Chin and knuckle pressure
Pranayama Deep Breathing
A large network of nerve roots starting in the neck pass through the shoulders to power our arms. Pinched nerves in the neck is a common root cause of shoulder pain. Neck and shoulder rubs feel great, but could be alleviating the symptom and the not cause.
Decompressing our neck is paramount.
This is absolutely a skill that develops. Let’s talk about how the technique works.
The same finger stretch we get on the inhale. That pressure between the knuckles and the chin is maintained on the exhale. Pushing your head back with your knuckles is a foreign concept. We miss it and or might think this is incorrect, because it is pretty weird. But it works magically.
Our finger tips, and wrists relate to our cervical spine. You will notice the connection the more you keep your elbows up in Pranayama. The result is a 360* ribcage expanding with inhale. Notice the back of the rib cage lifting up lengthening the spine.
On the exhale the effect is deep neck compression with extension between the shoulder blades.
Using the throat as we do this vibrates the hyoid bone at the base of the tongue in the centre of the neck. This generates heat in the neck from the inside out. The tongue channels directly from the centre of the throat into the diaphragm. We wire internal connected support.
Our centre of gravity is challenged during pranayama to make our muscles fire towards our centre. The spine is at the back of our bodies closest to our heels. Keeping the weight back aids in our spines traction inside out using our own muscular strength.
Looking back and getting the eyes to move aids in maximizing the relaxing benefit. It acts as a tripwire to program the nervous system dialing it into the body/ present. The eyes used in this way network the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. See more about this on our PTSD post.
Supporting your neck from the inside out, literally carrying your skull with your front myofascial line is your tongue lock.Create this benefit for yourself whenever you remember to lift tyour tongue up onto the dome of your pallet. Practice doing this on your inhale in Pranayama as well.