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that my neck was hunched down in pictures and when reached back and felt my cervical |
spine could feel the distorted curvature The muscles in my neck were hard to the touch due |
to advanced stage trigger points throughout Moving my neck hurt its movement was very |
limited and it would tire quickly had the necessary symptoms for a diagnosis of cervical |
neuromuscular syndrome which includes chronic neck pain headaches sympathetic |
upregulation depression and anxiety Thats right a tense neck contributes to anxiety |
Studies show that it may also contribute to general fatigue muscle strain arthritis herniated |
discs pinched nerves and higher overall mortality |
would ask my girlfriend to stand on my upper back hoping that the pressure would crack |
my vertebrae into proper alignment Of course this didnt work At one point it crossed my |
mind that the extreme curvature in my neck was due to the cumulative effects of repetitive |
strain quickly dismissed this notion because realized how difficult it would be to fix if this |
was the problem Sadly it was wanted a quick fix but there wasnt and isnt one |
Straightening my neck required years of proper breathing unbracing massage postural |
awareness exercise and antirigidity |
The lower cervical vertebrae C and C bulged out prominently while the vertebrae above |
them were shrunken in It took a year of antirigidity training for C and C to come into |
alignment with C and C Another year passed before C and C joined them Gradually |
these vertebrae migrated back into place until the bulges and hump went away Now my neck |
has a healthy curvature and all my previous symptoms are gone This transformation begins |
with something called neck retraction |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
i |
G |
Upper Neck |
Bent Backward |
Lower Neck |
Bent Forward |
Illustration A Neck protracted with the chin poking forward B Skeleton with cervical vertebrae visible |
C Neck retracted with the chin tucked |
Neck Retraction Is Tucking the Jaw into the Neck |
Crookedness in the neck derives from bringing our head forward tilting the chin up and |
compressing or scrunching the top of the back of the neck This is called neck protraction Lets |
program ourselves to do the opposite neck retraction We saw neck retraction in Chapter as |
the fifth principle of optimal posture Lets dive deeper |
Neck Exercise Neck Retraction |
The first step is to pull your chin and jaw backward as if you were trying to pull them into |
your throat As you keep your chin tucked lean your head backward relative to your chest |
until your ears are pulled back behind the chest in line with the center of your shoulder Roll |
your shoulders back and down while looking straight ahead Adopting this position while |
doing different activities from different loading positions will help you internalize it For |
instance try nodding yes shaking no or bobbing your head to music with the neck retracted |
Another method to achieve this posture is to grab a clump of your hair at the base of the |
back of your skull and gently pull it up and back Alternatively Pilates practitioners imagine a |
string from the heavens attached to the back of their skull constantly pulling their heads |
upward Think about holding a calm prolonged contraction in the muscles involved Spend |
five minutes holding this posture and performing antirigidity within it while breathing |
diaphragmatically |
Chapter Antirigidity for the Neck and Shoulders |
Ilustration Various neck positions for antirigidity |
Most people exercise socialize and sit with their necks exclusively protracted |
Combined with the stress and strain of daily life this firmly fixes the neck in a forward slumped |
posture Untucking the chin while lifting weights or working at a desk further solidifies this |
degenerative cervical position When most people then try to retract their necks it feels sticky |
achy and scary Almost everyone butts up against a firm wall of dormant muscle in the back of |
their neck when they retract it This wall of dormancy is the hump itself You will need to use |
antirigidity to chip away at the muscular adhesions responsible for this cramped obstruction |
Stop Untucking Your Chin |
The dowagers hump arises from the selfhandicapping act of untucking the chin and |
protracting the neck This act of jutting the chin out in front of the body declares give up to |
anyone watching In my twenties would always untuck my chin whenever passed by anyone |
It appears polite and disarming to others but is poisonous to you This social signal innate to |
our biology is throwing in the towel Most people untuck their necks whenever they are |
nervous and especially during startle They might as well be placing their head on a chopping |
block If anything you want to retract your neck when startled as this protects your neck with |
your jaw |
held my head as if were scared that would bump it against something if stood up |
straight held it as if were using my neck to appease angry giants held it as if were trying to |
tell the world that the pith of my body the musculature that supports the head exists in a |
deeply defective position The extent of your hunchback is a function of how often you untuck |
your chin Everyone is aware of this implicitly but almost no one speaks of it or does anything |
about it Now that you are explicitly aware use chin retraction to increase your nonverbal |
dominance Again the more often you fake it the more natural you make it |
Making Neck Retraction Habitual |
Some people refrain from retracting their neck because it results in a double chin |
Paradoxically not using the muscles responsible for retraction increases the flabbiness in this |
area So retracting your neck often will eventually make that double chin disappear The chin |
lock from Exercise as well as compression exercises and for the jawline and |
jowls will help greatly in training neck retraction Combining these exercises will excise the |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
pudginess behind your chin straighten the back of your neck increase the extent of ujjayi |
breathing and enrich your voice One of the main causes of weakened voice is postural |
When the neck is not retracted the laryngeal musculature loses proper tone |
Neck retraction will also make your head lighter The more the head protrudes in front of |
the body the more stress is placed on the cervical spine Straight up and down the head |
produces about pounds of pressure on the neck When the head is tilted toward the floor at |
degrees this becomes pounds and at degrees it is pounds Thus neck retraction |
can lighten the weight of the head by as much as five times This is enough to turn an |
overbearing continuous strain into a healthy continuous load |
Neck extension can be a great counterpose to neck retraction To do this you bend the |
head backward |
Neck Exercise Neck Extension to Retraction |
Extend your neck This means bending it backward lifting your chin and tilting your head |
back as if looking up at the sky Breathe out for several seconds in this position For the |
inhale flex your neck back into retraction and breathe in for several seconds Repeat this |
fifteen times It can help to use the arms like the model in the pictures below Repeat the |
cycle to times |
When your head is extended backward practice turningrotating your upper and lower neck |
to the right and left Also practice both neck retraction and protraction from the extended |
position Neck retraction from an extended position will reach deeply into the hump in your |
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