Is Your Head On Straight?

What is your head position right now? Are you looking straight ahead? Is your head turned slightly or tilted so that you are actually looking down at your monitor because the muscles of your neck are short and your head is tilting backwards ever so slightly. In all positions- standing, sitting, walking the head should be level with the ground. More specifically the eye sockets should be level so that you are looking straight ahead.

The position of the head and neck has far reaching affects. I might not be referring to you when I say that the back of the neck tends to shorten and tilt the head up slightly. But as you start to become aware of walking and posture you will see how many people live in this physical reality.

Tilted head syndrome affects so many things. Lets start with the nervous system. By shortening the deep muscles of the upper neck that connect the skull to the spine the nerves that help your body balance excitation and relaxation are impinged. Specifically, the nerves that affect relaxation are prevented from flowing freely. Your sinuses, which have no specific function (except maybe to lighten the weight of the head), are much happier when they are level. The vocal cords are most resonant when the chin is level to the ground. The releasing of the chin allows for a softening of the vocal ligaments, freeing them to resonate clearly. Try it. Listen and try to spot the moment that you go from resonant to nasal. As soon as the head begins to tilt we move into the nasal register and lose the clarity of voice that is available to us. Your sub-occipital muscles, the muscles connecting your head to the spine at the back are the command and control center for the spine. They work with your eyes to give guidance to movement and balance. If they are shortened as a result of this same head position, the relay of information is impeded and the effects move all the way down the spine. A tilted head affects the free flow of breath through the nasal passages.

Through these examples we start to get a clearer picture of why we carry so much tension in the neck, shoulders and lower spine. To reverse this process you must first become aware of it. Spend the next few days try to become acquainted with the position of your head as you sit, stand, and walk. After that the first step is simply to visualize the back of the neck getting longer. This is a long process that starts right now.