the journey. The Alexander Technique has helped me become much more aware of what I’m doing with myself. My playing has become much easier, I have fewer technical problems, and generally I feel much calmer and clearer when performing and teaching. Altogether I can manage my life with less stress and more energy. I also notice the Alexander Technique has had a beneficial impact on my relationships.

Hiroko Ishimoto, concert pianist and piano teacher

Through Harriet's sensitive, precise and varied teaching, I'm able to recover my true, naturally effortless way of being. Instead of forcefully correcting bodily ailments, we work by gently raising awareness of old habits (postural, functional, behavioural,..). When letting go of them using the AT, we uncover the most precious gift: authentic, unforced movement. Every routine task or new activity suddenly becomes so easy, so delightful. By using the energy released from unnecessary tension, so much becomes possible. With curiosity and playfulness I become aware of the AT's applicability in all situations of life, at every moment, every breath. I see the AT as the epitome of self-determined 'medicine'. Everybody can take care of themselves, and this is certainly one of the most efficient and unvarnished ways. This is what I love about it. Thank you so much, dear teacher!

Thomas, medical student

I have been learning the AT with Harriet for almost three years now and I am still intrigued by it. The intriguing thing is that I am not really aware of learning anything at all, but during the course of the lessons I have discovered a better way of dealing with the business of everyday life. This has brought with it an increased sense of well-being – a sense of being more in tune with myself and living life – to a greater degree - on my terms.

I don’t want to give the impression that learning the Technique has solved all my problems, but what it has given me is a new way of dealing with worrying or stressful situations that are part of normal life. In learning this skill I have discovered new, often simpler, ways of doing things – with surprisingly good results.

It is important for me to say that I believe that I have found an excellent teacher in Harriet. She has an expert knowledge of the Technique and a personal commitment to it, but she also has had the patience and understanding to be able to show me how to make good use of the Technique in my situation.

What follows is a more detailed and personal account of my experience of learning the Alexander Technique with Harriet.

AT Workshops.

My first experience of the AT was at a workshop run by Harriet three years ago. The workshop offered to help me develop my Personal Presence and was of particular relevance to me as a teacher. I went along expecting to do various exercises and to come away with some sort of recipe for success. I didn’t expect it to be easy, but I did expect some obvious results.

As is often the case with AT, what actually happened was completely different from what I expected. I remember being in a small, friendly but disparate group and being invited to do some simple (surprisingly simple) activities e.g. rolling a ball across the circle in various ways …… We were then asked to consider how we had felt whilst performing these activities and to share our thoughts on this. Our attention was thus drawn to the link between our emotional and physical worlds. Some of the activities seemed silly, some bizarre.

What I realised later was that I had never really stopped to think about why I did the things I did and why I did them in a particular way. It dawned on me that a lot of my behaviour was automatic and it really was worth stopping to consider my choices – yes, I did have choices - more carefully. I was hooked.

Three years later I still think back to those activities. I can now better understand their relevance to the issue of Personal Presence and still find the questions they raised interesting. Not that I have answers to all those questions, even now.

Since then I have attended other Workshops with Harriet on different topics. They tend to follow the same pattern: deceptively simple activities, reflection, sharing, intrigue, insight, the possibility of change, surprises.

I had left the first workshop with the feeling that the Technique had something valuable to offer, so I arranged some one-to-one lessons with Harriet.

One-to-one Lessons

Sense of Calm.

I can still remember my first lesson. I was struck both by the sense of calm in the room and by the calm way in which Harriet conducted the lesson. I don’t remember much of the detail of the lesson. But I do remember that that evening my husband said to me: ‘You’re different. Something about you has changed.’ I believe that I had brought a deep sense of calm home with me, although I wasn’t consciously aware of it, and was amazed to think that this had communicated itself to another person.

This sense of calm seems to me to be fundamental to the AT. It is a good place to return to when things get tricky, or perhaps I should say it is a good place to start from.

Mind and Body Working Together.

Since then Harriet has gently guided me towards new ways of sitting, standing and walking, enabling me to release tension. She has taught me to recognise the bad habits that have developed in my physical and emotional self and to change to new, “easier” ways.

What this means in everyday life is that I can recognise when I am going about things the ‘wrong’ way. It could be that I am trying too hard at something or that I am asking too much of myself or others. This often leads to tension, conflict, disappointment - as we all know.

On a day-to-day level this has meant that I go about things like shopping and preparing meals with a different attitude. I generally feel less stressed. This has led to a new openness – a willingness to try new things. This may sound trivial, but I am now prepared to try new vegetables or new recipes, which has made life more interesting both for me and my family. Similarly (- in the sense of innovation !) I suggested to my husband that we take up ballroom dancing. This is something I have thought about for a long time – influenced no doubt by TV shows – but never really had the courage to do. So far we are both enjoying the experience.

Going back to the AT lessons: whilst working on the way I behave physically, Harriet and I generally have a quiet conversation about, well, anything that springs to mind - some aspect of the Technique that I’ve found useful or something that has happened to one of us recently. The conversation often ‘settles’ on something that has been troubling me: perhaps a problem in the family or something at work.

My experience is that Harriet is able to help me to look at such a situation from a more detached perspective and so offer me new insights into the way I have been behaving. It is often the case that my own thoughts or emotions (my emotional bad habits) have been getting in the way of a happier situation. Typical bad habits could be misplaced good intentions or over-anxiety.

It can sometimes be weird to look at things from a new viewpoint. It can be unsettling or it can bring with it a sense of relief. This new way of looking at things usually involves me in changing my behaviour and so taking risks. It has been important for me to realise that making these changes must be a gradual process, but I have had enough confidence in Harriet and the AT to do so. As a result I have been able to untangle situations that have caused me, and others, distress for a long time and find better ways of doing things.

Recently Harriet has applied the principles of AT to help me improve the use of my voice. I have learnt to release unnecessary tension and make more effective use of my breath and speech organs to produce ‘better quality’ sounds – often to my utter amazement.

But this was only possible once I had dealt with the emotional demons that told me ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m not good enough’, which seemed to have a stranglehold on my throat. I had to face up to these thoughts – I think it helped to articulate them - and learn to put them in their place, before I could make any progress on the physical aspects of voice production.

Recognising these demons in relation to voice work has done me a lot of good. I can now recognise how much damage they do in other areas of my life and aim to discount them there in the same way.

The skill of the teacher.

When I started to learn the Alexander Technique with Harriet I used to enthuse to my friends about the Anderson Technique. I think this was a very telling slip of the tongue. I found the Alexander Technique interesting, but I was also very impressed with the way in which Harriet presented it. She was invariably calm, patient and precise – in tune with the principles of the Technique. I found her manner very re-assuring, especially as I found some of the Technique puzzling at first.

For me one key aspect of AT is the way in which it responds to the needs of the particular student. So I have especially appreciated Harriet’s willingness to listen and respond thoughtfully to my problems, to explain and to discuss. She has always been able to give me precise, useful information about the Technique and its application. I very quickly had a feeling of confidence and trust in her and her work, which, after all, is essential when dealing with the fundamentals of life – how we move and how we think.

Janet Beyer, mother, housewife and part-time teacher