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Tension and pain in the neck and adjoining areas are
a bane of modern life. Who has not suffered such pain
at some moment or other of the day? Often, a little
spontaneous movement, a bit of rest or merely turning
ones attention to something else will be enough to make
the pain go away.
However not everyone can solve the problem so easily.
Some people may always experience discomfort, either
stiffness or pain in the shoulders as soon as they sit
down to work or after too long a period of concentration,
and this can persist all evening or even throughout
the night. For many people this part of their body,
which is sensitive to any stress or waste load, never
feels totally as it should.
There is nothing surprising in all this, as the neck
region is the prime area concerned in our conscious
control of any actions and movements; it is the key
to muscular coordination and the conduct of vital nerves
and blood vessels passing to and from the brain.
In a healthy organism some tension is normally present
around the back of the neck to allow a proper balancing
of the head and preventing it from falling forward.
Excessive tension in the neck will quickly result, however,
in discomfort or even pain, if it is chronic and over-compresses
the nerves of the spine.
Neck pain may also follow a trauma, such as a fall
or road accident (e.g. the well-known whiplash injury),
the effects of which can last a long time, especially
if not treated with due seriousness at the time.
Bad habits, often acquired at a very early age or associated
with psychological conditions, may also cause us to
hold our head in a manner liable to create excessive
tension.
The Alexander Technique accords special importance
to the neck and the way one holds one’s head,
For, in order to achieve a good orientation in relation
to gravity, the movements of the head are dependant
on very powerful reflexes which can even force the body
to contort itself in order to keep its balance.
The overall task of reeducating the self towards a
better use along the principles of the Alexander Technique
begins by freeing the neck and restoring the natural
balance of the head. The pupil will learn how to let
tensions in the neck be released so as to allow the
spinal column to lengthen, which will ensure a correct
head posture and good body equilibrium.
The pupil will discover that achieving such a readjustment
will help get rid of unnecessary painful tensions and
that even if they sometimes persist, he/she will have
a practical method of dealing with them.
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