Simple Self Love
I’m back with another Movement Morsel video for you although I couldn’t remember my own cutesy content naming structure so I called it, shock horror, a Movement Bite.
Yes, I did consider re-filming the whole damn thing purely for that word choice. And then my rational self said, “WTAF?” She came to the fore and said, “nobody cares but you, just get over that cutesy naming structure and post the dang thing!”
So here you go…
The minimal looking movements in this 7 minute video can be a big assist to bring some balance back to the olde cervical spine.
Do you suffer from headaches, neck aches, or perhaps a tight jaw or upper back?
A lot of our lives are lived in front of us.
I know that’s a weird thing to have to acknowledge but we shouldn’t solely move in the sagittal plane of our literal forward-focused life. I remind my Pilates clients that our bodies exist in a three-dimensional physical plane and so our goal is to keep our movement sphere as large as possible.
We’ve most likely heard of “tech neck” but I what I’ve noticed in my clients involved in the caring professions - think teachers, nurses, therapists - is that they spend a fair amount of time physically leaning into their students, clients, patients for better connection. This “caring posture” makes people feel safe and of course is fabulous and effective, but often means my clients have rounded shoulders, tight chests and upper backs, are not breathing as efficiently as they could, and have a forward leaning head.
If our spines go where our eyes go (and they do) all many of us live with our heads jutting forward and not stacked over the rest of our spine.
Ideally we want the centre of our ear over the middle of our shoulder joint, over the side of our ribs, and over the greater trochanter of our hip bone. (If we were standing we’d add slightly in front of our knee joint and slightly in front of our ankle bone)
Think plumb line!
Not sure if you have forward head? Here’s an easy way to check:
Stand side on to a mirror, relax into your usual stance, and then turn your head to your reflection and see how you stack up. NB This is not 100% reliable because we’ll all have the unconscious urge to perform a little bit better and “fix it”.
If we have a forward head (which remember is very, very common) this causes weak + tight muscles and/or strong + tight muscles in our neck, chest, and upper back. Suffice it to say we get a bit out of whack.
Now will these neck stretches “fix” your tight neck? Not likely but they’re definitely good ones to store in your body detective tool kit. When you notice you’ve spent way too much time scrolling your phone, tensely staying alert while driving, or clenching your teeth and furrowing your brow while writing a blog post, these simple stretches will be there for you to pull out and use for some relief. Yay!
Enjoy the video and if you like it then please
And, if are there other body parts or body issues you’d like me to showcase with a Movement Morsel the easiest way to let me know is to👇
On The Podcast
(in case you missed it)
Last week’s episode was such an interesting chat with my guest Alexandra Walker from Damsel Not In Distress. She has a lovely way at looking at creativity and shared how it works hand in hand with her extremely logical brain. She also wrote a delightful blog post based on our conversation. Here are links to both:
✨Creativity As A Tool To Survive And Then Thrive✨
Studio/Home Happenings
If you’re in the SE corner of QLD or will be near Gympie mid September I’d love to have you join me for the Move & Awaken Your Intuition mini-retreat. I know that’s a bit of a mouthful but it really is a lovely way to up your vibration in the company of like-minded people. (tbh it’s always been 100% women who’ve attended but only if you don’t count the time the hubby joined for a sound bath healing and snored his way through, lol)
In Sep, the morning will unfold with a gentle movement flow ending in breathwork guided by me and then my friend Sharon will follow up with a card reading workshop to help us awaken said intuition. Morning tea is always on offer and is truthfully why most people come back😉
One of the things I love about my home-based Schtudio is having enough room to host events such as these, plus I get to bake something for the guests - yum! Click HERE for the deets
And
For those of you following along, our bathroom/toilet remodel is taking FOREVER (full caps for dramatic effect)! Yesterday, after two weeks of nothing, the tile finally started to get laid - it’s going to look fab when it’s all in.
Our builder is very good but not the tidiest individual. Our front porch, which is not the biggest to begin with, has become a storage area for all his tools, even ones he’s not using. Every time he comes the amount of paraphernalia and debris seem to increase exponentially. I’m trying desperately to stay un-tweaked by it all and instead be encouraged by the small bits of progress.
For context we’re into week seven of what supposedly was going to be a ten to fourteen day reno so thanks for letting me vent a bit. Enjoy these few photos to see what I’m on about:
That’s it for today, I’ll catch you next time,
xBec
P.S. Don’t forget to let me know your ideas for more Movement Morsels or how you fare with this week’s vid. I love hearing from you!
Share this post