Alexander Technique is a transformative method of mind-body re-education that teaches you to recognize and release the unconscious habits that interfere with how you move, breathe, and perform.
Led by certified Alexander Technique teacher, Lee Aik Hooi, (the two-day?) workshop is designed to (musicians/flutist?) to the principles of the Alexander Technique, helping them improve posture, reduce physical tension, and enhance overall performance quality. By integrating body awareness and mindful movement, participants will learn tools to prevent injuries, manage performance anxiety, and achieve greater ease, efficiency and joy in their playing. This workshop is open for professional musicians, music students, who are curious about how the body and mind work together in music-making.
Objective:
- Help musicians in developing mental and physical self-awareness — noticing how you do what you do, not just what you do
- Address habitual tension patterns that contribute to strain and discomfort.
- Improve posture, coordination and breathing for more effortless performance.
- Provide practical tools for integrating the Alexander Technique into daily practice and rehearsals.
Logistics
Duration: 2 days
Date: Around 1st weekend of August (TBC)
Location: The Flute Store Malaysia
Materials: Projector, chairs. Participants should bring their instruments, yoga mat, notebook, and towel.
Workshop Structure
The workshop will be conducted in a variety of interactive format, including semi-private hands-ons, large groups, partner activities and private lesson.
Workshop 1: Foundations of the Alexander Technique
- Introduction to the Alexander Technique: History and key principles of the technique
- Body Awareness Exercises: Learning to recognize habits, tension patterns and relaxation exercises.
- Posture and Alignment: Practical tools for improving sitting and standing posture during rehearsals and performances.
Workshop 2: Anatomy – Movement, Coordination and Breath
- Basic anatomy – Understanding movement efficiency and its impact on performance.
- Breathing and Support: Techniques for efficient breathing to enhance musical phrasing and endurance, especially for wind and brass
Workshop 3: Masterclass: Integration and Performance Applications
- Managing Performance Anxiety: Strategies to stay calm, manage stress and focused under pressure.
- 4 pre-selected performers will have the opportunity to play masterclass and get hands-on
How can Alexander Technique help wind Instrumentalists
Wind playing is one of the most physically and neurologically demanding disciplines in music. Unlike string or keyboard instruments, wind instruments are the body — your breath, your embouchure, your posture, your nervous system. Every tension held anywhere in the body has a direct cost to your sound, endurance, and expressive freedom.
Here is what commonly goes unaddressed in conventional music training:
Breath & Airflow — The Alexander Technique helps you rediscover your natural breathing capacity. Many wind players unconsciously collapse the chest, over-tighten the abdominal muscles, or brace the shoulders before they even bring the instrument to their lips. This unnecessary tension restricts airflow, shortens phrases, and fatigues the body far sooner than necessary.
Posture & Instrument Alignment — Flutists with a chronically tilted neck, clarinetists with tightened jaw and throat, brass players pushing the mouthpiece with excessive pressure — these patterns often develop so gradually that they feel normal. The Alexander Technique trains you to notice these habits before they become injuries.
Performance Anxiety & Ease Under Pressure — Wind players know that tension and breath are inseparable. The moment anxiety rises, the breath tightens. Alexander Technique offers concrete tools to interrupt this cycle, helping you bring genuine calm and presence to the stage.
Longevity and Injury Prevention — Repetitive strain, embouchure disorders, back and neck pain — these are common occupational realities for wind instrumentalists. The Technique addresses their root cause: the unconscious misuse of the self that accumulates over years of practice.Musical Expression — When the body is no longer fighting itself, music flows. Dynamics become more nuanced, tone quality deepens, and phrasing becomes genuinely breath-led rather than mechanically managed.
Interested? Fill in this form and we will keep you updated!