The Dev-Mo Project. Semi-Supine Position

We continue our series of posts exploring the semi-supine position. Here, we begin to experiment with simple movements. Developmentally primitive positions allow us to create a living laboratory, where we can observe our habitual motor behaviors under highly controlled circumstances.

Turning Your Head

Once you have spent time in the semi-supine position, try rotating your head. Because we habitually stiffen and shorten the muscles of the neck, it is critical to explore this movement in a patient and careful way.

When turning your head, maintain contact of the head on the books, and do not just roll your head along the books but try turning it on its axis of rotation so that it stays in the same vertical relation to the body. Turn your head just a little and then, without doing anything, be aware of the contact of your head on the books.

Do not overdo this exercise but periodically come back to it in an experimental, exploratory way. With time, you will notice that habitually shortened muscles in the neck will have a chance to let go and lengthen, which will in turn alter the relationship of the head to the back as a whole and even bring about more lengthening and widening of the entire back.