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"How many lessons do I need?"

Guidance for a tough question!

12th July 2025

People ask this a lot and I thought it would be good to write a few words for those who are considering lessons.

First, there is no ‘right’ number of lessons. It might actually be better to reply with another question: “how many lessons do you want?”. Because ultimately you decide where the end-point is.

But that doesn’t help someone who wants to know how much they are likely to spend, both financially and in time commitment; to get from wherever they are now to where they want to be.

And that’s the difficulty with this question, because we're all different.

We're all so different

Things that change with lessons

Here are some things that develop over a short course of lessons.

  • 1) People change shape a little and also (harder to describe) something changes about how they are. This happens while working with a teacher, often even in the first lesson. Those who have pain might feel some relief. The change is transient at first, maybe just a few fleeting moments. It's a glimpse of the possibilities, and can help you decide whether you want to pursue it.
  • 2) People begin to understand how to practise for themselves. The nuances of this are really what learning the technique is all about. As a person’s own practise improves there is carry-over of benefit from one lesson to the next.
  • 3) As chronically tight structures release, and supportive mechanisms engage and grow, peoples' bodies (especially the head, neck and back) find an improved balance. ‘Ease’ without excess tension becomes more available. This is where improvements in posture and pain reduction can become quite apparent.

As you can see, a few things need to happen for the work to be effective. And they happen at different rates with different people.

And of course we each come from different starting places and want Alexander lessons for different reasons.

Some want help with pain. Some want better posture. A lot of people just want to live well – perhaps to enjoy retirement as fully as possible.

"But how many lessons should I have!!?"

😂 OK. For reference, a study in the British Medical Journal found that after six Alexander lessons people had significantly less back pain. Of course not everyone had less pain, but enough people did, and to a large enough extent, to warrant the term 'significant'.

The most fabulous thing they found was that this was still true one year later. That’s a pretty stunning result from a very respectable study.

I am inclined to say try a few lessons to see if it’s for you. If you decide to go ahead you can stop whenever you want. Just a few skills from six lessons can be life-improving (as the BMJ study shows). After ten or so lessons you'll have some very helpful ways of practising independently. And then...

...for those who want to take it further, more work = more insight. It's a bit like learning the violin – after ten lessons you'll have a grasp of the basics but you won't be making it sing. Some people stop lessons for a while and then return when they want to learn a bit more.

If you absolutely love it, as I do, then this is the start of a huge adventure into how we are: in ourselves and in the world. Whatever you decide I hope you enjoy and benefit. 🌱

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© Copyright 2025 Alice Turner

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