F.M. Alexander‘s voice problems began when he was an actor who tried to project his voice to fill a hall. In so doing, he gasped for air, tipped his head back, and compressed his torso. This put pressure on his larynx and he quickly lost his voice.
F.M. developed his technique to overcome this problem, yet almost all Alexander teachers (including the great ones such as Marj Barstow, Patrick MacDonald and Walter Carrington) gasp for air when they speak publicly. The big exception to this is John Nichols.
If your neck is free, you’ll feel no need to gasp for air. It’s only when the neck is tight that people start gasping.
