Frederick Matthias Alexander was born in 1869 in Tasmania/Australia. He moved to Melbourne and became a successful actor in his early twenties. Alexander developed voice problems and often couldn't speak anymore at the end of a show. His doctor told him to rest, which he did, but as soon as he performed again, the voice problems returned.

He began to observe himself in front of a mirror to discover what he was doing that caused his hoarseness. He noticed when he was about to talk, that he stiffened his neck pulled his head back and down, depressed his larynx, and sucked in air.

It became clear to him what he was doing to himself while acting, and he later noticed that he was pulling his head back and down in daily life activities. He realized that pulling his head back and down and contracting his torso was affecting his voice and his well being.
When he lengthened and widened, his voice began to function.

Soon, he noticed that he couldn't trust his kinesthetic sense. When he thought he was lengthening, he still was pulling down and contracting. Alexander realized that the body/mind is a whole and found that changing a pattern like pulling down can only be accomplished by changing one’s way of thinking.