What’s The Deal With Head/Neck Nods?

Categories: Blog Feb 04, 2015

If there’s any one reset that may give skeptics and classically trained medical professionals pause, it’s the Head Nod.

Why?

Because it looks [like it could be] dangerous.

Head/Neck Nods - Because the head controls the body.

After all, there’s been a plethora of publications decrying moving the neck into extension (often mis-characterized as “hyper-extension”) and yet, we are advocating that you not only move your neck into extension, but that you do it repeatedly, over and over and over again (he wrote, while nodding “yes” repeatedly).

So what gives?

Why is the Head/Neck Nod included and why is it so darn important?

Great question(s).

Quite simply because the ability to control your head is the ability to control YOU.

Let me explain.

Where your head goes, your body follows. So if you have poor posture, which so many westerners do, then the inability to control your head affects the way the rest of your body operates. Which means, if you don’t or can’t control your head, you’ll be busy “treating” symptoms of that lack of control - symptoms like tight muscles, sore joints, dysfunctional movement patterns, and so on.

And you can’t have head control without a strong neck. When we were infants, we gained head control first from lying on our stomachs, learning to hold our heads up, then on our backs, learning how to hold our heads up and tuck our chins.

Our ability to hold our head up is not only related to our neck strength, but also, and more importantly, the sensitivity of our vestibular system. The vestibular system is also known as the balance system and without it, or with a malfunctioning one, it’s near impossible to not only stay upright, but maintain any normal semblance of a life. (Just ask anyone who has or has had vertigo.)

The vestibular system is located in the head and is the first and foundational sensory system in the human body to develop. Every other sensory system is routed through the vestibular system. Furthermore, every single muscle is tied to the vestibular system, including the muscles of the neck and core (front and back sides of the trunk). So moving your head sensitizes your vestibular system, making it, and consequently your body, stronger.

And the best way to sensitize your vestibular system, along with strengthening your neck, is to do Head/Neck Nods - up and down and side-to-side, primarily from a prone position at first, like kneeling on all fours (quadruped) and then to other positions.

Why is that the best way?

Because most of us live in an “artificial womb” for most of our lives. We sit. In chairs. And because we do, our posture degrades.

And no amount of “standing up straight” or “stretch the tight muscle, strengthen the weak one” will permanently fix it.

Why not?

Because we’re not dealing with the root cause - loss of head control, which in and of itself, is a loss of reflexive stability. Reflexive stability is the body’s subconscious ability to anticipate and react to movement as it happens, using the right muscles across the right joints, at the right speeds, at the right time.

Here’s why else Head/Neck Nods are so important:

Not only do they improve posture, that improved posture reduces the amount of shearing and compression force on the cervical spine. That in turn reduces the amount of pressure on the cervical nerves as they exit the spinal column, allowing them to function properly (i.e. allow for proper signaling to the upper body appendages). Head Nods also “floss” the cervical nerves, and in doing so, increase the input and communication from the brain to and with muscles in the shoulders, arms, and hands, often times, releasing entrapped nerves (which decrease the function of the aforementioned muscles).

It’s very common for us to see increased ranges of motion not only in the shoulders, from Head Nods, but also in other areas of the body. Why? Again, because where the head goes, the body follows. Regain control of the head, regain control of the body.

So if you want a really powerful “big-bang-for-your-buck” reset, go with the Head/Neck Nod.

(Nod your head "yes" with me.)

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