I have loved Audrey Hepburn all my life. There are many reasons to love this beautiful human – as an actor, a humanitarian and philanthropist, a survivor of wartime hardship. But I also love her exquisite neck. It is the neck of my dreams, long, supple as a swan, delicate.
My own neck does not compare particularly well with Audrey’s but I have slowly learned to accept it. It’s probably more turkey than swan. As I learn to move my neck well, I suffer fewer headaches, feel more alert, and feel overall agility increasing.
So this blog entry is about your amazing neck, how hard it works and what you can do to help it move better.
First, a few factoids:
- Your head weighs around 10 pounds. Your neck muscles work to keep it perched properly at the top of the spine.
- The neck is the most mobile part of the spine. So it has to keep your head erect and provide mobility.
- Anatomists identify seven vertebrae in the neck region, the topmost sitting right up inside your low skull and the bottom one rooted in the shoulder girdle. How the neck moves is how the head and back move, and vice versa. For better or for worse.
- Like the rest of any healthy spine, these vertebrae can move in flexion (bending forward) extension (bending backward), rotation (swivelling from side to side like an owl) and side bending.
- All mammals have the same number of cervical (neck) vertebrae. Giraffes, mice, whales… Cool.
- The throat is the neck. Not news, but many people ignore the front of the neck when thinking about relief, mobility or resting the neck.
Now a few tips on increasing softness and mobility in the neck. There are bazillions of options, but here are some of my go-tos.
*** Remember! Never go into pain.***
- Sit tall, relaxed but tall, and inhale through the nose; Exhale and s-l-o-w-l-y let your chin descend toward your chest until it reaches its natural pain-free limit. Take the length of the full exhalation to get your chin to its destination. Move only the neck. Enjoy the stretch, which goes down to between the shoulder blades. Inhale to help yourself slowly lift your head up until the eyes are looking at the horizon.
- Do the above again. And again. When your chin has descended and you have breathed one full cycle, slowly rotate the chin along the chest toward a shoulder, sliding it over your shirt, or close to it, like an upside down windshield wiper. Return to centre and repeat on the same side twice or three times before going to the other side.
- When looking up, arch your neck ever-so-slightly, by starting down between the shoulder blades, In a long lovely arc. Look no higher than the place where the wall meets the ceiling. I like to inhale on the way up and exhale on the way down. I go slow.
- Sit tall again. Let your arms drop to your side or rest on your lap, slack. On an exhalation, verrrry gently tip one ear towards its shoulder. Only tip – no swivelling or moving the chin up or down. You may only go an inch. That’s just fine. I like to help the tipped head back up by inhaling as I raise it. This can be an intense one.
- KEY: Move the rest of your spine! Gently and loosely. Fold forward like a fern, gently twist and swing your arms loosely, Reach up and arc to the side a little. What happens down low affects what happens up higher. 100% of the time.
There’s so much you can do. And you can always ask about my classes too – these are the issues I address- and more!
Have fun and watch more Audrey Hepburn movies….sigh…. Oh yeah, and this video too. It offers a gentle Chair practice.
