A - lengthened spine
B - shortened spine
Some history
Frederic M Alexander was born in Tasmania, Australia in the middle of 19thC. Having left home and after trying various forms of employment he found that he was rather good at public speaking, giving recitals etc.All went well until he developed a throat problem which caused him to loose his voice. Doctors could find nothing wrong and could only suggest he rest his voice which was fine until he went to speak again.He finally decided that it must be something that he was doing that caused the problem. He spent some time observing himself and noticed when about to went to speak he would pull his head back and down, shortening himself. However hard he tried to stop this habit, he found he could not.It wasn't until he realised that his head needed to go forward and up so as to be freely in balance which resulted in him becoming more generally co-ordinated and his throat problem was resolved.
Most of us don't realise the need for the head to balance freely on top of the spine, so that the rest of the body can move easily and in co-ordination. A lot of our movements are very habitual and carried out with more tension than is necessary, which can result in aches and pains. Working with a teacher, these problems of tension and balance can be 'undone' to bring about ease of movement and sense of well being.
Vidio explaining the importance of natural 'head balance'