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Anatomy, alignment and fun facts about your head

Jan 17, 2025

This week, I would like to draw your attention to your head! Yes, I know, so often I am encouraging you to focus on your body, which we do through awareness, breath and movement. Plus, I’m often asking your mind (head centre) to be quiet.

The quiet piece I’m reffing to here is the ego. Now, the ego can be caring, supportive and uplifting. Yet if allowed to and if stress builds, it can also focus on the negative and amplifying the tension, stories and dramas of life. 

But this week is about your actual head and not the commentator inside! 

Next week, as a head part two we will focus on facial expression.

Here’s a few fun facts

  • Your skull protects your brain and has 22 bones (8 cranial and 14 facial bones).
  • The head has 22 muscles.
  • The average head weighs about 10 lbs (the brain about 3lbs).
  • Although your brain is only 2% of your total body weight, it consumes 20% of your calories (feed it well… cut out those processed foods).
  • Your head includes all your main sensory organs… eyes to see, ears to hear, nose to smell, tongue to taste and skin to sense touch.
  • Plus, within your ears, you have the vestibular system that supports balance and proprioception.

About 18 months ago, we had a series of clusters about the five senses and I would like to re-visit and elaborate on those in the coming months. For now, it’s more about self care, awareness and exercises for everything above your neck!

But, as always nothing is in isolation

Some of the muscles, nerves and connective tissues run from your head all the way to your feet. So, your torso, pelvis, limbs and digits are not off the hook, it’s just attention and intention that will be centred on facial wellbeing. And, it maybe that tight head muscles, a tight jaw, brow tension or straining eyes are a lead cause of pain and misalignment further down your body.

Modern lifestyle changing human alignment

Much of our technology, but also plain old reading a book encourages a forward and down head posture (tech-neck). This can massively exaggerate the weight of the head and lead to the neck muscles over working (tech-neck), which in turn places stress further down your body. 

How is you head position right now?

Ideally, it’s resting right on the very top of your spine and that your eyes are about eye level (so not looking down). Do you need to adjust your screen height to achieve this? (We have a whole month dedicated to postural coming up in March).

The alignment journey continuous and when standing, your spine rests on your sacrum. Then you have your pelvic halves (the illiums) that rest of your hip joints, then knees and finally down to where your ankles join your feet.

Back to the top; the first neck vertebrae (the atlas) has two little concave dips. The base of your skull has two protruding convex protrusions (occipital condyles). These marry up for smooth up and down motion of your head (nodding). It’s called the rocker (as in ‘off your rocker’)!

Mini mindful movement practice for right now

I want you to test the freedom of movement at your rocker! First up, use your forefingers to find the boney protrusions behind your ears. Directly in from here and in the the centre of your neck, picture the base of your skull resting on the atlas. 

Coming up are two tests from these three neck positions. From each position try nodding and also notice how it is to take a full breath.

  1. Tech neck - collapse your posture, look down and jut your head forward. Try nodding.
  2. Straighten your spine, pull your shoulders back and tuck in your chin (as your physio or Pilates teacher might say). Try nodding (ouch)!
  3. Finally, come to your relaxed neutral posture with spinal curves in place and eyes at eye level. How is your flow of neck movement from there? 

You could do the same three part experiment with a focus on neck comfort. In each example I am hoping that you recognise the significance of head position.

How’s your screen height?

A couple of other points

When using a mobile phone to read or send a text, aim to keep it at eye height. This soon fatigue’s the shoulder of the arm that’s holding the phone and that will help you to put the device down more quickly. If it’s a call, why not put it on speaker mode and on a nearby table so that you are hands free and can have your head in any position?

You’re not a snake! Any time you rotate your body, can you let your pelvis then torso initiate the movement and that your head follows last? A slow example is when moving your head and neck as you to turn a corner in your car. A small hip hinge and torso twist first will help with this.

Or when entering a yoga pose, feel the movement initiate from the ground all the way to your head. And it’s the same more dynamically when doing fast punches as a HIIT. And of course in golf, the body leads the drive and head comes along after you strike the ball. 

Summary

Over the next seven days, I invite you to be aware of your head and head alignment. Be sure to login or take the 10 day trial because our cluster of eight Dojiva classes will help you to embody these concepts.

Thanks for reading

Take care

Danny

To access all Dojiva classes, with the 10 day trail - click here

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This weeks classes:

Sunday 19th Jan 2025 - Mindfulness 21 - This movement class is all about subtlety. If you’re not yet fully familiar with the value of body awareness and the gentle side of movement, this could seem frustratingly slow and you just want to get on with it! But the goal is to move in a very clear and present way.

Bonus class today - Self massage 09 - A complete guide to neck mobility and massage using air filled balls.

Monday 20th - Workout 93 - A subtle class that includes balance, core tone, functional postural tone, stretching of posterior fascial chain and exercises to release and tone muscles of the eyes and face.

Tuesday 21st - Mobility 52 - When was your last head massage? Well, you can do your own! We often talk about how tight hamstrings might affect connective tissues further up the chain. Well, here we work from the top down by releasing the head and facial muscles. A great 35 minutes of self care through movement and self touch plus a little dynamic stretching.

Wednesday 22nd - Meditation 27 - Please join in with this 20 minute guided meditation that starts with awareness and relaxation of facial expression and helps to reveal the peaceful natural state that rests quietly within.

Thursday 23rd - Workout 44 - This one hour class has ten sets of strength training with a focus on the eccentric (lengthening) phase of movement. This is the best way to bring about gains in muscle development/functional strength. We also have hip balance challenges before and after the workout.

Friday 24th - Mobility 27 - This class has awareness, exercise and self massage for your neck. Also, rib/spine integration moves, three dimensional neck mobility from the mat with half cobra, postural alignment and finally application to good neck ergonomics in daily life.

Saturday 25th - Mini fitness 21 - Enjoy a great finish to the week and an energy boost for the day with eight intervals plus some dynamic cool down stretches.

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