A lot of our attention is focused downwards and forwards: texting, reading, eating, cooking, typing, childcare. This can make us slump. The neck might hang down and the back may be collapsed.This can lead to back and neck pain. Text neck is a good example of hanging the head down and getting neck pain. One of the first things we look at in the Alexander Technique is what is happening with the neck. Our head is heavy - it weighs about 5kg. This is the same weight as 5 litres of water!
Thinking upwards can make a real difference to our posture. Some people use the image of string growing from the top of the head to help bring the head up. But are there other concepts that work better?
How to stop slumping: 4 ideas to help your posture
One of the issues with imagining a string or a golden thread coming up from the top of the head is that it can sometimes make people over stretch their neck. They can pull the neck up and make the neck muscles overwork as they do so.
Instead, the magic happens in the thinking. Thinking and not doing. Different thoughts resonate with different people. Here are a few to experiment with:
Be aware of the sky above you. Take care not to tip your head backwards or the forehead upwards. It's a pure thought. As trees and nature grow towards the light, imagine that you do too. It's a visualisation.
Think of an upwards direction all the way from the soles or your feet to the top of your head. A pure thought, not a stretch. You could imagine an arrow, or bubbles travelling up or an energy source.
Imagine the head being a floaty balloon. This is one that my colleague Sue Merry uses with children in schools. She also asks them to think of their shoulders as runny custard - useful for anyone who wears their shoulders like earrings.
Visualise your hair growing out of the top of your head, a bit like the children's toy Mr Grasshead which has grass growing out of the toy's head when watered!
Good posture is free not rigid or held: Freeing the neck
We need to look out for stiffening in the body. This isn't helpful for our posture. It restricts our breathing and interferes with our balance. It can cause tension. So as well as thinking up, we want to ensure that we're not bracing. And a good place to start with is the neck.
Our neck supports the weight of our head. This is fine and we're perfectly capable of this. A toddler's head is large in comparision to its body but toddlers generally have excellent balance and don't hang their necks forward. Look at this little one playing with a toy on the floor yet not hanging its head down.
Freeing the neck is a different kind of thought. Here we are thinking about what we want to stop, what we want to undo. So the thought is to undo the tension, to undo the fixing. It can be a little tricky to know if our neck is free so the starting point is just to send a message from mind to muscle to undo it. And to not try to feel whether it's free or not. We can start to think about the process rather than the result. This is where change happens.
Why do we want the neck to be free?
We want the neck to be free and not fixed and rigid because of the weight of our head at the top of the spine. This is important because if the head is off balance, the rest of the body takes the strain. Every time we move, our balance shifts. If the head isn't rigidly fixed, then it can respond to this change. Even when we breathe there is a shift in balance. So if the neck isn't clamping the head in place, then the head can respond to the changes in balance.
An Alexander Technique teacher is trained to help find a way forward with this. When we work in person with someone, we can see and feel what is going on in someone's neck and help them reduce tension and discomfort.
Two types of thinking
There are two different types of thinking here. The first - thinking up - is what we call 'direction' or 'directing' in Alexander language. It's a spatial thought, an energetic thought. We think up, we think north. We think up, we send energy upwards.
The second - freeing the neck - is what we call 'inhibition' or 'inhibiting'. It's a preventative thought. A stopping. Stopping fixing or bracing.
We apply these thoughts in other contexts. When crossing the road, we stop then look and listen. Stop, look right, then left, then right again. Stop = inhibition. Looking right and left = literal directions.
Different than a string on top of the head
Thinking of a golden thread or string coming from the top of your head can be a bit of a rigid thought. It can fix the neck and pull the head up too much.
Instead, try pausing. Send a message to your neck to not tense. Then think an upwards thought.
Want to find out more?
This is a different way of thinking from our more direct way of thinking. It's a fascinating way of starting to understand more about our body and what we do with it. And it's also a very strong connection between mind and body.
If you'd like to find out more, please contact me through the form on my contact page . And if you'd like a free 15 minute consultation to explore whether Alexander Technique lessons would work for you or your business, you can also book this directly from the contact page.
Comments