Holding your tongue F*x' up your spine

Try harmoniously coordinating them instead

Photo by Sean Robertson

Do you ever have something to say - but instead you hold your tongue?

You know the feeling of holding your tongue rather saying what you really think.

We all do.

The rules for making sense are breaking down out there.

This puts you in a bind when you want to speak your mind. Because inhibiting your voice immediately f’*x’up your whole body. Especially your spine.

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Here’s a quick experiment to help you feel this connection so you’ll know what actually happens to your spine when you hold your tongue.

Try the following while sitting or standing:

• Test the comfort of your spine:
  Without straining to make large movements, gently look up toward the ceiling, then down towards the floor.
  
  With each movement, make sure to encourage your breast bone to follow your head. Placing one hand there will help you lift and fold (soften) your chest
  
  Pause.
  
  Then gently turn your head to each side, turning your shoulders to make it easier. Then look all around in a lazy circle.

  
  Notice how it feels.
  

• Bring your attention to your tongue:
  Touch the tip of your tongue to the back of your lower teeth. Then move the back of your tongue backwards so the tip no longer touches the teeth. Then release.
  
  Do that many times – slowly and softly.

  
  Which movement is easier as you breathe in?
  As you breath out?
  
  (Try both options to compare)
  

• Open your mouth a small amount
  Leave it open and let your tongue spill forward over your lower lip. But don’t “stick out your tongue” like a kid. Instead, let your tongue be wide and soft.
  
  Let it out, then slowly draw it back in. Do this 4 or 5 times, without hurrying.
  

  Where in your tongue do you feel unnecessary strain?
  

• Include your eyes:
  Continue making the movement of letting your tongue spill over your lower lip.
  
  Now, each time you do so, let your eyes drift upwards towards the sky.
  
  As your tongue and eyeballs move away from each other, allow your mouth to open wider and your head to tilt back.
  

  Don’t forget the rest of your spine. Let your chest follow your head forward and up.
  Let your belly expand so the pubic bone can reach down away from your head.
  Let your whole front side lengthen everywhere.
  

• Clarify the connection of your tongue & spine:
  Keep spilling your tongue over your lip, but now also draw your tongue backwards behind your front teeth each you bring it back in your mouth.
  
  When tongue moves backwards, look down at the floor.
  Let your head and spine follow. Soften your chest (your hand can help).
  
  Alternate: looking up with your tongue spilling out and looking down while the back of your tongue is moving backwards towards the top of your throat.
  
  Do your tongue and breast bone move together?
  When does your spine get longer in the front?
  When does your spine get longer in the back?
  

• Steer your spine with your tongue
  With your mouth slightly open, rest your soft, wide tongue on your lower lip. Then slide it slowly to one side of your mouth. Then bring it back. Many times.
  
  Use your head, eyes and spine to look where your tongue is pointing.
  Then do the same to the other side. Go back and forth like that for a while.
  
  Does the middle of your spine move sideways?
  Does it move in the same direction as your tongue or in the opposite direction?
  

  Then move the tongue in and out again while the eyes look down and up again.
  
  Discover all the ways you could coordinate your eyes and tongue. That is, play!
  
  Move your tongue in a circle and let your head, eyes, chest, middle spine, pelvis and imagination follow where your tongue points, everything circling in harmony.
  

  How does your spine feel now compared to the first time you looked in each direction?

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If you move more easily now, your nervous system just learned something.

We might say you’ve gained a new relational image of the skeletal mechanics and muscle firing patterns in your tongue, eyes, chest and all along the length of your spine.

You could claim that all those movements “oiled the joints” and there is some truth to that idea. But more fundamentally, by clarifying the relationships between your various parts, you’ve learned to organize the whole of yourself more efficiently.

OK, so this was nice. But what about your habits and blindspots in daily life?

Two relevant questions:

Do you know how you usually coordinate your eyes, tongue and spine?

What would happen to your spine if you had a habit of holding your tongue instead of speaking your mind?

There’s an easy way to find out.

Test the pattern: 
Return to the movements of your tongue, eyes and spine, but this time imagine that you are about to say something. Draw in a breath as if to speak your mind, but at the last second, pull your tongue back and stop the sound from coming out.

Are you still breathing?
Can you still move your spine?

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Now here’s the thing:

Some people live their whole lives like this.

What would it do to your spine if you held your tongue all the time?

(Try it for a few seconds – you’ll feel it).

Now, I’m not saying you should start sharing every last opinion you have with everyone you see. You might be able to imagine how that too could be problematic.

I’m just pointing out the value of knowing the consequences of your actions.

When you do, you can more wisely choose what you do – and what you don’t do.

(And when, and where, and with who…)