Musings from Think Somatics + Kristin Jackson

If you work at a desk, love playing with your devices, ride a drop handle bar bike a lot, drive/ride in automobiles for long periods you probably have a tight, stiff neck. From an emotional aspect, if you are often stressed, anxious or depressed you too might have a tight, achy neck. If you try to remedy the problem just by addressing your neck and head you will find it's uncomfortable and awkward. That's because your tension is not just in your neck. Nope, it's running through your whole body. Try the posture on: Jut your face forward a bit, like you might while sitting and looking at a computer monitor. Notice what the rest of your body does simultaneously. Can you feel how the back of your neck tightens, and so does your chest and belly? You might even feel how your inner thighs contract a bit. See, not just the neck, eh? It's a full body pattern, because no area of your body works in isolation . Sitting like that, day in and day out, your brain, which contro

Back in 2011 I was hit by a car while riding my bike. Being a movement and health coach for 20+ years, that day was going to put all my trainings and  beliefs  to the test. The way I looked at "posture and alignment," functional movement and how to get out of pain, was about to get flipped on its head. There were many things that resulted from that accident. One was, the day following my accident, I couldn't turn my head to the right, and my right arm was contracting like the limb of someone after a stroke. (Being a personal trainer, this was gonna be a problem.) I got x-rays of my neck. Diagnosis: I was told I had osteoarthritis and the start of stenosis in my cervical spine. My response: Yeah? So what. I didn't develop arthritis and stenosis in the last 48 hours. Why can't I turn my head?! Hmmm... no definitive answers. My doctor just told me to do the same things everyone does for pain; get some bodywork, acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy,

In the video below I share a popular movement to help with shoulder, elbow and wrist range of motion. It's a common move to prep your shoulders for a workout, your sport or just putting a healthy movement break into your day sitting at your desk. :-) But what if you can't do this move or it's really hard to shift your spine and shoulders around with ease? To make this move-- and the rest of your daily activities -- easier and more enjoyable, do Somatics!  With Somatics you will release tension patterns along the front, back and sides of your body and relearn to rotate your body with ease. Try the Daily Supplement playlist on my YouTube channel , or better yet, enroll in the Think Somatics Online Classroom for tons of recorded lessons created so anyone, anywhere in the world can learn Somatics. The image below shows all the ranges of motion of the shoulder, elbow and wrist. There's a lot of potential movement, eh? But, we often limit our movement potential