Help for the neck

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• Eye lessons are critical for balance, vision, and relieving neck strain. Dr. Feldenkrais comments that one hour working with the eyes is worth ten hours working with the rest of your self!

• Jaw lessons help with TMJ issues, breathing, tension in the chest, the back of the neck, and upper back.

• Neck lessons unwind tension in the neck, head, and along the back, as well as improve balance and decrease fatigue.

This is a lovely unwinding kind of lesson, waking up the spine, ribs, and low back. I like it for unwinding after work.

Good for lengthening, balance, and feeling upright. This lesson turns the spine from above and below, unraveling all the tension of the day. You’ll feel refreshed and relaxed through the whole spine. This is a comprehensive, whole-self kind of lesson.

You also spend some time rolling the head between the hands, free the the neck while using larger muscles of the trunk. It is very informative to feel the freedom of your neck separate from the tone of the back.

Tip: As with all lessons, some variations may not be right for you at this moment. Be mindful of this, and don’t worry as there are so many variations you are not losing the lesson! Keep going. You can always modify a movement so it works for you, do less, rest, or imagine it.

AY230

This lesson has a similar theme: fixing your head and rolling everything else. It’s amazing, perhaps even life-changing, to feel how much the ribs can move. Then, the neck slides and swivels. Start this lesson with slow, gentle movements and let it spread throughout your whole self.

I give this lesson to many clients who work at a computer, focusing their eyes and hence, their head stays fixed to allow the eyes to focus. Instead of trying to stretch the neck, roll your entire self below the neck vertebrae. You'll be surprised how much tension lets go from the continuous, gentle rocking while the neck gets a much-needed break.

Tip: If you feel any torque in the neck when you lie on the front, place a rolled towel horizontally under your ribs just below the collarbones at armpit level. The ends of the roll will stick out to either side. Your arms will be just above. This will support the ribs and take strain off the neck.

A wonderful complement to this lesson is: 305 Drumming the knees to wake up the back where you also roll the pelvis around the legs.

AY51

This is a slower lesson, giving the weight of the head over to the hands, which is almost unthinkable at first. Slowly, your head becomes more responsive as a heavy weight and the neck muscles reduce their constant vigilance.

This lesson elicits lots of deep breaths as you realize you don’t have to work so hard all the time. I give this lesson to many clients who suffer from neck tension.

Tip: Make sure you have a firm surface to roll across, like a folded blanket or towel, or else your neck will struggle to hold your head up.

Good, slow recording, nice for just before bed. Rest your hands on the belly, feel the breath, then move your eyes slowly in many directions. This lesson is equal right to left. Improve the quality of your eyes tracking the horizon as you slow down and calm the whole system.

This is a wonderful calming lesson and a complement to swiveling the eyes. It’s good before bed or after working on the computer.

Learn to connect your pelvis and head without tension, gripping, or bracing. This lesson guides you to sense how and where you’re holding. It’s soothing to rock more and more clearly through your spine. You will feel all the day’s tension drift away after this.

Use this lesson as a background skill for the oscillating lessons: 64, 67, 71, 73, 75.
For more like this, see Calming with the breath.

A slow discovery of support for the head and neck through the spine. One of those “ah-ha!” lessons as you start to feel what moving the ribs and spine to support the head really means.

The sensory tracking in this lesson is designed to be challenging. Don’t expect yourself to do it perfectly. Just play with the use of your attention and find out what happens. Your head will swivel so much more freely after this. Using your ribs and spine to shift the head at the top is something babies do spontaneously. It's “learned” out of us as we become more and more “socialized” and, therefore, more rigid. I vote for wiggly ribs and a free neck.

Tip: If sitting cross-legged on the floor is a challenge, do this lesson on a firm chair.

More cool lines and measuring lessons:
420 Lines crossing and balancing the center
31 Measuring tools to sense your whole self
92 Dots and lines soften the low back

Refine details about how your skeletal support system works—without you interfering with it. This lesson has more lines to feel where you are in space.

Once you get good at it, tracking these lines is an invaluable tool to use throughout your day.

I always tell my students it took me ten years to feel my ribs, and I’m not kidding. (I’m a slow learner.)

Use this lesson to further differentiate the base of the neck. What are your ah-ha moments?

An amazing freedom in the spine! Move very delicately and support, balance, and freedom can be yours!

For more help with your neck, see unwinding the upper back.