F. Matthias Alexander, Australian born, became a successful actor and reciter of Shakespeare in the 1880s. During his recitals he developed a condition of hoarseness and, from time to time, a complete loss of voice. On the advice of his doctors he used his voice as little as possible for a fortnight before his next recital. The evening of his performance came and his voice seemed to be good but halfway through his recital the condition of hoarseness returned and by the end he could hardly speak. Alexander was devastated! Alexander concluded that it was something he was doing that evening in using his voice that was the cause of the trouble.
Alexander set out to investigate, with the use of mirrors, what it was he was doing to himself while reciting.

Alexander's Discovery...
Alexander discovered that a certain use of the head in relation to the neck, and of the head and neck in relation to the torso (this is not a fixed position), if consciously and continuously employed ensures the establishment of a manner of use of the self as a whole which provides the best conditions for raising the standard of the functioning of the various mechanisms, organs and systems. He found that if this certain use of the head in relation to the neck was interfered with by creating undue tension, this would bring about a lowering of the standard of his general functioning. and the old symptoms would return.