In my mind, it was not a neck lesson. However, it included a short sequence where I invited the class to interlace their fingers, fold their elbows close to the face, and gently raise the head. “Don’t use your neck. Let your hands support you. Make sure you keep breathing. If you feel strain, do less. Relax your jaw. See what part of your back presses into the floor. How does the rest of you respond to the invitation to lift the head? Etc.” Just a few things to observe in one tiny movement.
After the lesson, a new student said, “That move hurt my neck.”
“When did it start to hurt?” I asked.
“As soon as you asked us to lift.”
“How did you lift your head?”
“With my neck. How else are you supposed to lift it?”
I remember during my training, watching people float up to standing while I strained and struggled to accomplish (and I do mean accomplish!) the same function. I couldn’t understand how I, an “accomplished” dancer, couldn’t do the movement. Instead, I kept gritting my teeth, tensing my shoulders and hoisting myself up, feeling inadequate and for some unknown reason, angry at my classmates.
I’m a slow learner, and it took me a while to recognize not just my habitual movement patterns, but the emotions and thoughts that went along with this need to “accomplish.” By continuing to repeat “my way” of doing things, I had eliminated choice, possibility and curiosity. It’s a testament to the patience of my trainers that I finally became able to break out of my self imposed constraints and experience something new.
As the new student stood up, I invited her to sense where her head was in relation to her skeleton, how her feet connected to the floor and the quality of her ability to turn. She smiled. “I’m taller, I feel more open and relaxed. Maybe I just use my neck for everything. And maybe I don’t need to.”
How you move is how you move through life. Walking through life using your neck to carry your head can be exhausting. My wish for you for the new year is that you enjoy exploring new options for movement, and discover new options for how to navigate your life!
Here’s a free lesson for your head to get you started. And here’s the full workshop, if you want more lessons to “find your head.”
Happy New Year!
Lavinia