“For the past three years Wes Howard has brought the unique contributions of the Alexander Technique to the musicians, conductors and actors of Illinois State Univ. The very direct benefits these performing artists receive from a heightened awareness of their bodies are at the roots of the technique required for their art. As a student of Wes, my exposure to the Alexander Method has brought into my own conducting style a richer palette of expressive gestures and postures. I have personally found Wes’ unique pedagogical style to be the very model of a great teacher: a soothing and calming voice, knowledgeable hands and carefully thought-out routines that become the core of the lessons.”
Dr. Glenn Block
Director of Orchestras Illinois State University
“In my Physical Therapy work, I have explored different mind/body, bodywork disciplines in search of useful healing techniques. My Alexander lessons with Wes have cut to the core where nothing else has. I find the Alexander Technique to be as basic to healthy physical and mental functioning as breath to life itself. I have successfully used it on myself to eliminate TMJ pain and still use it everyday to maintain mental clarity and to rid my body of tension. My senses are keener and I can type and play musical instruments without aggravating my history of carpal tunnel syndrome. Wes has given me the skills to actively participate in my lessons and to practice the technique in my everyday life. Any patient could benefit from the Alexander Technique and Wes’ teaching in particular”
Joanne Duitsman, L.P.T.A.
“Wes has taught me to be more aware of my sitting and standing when I play the trumpet. Because of this new insight, I have been relieved of persistent back problems and have more freedom of the breath which has improved all aspects of my performances.”
Dr. Amy Gilreath
Professor of Trumpet
Illinois State University
“F.M. Alexander established not only the beginning of a far-reaching science of the involuntary movements we call reflexes, but a technique of correction and self-control which forms a substantial addition to our very slender resources in personal education.”
George Bernard Shaw
“The four-year Actor Training Program at Juilliard is based throughout on the physical relaxation and subsequent rechannelling of energy that is inspired by Alexander Technique classes. As a result of these, students, in ridding themselves of bad postural habits, not only appear to grow taller by two inches or so, but are generally helped to reach, with their bodies and their minds, an enviable degree of freedom of expression from which to embrace the rest of their training.”
Michael Langham, Director
Theatre Center
The Juilliard School, New York
“Between the three of us [Tinbergen, wife, daughter] we already notice, with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness and mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures, and also in such a refined skill as playing a stringed instrument”.
Professor Nikolaas Tinbergen
1973 Nobel Prize Winner
for Physiology/Medicine
“Although a specific problem usually leads a person to try a course of lessons in the Alexander Technique, many people find the experience positive in diverse and unanticipated ways-such as decrease in back pain and improvements in athletic performance, respiratory function, and stage presence, as well as enhanced emotional well-being.”
Dr. John H.M. Austin, M.D.
Professor of Radiology
Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center, New York
“Together with improved physical and mental health, I have found that the Alexander Technique has brought about a general heightening of consciousness on all levels.”
Aldous Huxley, Novelist
Home -- What is the Alexander Technique -- Testimonials -- Bio and Contact Info