Gerda Alexander

Mind–body interventions
Aromatherapy Autosuggestion Autogenic training Biofield therapy Energy medicine Expressive therapy Hypnotherapy Medical intuition Meditation Mindfulness Music therapy Physical exercise Psychoneuroimmunology Somatic psychology
Stylized methods
Alexander technique Eurythmy Feldenkrais method Franklin method Qigong Rolfing Structural Integration Tai chi Trager Approach Watsu Yoga Zero Balancing
NCCAM classifications
Alternative medical systems Mind-body interventions Biologically based therapy Manual methods Energy therapy
See also
Alternative medicine Glossary of alternative medicine Bodymind interventions

Gerda Alexander (February 15, 1908 – February 21, 1994) was a Danish teacher who devised a method of self-development called Eutony. She was born in Wuppertal, Germany, but moved to Denmark in 1929.

Alexander's parents were believers in eurythmy, passing on to her a similar interest in movement. Alexander as a young woman contracted rheumatic fever and endocarditis, suffering several crises. This inspired her to find ways to move that did not exacerbate her symptoms. Long periods of rest stimulated her to look within herself looking for a "more economic" and more spontaneous form of movement, starting with learning regulation of muscle tone.^[1]

By means of observation and reflection on her students, their own ailments and difficulties in mobility, and the investigation of the neuro-psychological bases of human movement, she molded her own method. She postulated that "it is important, in treatment, not to give and do more than is necessary, so that the other can rely on himself. It is not that I am the great master who gives you help. Rather, I can introduce you to my work for your own self discovery."^[2]

Quackwatch describes Alexander's invention, Eutony, as "form of body-centered psychotherapy" which "posits 'blocked energy' and a collective unconscious".^[3]

Further reading

• Alexander, Gerda (1981). Eutony; The holistic discovery of the total person. New York: Felix Morrow.

• Vishnivetz, Berta (1994). Eutonía; La Educación del Cuerpo hacia el Ser. Buenos Aires / Madrid: Paidós.

• Odessky, Alejandro (2002). Eutonía y stress. Buenos Aires: Lugar Editorial. ISBN 950-892-164-1.

References

1. Knaster, Mirka (1996). Discovering the Body's Wisdom: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than Fifty Mind-Body Practices. Bantam. pp. 222–6. ISBN 9780307575500.
2. Reza Leah Bat Pinchas. (January–February 1986). ""The Energy is in the Bones": Eutony's Gerda Alexander". Yoga Journal (66): 21–24.
3. "Eutony". Quackwatch. Retrieved August 2013.