When I first discovered the connection between my chronic headaches and the way I was sitting in a chair, I was back in school, this time for massage and my neck pain and headaches were nearly constant, 3-5x a week. I was beyond hopeless, and was so desperate, I finally succumbed to the dreaded “cracking” that I knew a chiropractic visit would impose upon me.
Letting go of that fear of trusting a chiropractor, his head in my hands, was easier said than done.
In addition to X-rays ordered, he gave me a simple piece of advice, “put your head on top of your body when you’re reading and writing. Better yet, do that as often as you can.”
Not only did I take his advice, I took it one step further, because if the rest of your spine is out of alignment starting from the pelvis attaching to the sacrum and the “sitz” bones at the bottom of the pelvis, it’s nearly impossible to hold one’s head comfortably, even for a few seconds.
Read on to learn the technique I used to reduce my headaches from most days of the week to a couple of times a month. About a decade later, I learned how to eliminate most of my headaches completely, as stress and nutrition was also a huge factor to my chronic pain.
Rooting-Up: How it’s done
When I practiced aligning from my “root,” (aka the root chakra), it became a moment in time, it became an opportunity to be with my body, to center from the root up. Planting myself on my sits bones (you can feel them under each “cheek” of the glutes), adjusts the lower back to have stability and gently engages the core. Gently sitting up straight, not leaning back on a chair, just for a few minutes strengthens core strength and invites the ribcage to open, inviting deeper breaths. Now, for the cherry on top of the spinal cake…
Warning, this one will feel weirder than weird; tuck your chin so that you want to give yourself the ever-so charming double-chin effect. Not drastically, but a small, gentle one, which is imperceptible to everyone else but you. When you do this, you’ll feel the back of the neck lengthen. See if you can see the top of your arms and shoulders from the periphery of your eyes. Ta-da! Your head is on top of your body and your spine is in total proper alignment, for a few minutes, as an exercise, then, FORGET ABOUT IT.
Take two of these and call me in the morning. Seriously, set this into a reminder for once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. If you do, you’ll see this integrating into your lifestyle, not because you are forcing “good posture” but because your nervous system is learning a new way of relating to gravity.
And that’s a big deal when you want to have less pain. Noticing how we hold ourselves in space and time. Our pain matters, the way we move or do not move matters. Posture matters more than most people are aware of.
See how this practice changes the way you sit, the connectedness to your body as you work.
Work with me one on one to explore all the ways to reduce your chronic physical pain.
https://calendly.com/lisabethlent/15min
