Head Forward Posture and Perceived Skeletal Support

How tightly do you hold yourself? Can you relax from the inside? Can you stand and sit and clearly sense your soft tissue resting on your bony skeleton? If not, don't worry - not many people can. But it is easy to learn, and the benefits are outstanding and permanent. Once you learn it, you will shed years of turmoil, aches, troubles and tensions written in your body. You'll go through life with more power, poise, grace, more energy and better perspective. 

It involves many things - lots of private sessions or many group ATM lessons are needed, for most people. Although for some people just a few sessions do the trick. It depends on how fast you learn, how many injuries and surgeries you have had, how chronically your head is jutted forward of your torso, your psychological state, how adventurous you are, how much you can trust life and your own body to create beneficial changes. It is not so much about just relaxing as it is usually understood. You benefit most from working with movement and clarifying balance and surrendering to support while moving since those are the arenas where our habits of compression and tension reside. Have you ever noticed that after a massage you feel good for some hours, then it is gone? You did not necessarily learn anything about how to configure yourself, how to organize yourself and move in better ways, how to have more choices. You only learned, perhaps, how to relax on the table, and for a little while standing up. Many of my clients tell me that my Feldenkrais Functional Integration work lasts for days and weeks, they keep on feeling the changes. That is because The Feldenkrais Method works with movement, self-image and awareness - not just rubbing muscles, relaxing or stretching muscles, aligning bones or whatever manipulations however clever.  

Head forward posture is one catch-point. If you have this, it means you are doing lots of unnecessary work to hold up your head, which is not resting quietly on top of your spine (which you should know by now is exactly half-way between your ears). With head forward posture it is almost impossible to perceive whole-body skeletal support. There is too much work going on, constantly, with the neck, shoulders and upper back - all because of the head being forward. If you have lived with that for years, you have come to expect that life is hard, lots of effort is needed to get through a day, fatigue comes quickly, you have definite limits. All that can change, and quickly!  In my opinion, if you have this condition, you would be exceedingly wise to give high priority to correcting it as soon as possible. Yes, that is possible (in a future post I will be covering this topic in detail), even for an elderly person with dowager's hump - but for them the changes come more slowly, usually. Not many have the patience to continue with the process until there is a full resolution. At least, I have not seen it.  

If  you have this condition, any little improvements you can make will give you huge benefits. It is a lot of work for the neck, back and shoulders to hold the head up, when it is not lined up over the spine - and instead juts forward, however slightly. 

You'll feel cooler, calmer, the muscles at the base of your neck will not be as sore. You'll have better brain function, more self confidence, and a nervous system that knows how to be quiet. Best of all, you'll easily begin to feel the body resting on the skeleton. That's nearly impossible if the head is jutted forward.  Until you can feel the head resting on the top of the spine, this is very difficult. That is where it begins - to feel the body supported by the skeleton. We need to be able, at will, to sense the weight of the head resting on the top of the spine, which - again -  is exactly halfway between the ears. 

What is it like to feel the body resting on the skeleton? You have seen such people. They stand quietly. Their bodily movements are graceful, minimal effort produces just the movements they need. It is relaxing to see such a person, even at a distance. They are not holding themselves so tightly with their own muscles, internally. Most people do that, a lot. It is all wasted effort.  It communicates as body language power, grace, poise, efficiency, quiet responsiveness. 

Like so many other Feldenkrais-inspired transformations it affects the core of who we think we are. Most of us have accepted who we are, with all our limitations and quirks and strengths. And others have come to expect us to be that way, as well.   We little realize how much we can change, by working with movement and awareness, which is how our early self-image was formed. In my private practice, I usually see the transformation from tense-uptight-holding to resting-on-the-skeleton after 6 months to 2 years of regular sessions. Yes, it can take that long. A four year Feldenkrais Training Program would also definitely do that for you.

Chronic aches and pains go away, as well - since we are no longer holding our bones so tightly. Our movement is not so compressed - it becomes lighter, more flowing, with less compression. We feel taller, we begin to understand what it means to move into length. 

I'll finish with two hints, about how to correct head-forward posture. First, when you look down at your cell phone, or at a plate of food, or a book, while sitting, what do you do? Try it out, and be clear about what you are doing with your head and neck. If you discover that you are jutting your head forward and slumping down, that is useful information. Try out another way to look down: keeping the chin in, relax the back of the neck letting the head rotate on the axis-point between the ears, and use the eyes, rotating them downward strongly, instead of jutting the head forward and down. Let your eyes do most of the work, stay tall, be poised, keeping chin in (very important).  You may need to get new reading glasses, since you'll now be farther from the book. That is the first hint. 

Here is the second. Have you ever noticed that at a health club, lots of the veteran, bulked-up weight lifters all have their head nicely lined up with their spine? Almost none of them have head forward posture. Of course, they may have other issues. When I first noticed this (since I myself have suffered from head forward for many years, and while Feldenkrais ATM gives good relief, it takes many hours a month to maintain that relief. I wanted a quicker fix!) I recruited a personal trainer and followed his advice. Within about 6 weeks, my head and neck were better than ever, and it was permanent. It is mostly about strengthening  the upper back, back of the neck and shoulders. It involves a lot of rowing, pulling down, pulling in type movements. So, the hint is: find a personal trainer and follow his advice for at least 6 weeks. See what happens. Be sure to follow a balanced, whole-body program, not just a program for the upper back, neck and shoulders. But the emphasis can be on correcting head forward posture. 

If your trainer is competent, for sure he will at the very least teach you this: For most weight lifting moves involving the arms and shoudlers, keep the shoulders down and the chest lifted. (that advice, alone, is worth it's weight in  gold, if you have head forward posture). 

Somatic Relaxation

In the realm of human movement, the word relaxation does not quite fit. In common usage it is heavily weighted with  the idea of inertia or disconnect from whatever might usually need to be done - duty. It is seen as a sort of relief from over-work. In the somatic sense it needs to take on a dynamic quality - efficiency of movement, minimal effort, a quiet readiness to do whatever is required, moment to moment. That is what is seen throughout Nature - if any animal, bird, or insect were to think "let me relax and forget about everything for awhile" that creature would soon be dead. Nature apparently does not approve of "relaxation" in that sense. 

Our brains and or bodies are constructed the same way. Our ancestors were certainly mentored by Nature to be competent - or else we would not be here. All of our ancestors survived wars, cataclysms, floods, disease, to reproduce and raise offspring.  This was certainly not achieved by "taking it easy, rest and forget everything - just relax" as commonly understood today.  Even a little of that would be like a poison pill in a harsh environment. No, there had to be a constant sense of relaxed watchfulness or readiness to do whatever was necessary, moment to moment. 

When this is understood - that our brains and bodies are built to exist in a dynamic balance between comfort and challenge, between rest and activity, then we begin to understand what somatic education is all about. 

A bird is asleep on a twig. The twig breaks, the bird falls and flies away. Even while asleep, the bird was in a state of relaxed readiness.  A deer is chewing grass, head down, apparently relaxed and at ease. Yet, it is listening for sounds of danger, it has an expanded sense of awareness, and every moment or two, it will look up and see what is going on. The deer is ready to bolt at an instant's notice. 

In the realm of movement education, the idea is to improve balance,  refine movement, fill in the self image, eliminate parasitic or contradictory muscle tension patterns, and have many choices for any necessary course of action, for any necessary movement (pain relief happens as a matter of course when this is done in the right way).  The idea of relaxation in the common sense goes in exactly the opposite direction. 

The testimony of anyone who has taken a four year Feldenkrais Training Program or who has taken Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM)  classes for some years is that the quality of rest - of "relaxation" that is discovered in that process is far more enjoyable and useful and helpful than the kind of relaxation the is commonly pursued in the world today. It reconnects us to our evolutionary birthright - a sense of ease in our bodies, a sense of resting on our skeletons, a sense of powerful readiness and many choices to face each moment. It encourages a quiet cortex, a quiet mind, that is not carrying baggage from the past. It is only with a quiet mind and a body in full rest, yet dynamically ready, that we can confidently and successfully face each moment appropriately. 

Gesture With Your Hands, Not Your Head

By keeping the neck quiet, the head relatively motionless as we talk to people, we help reduce compression and pain in the neck vertebra. The hands are better able to express with gestures than our neck and head - the head is heavy! Almost as much as bowling ball. Just try holding a bowling ball in your hands and move it around, as if gesturing with your head. Even thinking about that makes my arms tired. 

This little trick has helped many of my clients move out of neck pain. It is the first thing I look for with a new client, who complains of neck pain. At first it takes an act of conscious will to keep the head from gesturing as we talk to people. As you persist in practicing this, you'll gradually learn to simply relax the neck, instead of tensing it to avoid moving it. Then you'll know the pleasure of having a "quiet neck." It was such a relief, when I first learned that. 

Gesturing with the head, nodding "yes" or turning the head to say "no" is OK if it is done gently, slowly, and not habitually while talking to someone. The problem comes when it gets to be an unconscious habit, and the head is constantly in motion while talking to people.  That's a nervous habit, and very damaging. It seems to be something that is supposed to communicate "I hear you, I am paying attention to you, I am responding to you so intensely that I am even abusing my own neck just for you". That is probably not the body language we intend to communicate but that message is definitely there if the head is over-active during conversation. As I tell my clients, if you don't know how to gesture with your hands, just watch any Italian - they are masters!

A quiet head and restful neck communicates poise and confidence. A pointlessly busy head and neck communicates just the opposite. 

"But I Need My Lumbar Curve"

It's OK to slump while sleeping! This strange advice is practically guaranteed to give some relief from back pain or trouble. It can even change your life! It costs nothing, is very easy and pleasant, and has no downside. But of course you need to understand it thoroughly first, and practice it for a few weeks. Then you'll do it automatically, since it feels so good. This is a longer post, so please bear with me. 

As a Feldenkrais Practitioner I often tell people (if they have back pain, and sleep on their side) "It's helpful to curl into fetal pose - slumping while lying on your side - and be sure to have a good pillow (preferably down) under your head and under your top leg." While this may seem counter-intuitive, the opposite of good posture, surprisingly it offers relief from back pain, and people feel more rested, refreshed.

Many are resistant to this, thinking it will interfere with good breathing, it will create a tendency to slump, the internal organs will be compressed, or "I need my lumbar curve" as a client recently told me. Other therapists have explained to her the importance of a good lumbar curve. So she wanted more explanation for my strange advice. So I launched into one of my Feldenkrais explanations, as I love to do.  

Would it make sense for you to keep your fist clenched all day long, because in the evening you are going to work out with a punching bag? Of course not. A lumbar curve is needed for weight bearing, in erect sitting or standing particularly. You don't need a lumbar curve while side lying in bed. You don't need a lumbar curve while resting on your back, either. Some folks keep their lumbar muscles so tight, I can feel their heat with my hand. Muscles can't and don't fully relax until they are encouraged and allowed to lengthen. 

Lumbar back muscles cannot lengthen unless you explore rounding out the lumbar curve. Sleep is a good time to do that. Let those muscles rest then, and they will work better for you for the rest of your life. But if you keep vigilantly tensing them, to keep your "proper" lumbar curve, eventually they will get so fatigued, or go deeply into rock-hard spasms, that any sudden or over-strong movement in that area will over-stretch the ligaments. Or more commonly, the entire back is recruited to take the place of the lumbar curve, which should be down near the sacrum. This stiffens the entire back, creates an elevated or lengthened lumbar curve and destroys the natural curves of the spine. That's a high price to pay! That describes so many people. Then you'll have lots of movement challenges and compensation and possibly  chronic back pain. I've seen too many cases of low back surgery, where the patient is left in chronic pain. Get smarter before you need surgery (That's not to say that there are not good back surgeries, I just never see those people). 

We need supple, intelligent, strong and responsive body parts - with nothing being held obstinately, unresponsively stiff all the time. Body parts need to cooperate, coordinate with each other. If you have any ideas of holding yourself in any "correct" posture, you create havoc with body part coordinations. It is useful to consider posture in the context of movement - after all, posture comes from movement, and is a dynamic (not static, as many believe) process, as scientists are confirming today. 

This very desirable, human-birthright natural level of functioning is not found in repetitive or corrective exercise, stretching or yoga, or practicing holding yourself in a particular way. It takes a variety of creative, challenging, yet safe, movements in a comfortable learning environment for that.  That is one way to describe Awareness Through Movement. 

For instance, in walking the lumbar spine does (or should do) something different on the left vs the right side, with each step we take. Holding the spine and pelvis stiff, as most do, will prevent this, overworking the hip joints - i.e. compensation areas take over - such as Lumbar 1, which is a trouble spot for most everyone. It's not the fault of Lumbar 1. It's doing the best it can. If you keep correcting Lumbar 1 (or wherever) with chiropractic, yoga, stretching  - you name  it - without dealing with the underlying issue, you'll have L1 trouble for life. And, because of constant manipulation or adjustment of the lumbar spine, or wherever,  the ligaments there can eventually become unstable; then your troubles multiply. 

In Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes you'll spend hours exploring various concepts - such as the pre-curser infant movements to walking, where you actually practice differential activation of the lumbar spine. Or maybe you'll do something apparently completely unrelated to the lumbar spine, yet, after the hour, you stand up to stand and walk, and it is like you have a new lumbar spine. It is not something you can acquire any other way, as far as I know. We have to slow down, feel, be adaptive, creative and  playful (yet focused)  to create this kind of organic learning (like a baby does). It is so different from exercise or yoga that group classes are extremely helpful. On our own, alone at home, with a ATM tape, we too easily revert to our old patterns - obey instructions mindlessly, be goal oriented, work too hard. When everyone in a group is actually not doing those things, it is much easier.  

Will curling up into fetal position cause restricted breathing? Perhaps, but you don't need much air as you sleep, so shallow breathing is appropriate. Plus, the curling will gradually encourage relaxation and breath movement in the upper, middle and lower back (instead of the front) - a new concept to most people who are overly frontal in their body image. Abdominal breathing, for most, is too frontal, with the belly going in and out. Lots of people believe abdominal breathing is good, but don't do it for this reason. Who wants a large belly? So instead the belly is continually held too tight, and the poor lumbar spine has to work much harder to keep us erect. Unopposed belly tension means slumping, and we vigilantly prevent this by tensing (hard!) the lumbar spine - and upper and middle back. This tension is aggravated by harmful emotions (we over-tighten the belly) - which is why emotional clearing work can help back pain. This creates a scenario that Thomas Hanna called "The Dark Vise" where the lumbar spine is like in a vise. Discs get damaged, nerves get compressed, etc. 

When we breathe more to the back and sides of the abdomen, and not just the front, we begin to feel relief,  pleasant feelings. Relaxed fetal position is one way to teach yourself that.

Will curling up into fetal position cause compression of the internal organs? Certainly, but this kind of compression is beneficial, if you don't overdo the rounding at first. There is a breath rhythm, and no weight bearing, so the process is gentle. WIth compression, toxins can be squeezed out, like with a sponge. Many spend hours  doing yoga, to compress and flush out toxins, and provide the internal organs with fresh blood. For instance, if you always keep your chest lifted (even while sleeping) , as in "good posture" when will the front part of the lungs ever be squeezed (like a sponge) to eliminate their toxins? Never.  

By side-lying in fetal position, we take the legs out from under us, as they are in standing. This gives our brain a message to relax the back extensor muscles, which always must tense to hold up upright in standing. This neurological release of back tension can be felt immediately. A rounded back while sleeping means the back muscles can lengthen and relax. 

Also - consider that a martial artist in ready-position, a baseball player receiving a ground ball, a tennis player in ready-position - is curled up into "slumped posture".  It is actually a very functional stance - lots of movement choices, lots of power, like a coiled spring. If one of these persons were instead to stiffen their back, as in "good lumbar curve" or "proper erect posture" their athletic performance would suffer.  It's obvious that Nature never intended that we should never slump. 

Why shouldn't we consider that sitting is a form of athletic activity, that requires some mentoring?  Truly, it does. Consider that sitting or standing stiffly erect is not stable - you could be pushed over backwards very easily (hence, the popularity of lumbar supports and back rests). Can unstable sitting be good? 

When I first heard these arguments, I was taken aback. It contradicted much of what I thought I understood about posture, but I could not deny the truth of it. 

All this is not a recommendation to slump instead of having good posture. Experienced Feldenkrais students don't inappropriately slump when sitting. Yet, neither do they have rock-hard - painful to touch -  back muscles, like almost everyone else. They spent years learning how to do this. 

Slumping has a proper time and place, like anything else. If you want to learn to sit or stand without stiffening the chest and back, a good choice would be to get involved with the Feldenkrais Method, find a practitioner, or take ATM classes. There is a surprisingly lot to learn, and weekly Awareness Through Movement classes, for your entire life, is the cheapest, easiest way. 

To sum up this strange Feldenkrais advice:

• Take 3-5 seconds as you lie in bed to adjust your body, "chin in, knees to to chest, soften the ribs - put a pillow under the upper leg." and perhaps once or twice during the night if you waken.  It's easiest in side-lying but can also be done lying on the back with pillows under the knees, and a small cushion tucked under the lower part of the pelvis, to round out the lumbar.
• If you use a body pillow or sleep on your stomach, still you can round slightly and keep the chin slightly more in, etc.  Whatever you can do is fine; gentle persistence is the key. 
• Start slowly, relax into it, never use force. Force can over-stretch ligaments, making joints unstable, especially when muscles are still tense.   

In a few weeks, this can be a reliable habit, then you won't need to even think about it again. When you wake up and go about your day - forget all about this, just be normal. You don't have to keep doing anything at all. By doing this, life will be easier for you. Relaxation will become more accessible, you'll be more gentle with your co-workers, and yourself. Your breathing will naturally be easier and fuller. This simple protocol is pure magic, in many ways. You'll never give it up if you explore it in a gentle, easy manner. 

Actually, you can forget all these details, and simply remember "it's OK to slump while sleeping" and that is all you need to know.