Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Shakespearean actor who suffered from chronic hoarseness. He often lost his voice entirely while performing. When doctors could find nothing physically wrong with him he looked for what he might be doing to cause his own problems. Using a three-way mirror to observe himself he noticed that when reciting Shakespeare he tightened the muscles of his neck, lifted his chin and tilted his head back and down.

Alexander thought he had the answer. He went back to the stage tucking his chin and pulling his head up only to lose his voice again. He realized that his idea of the "right" thing to do (tucking his chin and pulling his head up) was all wrong. He found he had to let go of trying to "do" the "right" thing to "fix" his voice. He had to be less concerned with his goal (speaking Shakespeare well). Simply allowing his neck to relax while envisioning the activity of speaking yielded the most improvement. His voice and body worked much more easily, and he found that he could do more by doing less.

This nine-year process of self-observation and experimentation resulted in much more than Alexander's vocal restoration. He taught his technique to those who heard of his expressive voice. As Alexander's students began to use his process their overall health improved and it was found to be beneficial to many physical issues including back problems, chronic pain, breathing disorders and stage fright.