Poised for action not balanced for pain How a free neck makes you more comfortably alert
Do you remember the crucial difference between poise and balance?
To “balance” is to freeze up.
Balance is stiffness.
Balance is holding on for dear life.
To be poised is to be poised for action.
Poise is a constant process of beginning to fall and correcting your balance. It’s what makes you always ready for action.
Don’t understand this?
Then you need to read last week’s article: Balance or Poise
All clear?
Then let’s get started.
The secret to achieving poise is un-impaling your head
Most people have their heads fixed stiffly at the top of their neck
… almost as though it were impaled there.
The funny thing is they don’t realise it.
They don’t realise it because it’s always like that
… and always has been — for longer than they can remember.
A free neck
A free neck allows you to tip your head forwards as it sits on top.
No need to bend your neck. When your neck is truly free, your head will sit so lightly and easily on top that neither your neck nor your back will need to bend.
Many advantages follow from this freedom.
The advantage here is that it lets your head act as a counter-weight for the rest of your body.
Counter-weight
Remember, if your ankles are not stiff, you’ll be swaying slightly as you stand.
Here’s how the counter-weight works:–
- As you topple back, if your neck is free enough, your head will tip forwards.
- Allowing your head to tip forwards counter-balances the weight of your body falling backwards.
- Counter-balanced, your body changes direction and begins to fall forwards instead.
- As soon as your forward fall needs correcting, your head will tip back slightly.
- You’ll then be falling backwards again — until you again allow your head to tip forwards.
This short video clip, shows what this counter-balancing looks like.
It’s really very simple
… but it can’t work without a free neck.
“If it’s so simple, why isn’t my neck free already”?
You’ve gotten used to its being stiff.
If it were free, you’d be sure something was wrong and immediately stiffen it up again.
Until you get used to it, allowing your neck to be truly free can feel almost like your head is falling off. No kidding.
Even a little bit of freeing up makes people feel sea-sick until they get accustomed to it. Again, no kidding.
(Just to reassure you, your head can’t actually fall off. It can’t because, even if the neck muscles were not working at all, your ligaments would still keep your head in place.)
Alert restfulness
If you allow this complete freedom for your head to move at the head/neck (atlanto-occipital) joint, you gain these immediate benefits:–
- You’re now poised. You no longer need to stiffen to stay in balance.
- Every move you make can start with a fall. You use gravity to start your every move.
As a result, even when absolutely still, you’re constantly, effortlessly, on the move. You no longer need to make any deliberate effort to see or hear anything.
Why not?
Nothing is stiff, nothing is rigid, so the necessary movements are already happening anyway. You’re on permanent full alert — even while enjoying deep quietness.
Alert restfulness, is that a good enough prize for allowing your neck to be free?
This article is included under the following categories:‒
Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley
If you want to get the best kind of help, come to me for an introductory lesson in Liverpool.
If you’re too far away, then the next best thing is to get personal lessons and advice from me online at Repoise.com, my on-line school. (Both far-away and local pupils use Repoise).
In more detail:–
If you’re in Liverpool (or can get to Liverpool)
- There’s nothing better than individual lessons. My practice is at 37 Hope Street, Liverpool L1. Ring me on 0151 708 6172 to book an initial consultation and first lesson. (Leave your number so I can get back to you).
-
If you’re short of funds, you can still have first class training from me — though it will require a little more work on your part.
The thing to do is have an individual, in-person lesson just once a month. That will entitle you to also get regular on-line lessons from me through Repoise. That way, you have the best of both worlds: in-person lessons and very regular, even daily, on-line Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley from me. That’s a real bargain because Repoise costs the equivalent of three lessons a year to everyone else.
Ring me on 0151 708 6172 if you want to arrange this.
- I occasionally run group lessons. If you’re interested in these, go here for details.
If you’re further away and can’t get to Liverpool
- There’s still nothing better than individual lessons. Here’s where you can find a teacher near you in the UK or elsewhere
- I suggest you also get direct day-to-day guidance from me by joining Repoise.
If you’re having plain Alexander Technique lessons from someone else, you still need to discover the Smiling Back Method of the Alexander Technique. You’ll get a lot more out of your lessons when you do.
37 Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside L1 9EA, England
Telephone: +44 151 708 6172 Mobile: +44 7872 905 154
Copyright © 2007-2012 Philip Pawley
SmilingBackMethod.com
