Neck
The neck is a highly functional part of your body, being
continually in use. The neck holds up your head and the neck
muscles are constantly called upon as you do simple daily tasks
like driving or using your neck to turn your
head. A
common irritant for many is a stiff
neck.
However, not all stiff necks are the same. While most of the
time a stiff neck is caused by whiplash, ergonomics, wear and
tear, or even just sleeping in a funny position, there are rare
instances where it can be the sign of something systemic.
Most of these causes of a stiff neck boil down to quite simply
poor posture supporting the neck.
The Rolf Approach To Stiff
Necks
Rolfing is one of the best ways to
improve posture, rooted in its cohesive understanding
of the term itself. As a result of the
common interpretation posture as one of holding a static,
“correct” postural position, many people lose the natural
flexibility and the natural posture of their bodies. Its
positions like these that can lead to stiff
necks.
Rolfing on the other
hand continuously seeks out a dynamic, creative balance in
your body that is quite different from holding it in
one rigid postural position that cannot easily
accomodate the daily demands of life. Posture, as
taught through Rolfing, is a creative, fluid process. With
Rolfing, you move with correct posture, you do not
hold. Rolfing will re-establish inherent
balance to your properly aligned structure and how
to let gravity do the work of providing support. This
ultimately improves posture.
To understand how Rolfing treatment for the neck works, it is
important to recognize that the neck injury cannot be
understood by looking at the neck alone. The shoulder and neck
rests on the thoracic/cervical spine, and hence these two
interconnected segments must be treated together. The neck and
back are also part of the same
structure.
How
Rolfing Treats Stiff
Necks
The Rolfer® slowly uses his hands to release adhesions, strains
and sprains in the fascia of the neck. The fascia is the
fibrous web of connective tissue which binds muscles, bones and
organs together. The relative flexibility of connective tissues
determines how easily muscles will move, therefore the Rolfer®
will work on the connective tissue to help free the muscles,
and thus releasing the chronic pain in the
neck.
Rolfing’s great strength is that it is non-invasive, and hence
while undergoing Rolfing you will be able to continue with
daily life and even sports, while simultaneously treating and
relaxing your neck muscles, which will eventually allow you a
greater range of movement of the neck and increase your
flexibility.
It is crucial to understand that
Rolfing will treat the body not as individual parts, but as a
whole, so the whole organism realigns. Then, movement education
would be provided to help prevent future recurrence of the
problem.
neck
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