Vetali Central » Physical Intelligence

Skullhinge part two: WTF?

Aaron Bihari — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:09:00 +0000

If you’ve tried the skullhinge powernap you know that it’s a mighty good way to catch some midday zzzz’s. But what & where & why & all that jazz?

The skullhinge is a name for the general area where the skull and the spine meet. The bones involved are the skull, and the two top vertebrae, the atlas and the axis. No, nothing evil going on here, just a little rotation. The axis, atlas & skull fit together ingeniously in such a way as to allow the head to turn and tilt to angles limited only by the musculature & the neighboring spinal & collarbones, which are quite far away, after all.

The skullhinge is most easily accessed through the back of the neck, but its components are actually quite deep inside the neck. We always think of the spine as being on the back, but in fact those points that poke out your backside are simply that: points. The vertebral column itself is actually quite deep under the back muscles, and goes forward to about halfway through your body, to about the widest point. So it’s much larger & much deeper than most of us think.

Why am I going on about this? Because the skull is balanced on top of the spine much in the way a ball can be balanced on a finger: at the centre of gravity. The face extends down below the point of the skullhinge, which creates the illusion of weight at the front of the head, but in fact the heaviest thing in the skull is the brain, which extends far enough behind it so that, with good posture, the head balances perfectly on top of the spinal column.

And there’s the rub: good posture. So many important things run through the skullhinge that the difference between good posture and bad posture can affect our sense perceptions, reflexes and strength for better or worse. This list is by no means complete, but important things that run through or directly touch the skullhinge include major blood vessels, the windpipe, esophagus, and main trunk of the central nervous system.

When the neck is tense, all of these things are constricted, meaning there is less space for blood to flow to the brain, for communication between the brain and the rest of the body to occur, for air to enter and leave the body, and for food to be swallowed. On the other hand, when the muscles of the neck are loose, breathing is easier, blood flows more freely to the brain, and the central nervous system functions better. The vocal chords are also involved here, which means that our voice can change dramatically depending on the relative openness of this whole area.

Of all the effects above, the most important of these (in my view) is with the nervous system. When it’s constricted the entire nervous system—central, somatic and autonomic—is compromised.

When the central nervous system is constricted, it effects our sight, hearing, taste, and ability to distinguish subtleties of smell and touch. The vividness of the RED flower above is, well, not so vivid. When the somatic nervous system is squeezed at this juncture, our reflexes are slowed. When the autonomic nervous system is compromised in this way, the fight-or-flight response is activated, putting us in a constant state of stressed-outness.

Heck, if there were no other reason to relax the skullhinge this would do it for me!

That’s a cursory introduction, which you are more than welcome to add to or debate. Next time I’ll focus on a few ways to relax the skullhinge, then go on to a few rants about posture and the scourge of the computer…

Post by Aaron Bihari, Trainer & managing partner
Cross-posted at Cross-Pollination.

Plastiques & Corporals

Aaron Bihari — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:19:51 +0000

Since we’ve introduced physical intelligence, it seems like a good idea to introduce two of its basic building blocks: plastiques and corporals, which are one way of describing two aspects of how we move.

A plastique is what happens when one single muscle contracts or releases. Not a group of muscles, but one single solitary one. (yes, this is a practical impossibility, but let’s pretend for now) Generally speaking, muscles span joints between two or more bones, each end attaching to the bone on either side of the joint. So when the muscle is in a state of relaxation the joint is normally at an open, wide angle, while when it’s contracted the joint will be at a smaller, closed angle. Now as far as I know all joints are spanned by more than one muscle, and for every muscular contraction there should be an equal muscular release at the other side of the joint, but these are for later posts. For now, let’s simply say that plastiques are individual movements of individual joints.

A corporal is what happens when you have a long chain of muscles working together. There are a limited number of corporals, and they usually either pass through or in some way include the abdominal muscles. One example of a corporal is called the “Great X” which starts at the tip of one finger and includes a chain of muscles that goes all the way through the body to the tips of the opposite foot. While it’s possible to isolate one of these lines — say right hand to left foot — they’re generally used together, hence making an X rather than a slash. The Great X gets a workout all the time, in walking.

So what are they good for?

Corporals are like the frame of a building. They’re structural elements, like the frame of a building. So when they’re strong the body is strong, and by extension, so is the mind. They are what you would use to jump a fence, so developing one’s corporals is said to develop one’s ability to face dread, face fears, overcome challenges and so on.

Plastiques, on the other hand, are like the decorative elements of a building. They’re the details that define personality, that help you present who you are to others, as well as to yourself. They can be seen as the building blocks of expression.

Much has been made lately about the relationship between the mind and the body, but I have yet to see a clearer or more direct explanation of that relationship than through plastiques and corporals. I’ll be coming back to them and elaborating in detail as time goes on.

Post by Aaron Bihari, Trainer & managing partner
Cross-posted at Cross-Pollination.

Hello powernap: introducing the skullhinge

Aaron Bihari — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:08:17 +0000

Most of my professional training has been in the performing arts; especially physical theater and modern dance. There are many insights to be gained from these disciplines for business, management and leadership. While a lot of them pertain to presentation skills and emotional intelligence, I tend to group the physically-based insights into the heading of Physical Intelligence.

As an introduction to what that means, I thought it would be good to offer something you can use right now, so here’s a hello to the mighty skullhinge.

The skllhinge is a small part of the body, but it wields a whole lot of power around perceptual abilities, balance, strength, well-being and response times. Not bad, hey? So enough bragging already, the skullhinge is the joint at the point where the skull meets the spine. It’s a rather complicated joint that merits a full post simply on how it works, but for now I’ll just offer a practical introduction to what it can do when included in a powernap.

To start, the simplest way to relax the skullhinge is to relax the eyeballs. The skullhinge is located directly behind the eyes, and there are a lot of muscular connections between them.

One good way to relax the eyeballs is to massage around the eyes. Start at the bridge of the nose and massage the ocular ridge gently outwards, finishing with the temples. Do this a few times—over, then under the eyes. The eyeballs are suspended and controlled by muscles, and are themselves quite soft. If you feel brave, press the heels of your palms against your closed lids and press inwards with a steady pressure until you see stars, then lift your hands away gently. Repeat until you feel the eyeballs release.

Now, do whatever you might ordinarily do to get comfortable and take a nap: lie down, lean back on a couch, rest your head on the desk, whatever you find most relaxing. Close your eyes (after finishing this post!) So far so good. Now, here’s the special trick: when you close your eyes, keep relaxing them.

Maintain a light attention on your eyeballs and keep thinking about them relaxing. This will in turn release your skullhinge and allow your rest to be much more revitalizing.

After trying a few times, you should find that a 10-minute nap leaves you feeling as if you’ve slept an hour.

This is just a basic introduction to the skullhinge. I’ll follow it up with a bit more on why, and some other things to back up some of the bragging above. Until then, happy napping!

Post by Aaron Bihari, Trainer & managing partner
Cross-posted at Cross-Pollination.