Casting the Head Forward and Up
AKA I'm Drawing More Skeletons
Welcome to a Saturday morning blog!
I’m back to my iPad this week and I’m drawing more skeletons. Hopefully, you’ve had some time to review some of my older posts and have had a refresher as to WTF we’re examining with this whole Alexander Technique business. The purpose of this technique is NOT to teach you anatomy… it’s rather to help you figure out how you can stay out of your own way and let yourself balance as nature intended.
With that said, one of the trickiest things I could try and describe to you is the balance action of the skull on top of the spine. For those of us who have spent long hours in front of the computer (or any professional task), we have a tendency to drop the weight of our heads onto the top of our spines. The result is a feeling of heaviness and inevitably a pain in the back.
I’ve shared drawings in the past that attempt to show the layers and layers of muscles in the neck - that’s a helpful image for sure - but it’s very tricky to get a view of the head and neck that shows EXACTLY how the head can balance freely on top of the spine. Today’s post will ultimately fail to do that, but may take you one step closer to seeing the space that can exist between the head and spine. So without further ado…
MORE DRAWINGSSSSS
Please take a second to zoom in on the image and see what’s going on here. I’ve labeled 3 bones today - the skull, atlas (aka C1), and axis (aka C2). In between these 3 bones are 2 regions of ligament highlighted in bright green. There’s a very interesting story in play here if you take a second to look….
Follow the Red Line
I’ve drawn a few red lines to demonstrate the shape of stuff and things within you. Remember that muscle fibers have energy streaming within them in 2 directions, so I’m NOT drawing the 2-directional spring of muscle fibers here! In that sense, the red arrows are deceptive.
If you feel heavy, you will absolutely feel a spring of energy along the path of red lines.
If you have sprung weight, these red arrows will just feel like a nothing balancing action.
The Red Line of the Spine
If you follow the red line along the front of the spine, you will see that the cervical spine is curving back and up towards the back part of the skull. Look closely and you will see that there is a very small muscle that connects from the Atlas to the ligament at the base of the skull. Normally, muscles will connect from bone to bone but THIS little muscle does not.
This lack of connection creates a feeling of a little opening between your skull and spine. It is something that you will only feel once the head is quite free from the neck. You will only really have that sensation if you continue following the red line…
The Red Line of the Skull
The red line of the neck continues back and begins to curve along the back of the skull towards the top of the head. I’ve drawn it this way because the curve of the spine is casting the skull forward and up into counterbalance. The organization can be seen quite clearly by following the shape of the muscle and bones and ligament.
WAIT!! How Can I Sense This?
If you recall from my earlier posts, I have suggested that this area can be felt by very gently inhaling through the nose. If you are sufficiently quiet and not rushing, you will feel the air stream brush along the base of your skull and hook down along the front of the spine towards the lungs. Where the air begins to hook downward is the critical place to feel.
One of the muscles that I’ve included for you today is the huge “U” shaped muscle at the front of the spine jutting out towards the bottom of the face. Part of this muscle connects to the base of the skull, part of it connects to the front of the spine, and another part connects to the face and tongue.
When you are quiet, you can feel this muscle soften and expand along the lines of the “U” shape. This sense of widening in the voice can trickle down into the other muscles of the voice. There’s a whole host of “U” shaped muscles that line the front of the spine. These muscles help create a soft foundation of support for the skull and should not feel tight.
In order to have this sensation, you cannot exclusively concentrate your senses on the voice or the airway. The weight of the skull MUST be sensed at all times or you are likely to drop the back of the skull heavy on the head OR begin lifting/dropping the forehead in a herky jerky manner. What we really want to feel here is a sense of total balance.
That’s it for this week. I hope this drawing helps illuminate the dynamics of the skull and spine a bit more. You obviously are much more than just a head and neck but if you can get a sense of the open space at the top of the neck you can begin to play a balancing game throughout the day. The more often you can balance the skull, the more pressure you will feel come off of the upper, middle, and lower back.
Understanding that THIS chain reaction is real and PURE PHYSICS is absolutely a wonderful sensation. It has greatly helped me avoid the PT traps of trying to “strengthen” my back to compensate for a “weak” neck… If the head is heavy, the back cannot strengthen. Hopefully you can have a sense of it for yourself!
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If you’re in NYC, you may learn more about my private teaching practice at johndalto.com.
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