Two weeks ago, I travelled to Waco, Texas for a wedding. On the flight down from NYC I had the joy of sitting in a luxurious economy seat (not middle!!) and passed the time by watching Paddington 2. Turns out, it’s as delightful as everyone says it is! 🤷♂️
But while I was sitting in that seat, I noticed that the plane was shaking. It had always been shaking. And as I thought about it, almost every vehicle that I’ve ever been in has always had a little shake. This little shake on this trip got me thinking about sprung weight and what it means to allow the neck/back/jaw/whatever to free.
As we flew, I reminded myself to let each and every vibration of the plane resonate through my body. For my part, this required a very gentle but persistent thought as every time I felt the desire to get up and walk around I felt something inside of me want to stiffen up. It turns out that being in an airplane seat for 3 1/2 hours can feel like:
When I persisted with this thought, I could feel the shake of the plane flowing from the chair through my body and up into my head and neck. Overtime, it began to give me a gentle little massage. I felt all of the joints slowly loosen up (not perfectly due to being strapped into a chair) and generally felt pretty comfortable on the flight.
To better illustrate what I mean, check out this video of a Formula 1 driver. Unfortunately, I cannot imbed the video here for copyright reasons, but I think it’s worth the redirect. In the video, you will see a facecam view of Sebastian Vettel. While he’s driving, you will see his whole body shake from the awesome power of the rocket he’s sitting in (I’m not a big F1 guy, but I know I wouldn’t be able to get into 1st gear in one of these machines).
This whole body shake happens because Vettel is not bracing (much) while driving1.
During a lesson, I’ll often say to a student that they should imagine that they are a car parked on the street. Their job is to let me walk up to them and gently press on the arm, chest, neck, or leg and test out the shocks on their suspension system. This is possible because every joint has a little mushy zone.
This mush/spring is absolutely vital for our structure. Without it, every step we take feels like a harsh thud as we put maximum strain on our bones and joints. With it, our steps feel softer and we can feel the vibrations of movement. This sensation is fundamental to what allowing freedom in a joint (or you) feels like.
The Exercise
As you go for your walk today, ask yourself if you can feel the vibration of your footstep flowing up into the neck. Does the neck feel like it’s bracing? Does the vibration feel like it can go all the way up to the top of your skull?
If this doesn’t quite feel right, don’t sweat it! If the head is pressing down on the spine with a lot of downward pressure you might just be blocked. Allowing this vibration is not sufficient on its own to free the neck; you’d need to add the thought of balancing the head, neck, and back into the mix to start getting the whole sensation I’m talking about.
Get In Touch
If you’re in NYC, you may learn more about my private teaching practice at johndalto.com.
If you’d like to book any lesson time with me, you can find my booking link here.
Everybody braces up in a situation like this at some point unless you have absolutely zero fear reflex.