Your head and neck should be aligned as natural extensions of your spine. Breaking the line at the neck is one of the easiest ways to wreck an exercise and get neck pain. This can look like a back tilt of the head when you do back extension exercises, or jamming the chin too far down in forward bending exercises, or tilting too far to the side in sideways exercises.
When the spine is in it's natural, neutral position as it is when we sit, stand, and do many Pilate exercises, the ears should be right in line with the shoulders. When you change that alignment to do forward bending exercises like wall roll down or the hundred, the head needs to do a little nod forward to remain in line with the intention to curve the spine. (see head nod)
When we do back bending exercises, we want the neck to extend as part of the line of the long spine. We don't want the head to tilt back which is a tendency many people have that causes neck strain. For example, people often have the urge to look up when doing extension exercises like swimming or even single leg kick. What you really want to do is think of energy extending out the top of your head so that the sense of length through the spine helps lift you, not the act of picking up the head separately. That way your shoulders and neck do not get overly involved.
- Keep Your Head in Line with Your Spine:
- Wall Roll Down
- Single Leg Kick
- Side Kick Series
- Pilates Posture Check
