Do you have a pain in your neck? Here’s how to lose it for good.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a long, relaxed, pain-free neck? Well, with know-how, awareness, and practice, you can, no matter how you’re feeling now.
The gentleman above was our guide at Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea, in 2004. His neck and head are fine examples of what a comfortable neck looks like. His alignment remains unchanged from the alignment we all had as children (check the photo below). The man and the child both stack their vertebra. Because of that, each one can let their head simply rest on their spine.
Characteristics of a healthy pain-free neck
The basic characteristics of a Balanced head are:
- the back of the head rises,
- the ears are vertical,
- the nostrils are even with the bottom of the ear lobes,
- the face is vertical,
- the neck appears “straight” and in line with the lower spine.
Characteristics of a stressed painful neck
Compare the above images with the necks and heads of the young man and woman below.
Most people have lost their natural neck and head alignment. Instead, they have the following characteristics:
- the back of the head drops down,
- the ears slant back,
- the nostrils are higher than the bottom of the ear lobes,
- the face is held up, tipping backward,
- the neck is bent and too far forward.
Where do these misalignments come from?
Our head weighs between 12 to 14 pounds. When we’re in Balance, that weight sits evenly on the stacked vertebra. When we’re out of Balance, the weight of the head has to be held by our neck muscles — which is a job they weren’t designed to do. The result is anything from discomfort to agonizing pain. To make matters worse, the misalignments in the neck cause problems in the cervical disks.
The good news
When you learn to sit and stand in your original alignment, your neck pain diminishes almost immediately. The more you understand your habitual postural patterns the more you can shift them. The more you shift them the less pain you feel. It works because you’re returning your skeleton to the alignment you had as a child. Remember when it didn’t hurt?
“Solutions” without Balance won’t work
Unless you change how you sit and stand, doing neck exercises is useless, because your skeletal misalignments are what hurt your neck in the first place.
I’ve been teaching Balance since 1992. What I’ve learned is you don’t need to be completely in Balance to get relief. Even a slight shift toward Balance begins to relieve the neck problems you experience. The more you attend class, the more you understand, the more you practice, the more the pain ebbs.
It’s within your power to do this.
Once you have a basic understanding of Balanced sitting and Balanced standing you can apply this knowledge to any other physical exercise or practice you do. Balance magnifies the benefits from martial arts, walking, gardening, and all of the performing arts. Everything gets easier. Your neck stops being aggravated.
Class Wednesday, January 26, 5:30, or Friday, January 28, at noon
First, we’ll do warm-ups for the neck and head, and then review guidelines for sitting and standing. Then we’ll look at the exact placement of the head on the neck and how to look up and down and from side to side without disturbing that placement. We’ll be using an elastic band for some exercises, and we’ll practice them lying on our backs so later on you can practice them in bed.
Bring an elastic exercise band or the tie from your housecoat, pillows for lying on your back, and a mirror that allows you to see your neck and head. Alternatively, you can move with your computer to a mirror. Seeing your reflection isn’t essential, but it will make it easier for you to access your own alignment.
One Response
I turned towards improving my posture after an extended period of neck pain; when physiotherapy and pillow changes provided little relief, I knew I had to try something else. And as I’ve improved my posture, my neck pain has mostly vanished! So I totally agree with ““Solutions” without Balance won’t work”!
I found it useful to learn about the signs of a misaligned neck – this will help me correct my own family members and be aware of avoiding the misalignment in myself.
So many people around me suffer from cervical pain, but never have I heard of someone get instructions on proper balance… it’s typically neck exercises and special pillows.
Looking forward to today’s class and being on this journey of Balance with you!!
Thanks!