Release, Realign and Stabilise: Embodied Movement and Awareness for a Pain-Free Neck
Chronic pain and tension in the neck is commonly accepted as “normal”. Why is this body part so prone to pain and dysfunction? In this workshop, the dance between freedom and stability in the neck will be approached from a multidimensional perspective using experiential anatomy, somatic practices and yoga therapy principles.
Description
Chronic pain and tension in the neck is commonly accepted as “normal”. Why is this body part so prone to pain and dysfunction? Anthropologists say the neck evolved to increase the range of our eyes to search for food, mates, and scan for danger. As the human brain developed, the 5.5-7 kg (12-15 pound) weight of the average head became subject to strong mechanical forces, including gravity. Modern humans habitually meet these forces by unconscious muscular effort to hold the head erect. The nervous system "forgets" that the musculoskeletal system, the organs and the earth itself offer support from below and that the delicate structures of the head and neck can naturally relax into this support. Tension from compensatory alignment and movement patterns contributes to pain, weakness and restricted movement in the neck, jaw and eyes, and even in the pelvis and feet.
The neck is also a doorway between mind and body, head and heart, and thoughts and emotions. Western culture tends to value the mind and reason over the wisdom of the body and heart. Tension in the neck perpetuates this split. Feeling emotions, expressing oneself or accessing inner wisdom is challenging when this doorway is clamped shut by myofascial tension.
The dance between freedom and stability in the neck will be approached from a multidimensional perspective using experiential anatomy, somatic practices and yoga therapy principles.
Workshop Structure
This live online seminar will be taught over two weeks in three 2.5 hour segments with 2.5 hours of prerecorded material, for a total of 10 contact hours. Handouts will be provided.
What will I learn?
- Active engagement of deeper skeletal and organic sources of support for the neck and head to re-pattern integrity and stability.
- Experiential anatomy explorations to enhance ease and freedom of movement especially at the joint between the head and neck.
- How misalignment, dysfunctional movement and excessive tension in the neck affect vagus nerve function.
- The connections between stability and freedom in the neck and free flow of prana between heart and mind.
- How to “root” the head and neck in the thoracic spine and pelvis.
- Somatic explorations to integrate continuity and integration of the head, spine and pelvis.
- How to deepen meditative stillness and establish Witness Consciousness.
Meet the Teacher
Leila Stuart BA, LLB, C-IAYT is a retired Registered Massage Therapist and has practiced and taught yoga for over 40 years. She developed and taught an innovative Yoga Therapy training for 15 years, focusing on experiential anatomy, alignment, and movement repatterning, and embodiment of the deeper teachings of yoga as pathways to self-healing. With a deep love and intuitive knowledge of experiential anatomy, Leila specializes in transforming academic information into somatic awareness and life changing experience. She is an international teacher, online educator, and conference presenter. Leila is author of The Great Yoga Handbook and the recently published Experiential Anatomy: Therapeutic Applications of Embodied Movement and Awareness and co-author of Pathways to a Centered Body with Donna Farhi. Visit www.leilastuart.com
“Leila has exceptional skills as a Yoga Teacher and Therapist with a strong emphasis on practical, experiential anatomy. Leila is one teacher who I would like to study with more often.” -Donna Farhi
