Know Your Habit: Part 1

The Head and Top of Neck

Welcome to yet another Little Book preview! This week I’ll be filling in some of the information in last week’s post. If you didn’t get to read last week, click on the link and check it out when you get a chance!

Why Should You Know Your Habits?

When we feel “off” or “tense” or “anxious” something in ourselves is sending out an alert. We’re not comfortable and we’d like to make a change and feel better. That’s normal!

Most of the time, we can make a simple change to our lives and resolve the issue. Maybe we want a glass of water so we get a drink or we want to go for a walk so we stop writing this article and get a burrito…

aka how to tell your reader what’s really going on…

But other times the issue doesn’t feel so simple. Tension can feel persistent and immovable. We can throw the kitchen sink of quick fixes at it but it just stays with us. So rather than continue throwing random fixes at the matter, let’s take a moment to STOP and figure out where we are and what we are doing.

When we learn to see and name our habits, it becomes MUCH easier to stop and invite change.

In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing sketches on some of the common bugaboos I see in myself and my students. You may find these in yourself. I kindly ask that you always have a sense of wonder about your habits because with time they can change.

Certainty about what you habitually do will eventually trip you up! Stay curious and have a bit of fun with your Sherlock.

The Head Pushes Forward and Down

The Legend

The purple dot represents the center of the weight of the head

The green dots on the forehead and back of the skull represent points on your ‘helicopter’ that help you nod your head “yes” and create a sense of liftoff in the head.

The green/red zone at the base of the skull is my attempt at drawing the quality of contact between the head and the neck. Green would represent an area that feels ok. Red represents compression and ick.

The blue lines of the helicopter are for fun!

Understanding the Picture Above

In the picture above, you can see a skull drawn as a helicopter landing slightly on top of the spine. I’ve drawn a little red dot 🔴 to show how the forward press of the head - such as when you want to plop your head into a screen - creates downward pressure on the front portion of the spine. Normally by the time someone comes to see me for a lesson, things are a little worse than this and the forward and downward pressure become more intense…

In this second drawing, the same forces of forward and down are present. But as the pressure ramps up, the head begins to “pitch up” and this person starts looking down their nose habitually. I’ve drawn a black arrow at the back of the neck and added red lines around the neck to indicate that this added pressure really creates a nasty sensation.

The Head Pushes Back and Down

In the case of “back and down” pressure, you can see that the skull is sliding towards the back of the spine. This habit will apply a ton of pressure onto the voice (don’t worry, any type of downward pressure from the head will affect the voice). It will be extremely difficult for this person to turn their head.

The Other Variations

Sometimes people have a tendency to tilt their head to the left or right in addition to pushing it about in the ways that I’ve drawn. You may see this in yourself in a mirror IF you go looking for it. For some folks, the tilt is big and they can notice it immediately. For others, it can be more subtle.

Don’t drive yourself nuts looking for something that may or may not be present. When in doubt, ask for help or just check things out the next day. It’s ok to not know what your habit is while you’re investigating what your habit is!

The Head Is Forward and Up

…in a good way

In the photo above, I have attempted to draw the skull in such a way that the little green blob at the base of the skull is balancing right in the little cup at the top of the spine. You can see that the purple dot is definitely forward and up relative to the top of the neck. The sense of “liftoff” or UP that the skull can have comes when the two green points at the forehead and back of skull have the “V” shape drawn here. This creates a well oiled fulcrum in the joint.

I’ll write more about fulcrums in a future post!

What’s Your Habit?

I’m hoping you find the time to look in a mirror and get a sense of what your habit is. I don’t think I ever would have figured mine out without a whole bunch of private lessons, but that shouldn’t stop you from having a wonder about yourself. If you have any questions about these drawings and how they apply to you, please ask away!

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Get In Touch

Thanks for reading “Know Your Habit: Part 1“! If you’re in NYC, you may learn more about my private teaching practice at johndalto.com.

If you’d like to book any lesson time with me, you can find my booking link here.