SACRED ARTS YOGA: JAW AND NECK YOGA: THE VESTIBULAR SYSTEM (The jaw, ear, neck, and hip flexor connection to our crucial sensory abilities)

     Throughout my 13 year yoga development journey I have gradually overcome and even reversed many health issues that had been hampering every aspect of my life. So many of us, like myself, are dealing with vestibular system deficiencies which can develop from consistent tension, misalignment of posture (including the neck and head), and lack of jaw mobility activation. If you have ever experienced an awkward "jaw pull" while performing yoga or other mobility based movements, you may have a vestibular system deficiency which quite possibly can be corrected. Let's take a brief encylopedia (never wikipedia) study of our vestibular system for better innerstanding before I offer you some exercises and possible remedies to help correct any problems.  

The vestibular system from Encyclopedia Britannica: 

vestibular system, apparatus of the inner ear involved in balance. The vestibular system consists of two structures of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear, the vestibule and the semicircular canals, and the structures of the membranous labyrinth contained within them.

Vestibular structures

The two membranous sacs of the vestibule, the utricle and the saccule, are known as the otolith organs. Because they respond to gravitational forces, they are also called gravity receptors. Each sac has on its inner surface a single patch of sensory cells called a macula, which monitors the position of the head relative to the vertical. Each macula consists of neuroepithelium, which is made up of supporting cells and sensory cells, as well as a basement membrane, nerve fibres, nerve endings, and underlying connective tissue. The sensory cells are called hair cells because of the hairlike cilia—stiff nonmotile stereocilia and flexible motile kinocilia—that project from their apical ends. The nerve fibres are from the superior, or vestibular, division of the vestibulocochlear nerve.

More From Britannica

human nervous system: The vestibular system

Each of the hair cells of the vestibular organs is topped by a hair bundle, which consists of about 100 fine nonmotile stereocilia of graded lengths and a single motile kinocilium. The single kinocilium, which is larger and longer than the stereocilia, rises from a noncuticular area of the cell membrane at one side of the cuticular plate. The longest stereocilia are those closest to the kinocilium. Minute filamentous strands link the tips and shafts of neighbouring stereocilia to one another. When the hair bundles are deflected—e.g., because of a tilt of the head—the hair cells are stimulated to alter the rate of the nerve impulses that they are constantly sending via the vestibular nerve fibres to the brainstem. Covering the entire macula is a delicate acellular structure, the otolithic, or statolithic, membrane. This membrane is sometimes described as gelatinous, although it has a fibrillar pattern. The surface of the membrane is covered by a blanket of rhombohedral crystals, referred to as otoconia or statoconia, which consist of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite. These crystalline particles, which range in length from 1 to 20 m (1 m = 0.000039 inch), are much denser than the membrane and thus add considerable mass to it.

Semicircular canals

The three semicircular canals of the bony labyrinth are designated according to their position: superior, horizontal, and posterior. The superior and posterior canals are in diagonal vertical planes that intersect at right angles. Each canal has an expanded end, the ampulla, which opens into the vestibule. The ampullae of the horizontal and superior canals lie close together, just above the oval window, but the ampulla of the posterior canal opens on the opposite side of the vestibule. The other ends of the superior and posterior canals join to form a common stem, or crus, which also opens into the vestibule. One end of the horizontal canal opens into the vestibule. Thus, the vestibule completes the circle for each of the semicircular canals.

Each membranous ampulla contains a saddle-shaped ridge of tissue called the crista, the sensory end organ that extends across it from side to side. The crista is covered by neuroepithelium, with hair cells and supporting cells. From this ridge rises a gelatinous structure, the cupula, which divides the interior of the ampulla into two approximately equal parts. The hair cells of the cristae have hair bundles projecting from their apices. The kinocilium and the longest stereocilia extend far up into the substance of the cupula, occupying fine parallel channels. Thus, the cupula is attached at its base to the crista but is free to incline toward or away from the utricle. The tufts of cilia move with the cupula and, depending on the direction of their bending, cause an increase or a decrease in the rate of nerve impulse discharges carried by the vestibular nerve fibres to the brainstem

The brain's experience of movement:

1. Vestibular sensors detect changes in velocity

2. Head direction system calculates vectorial displacement

3. Motion is directly experienced from optical or tactile flow and corollary discharge 

*Inflammation and knots which can gradually form from consistent tension and lack of mobility in the jaw, neck, eyes, hips and abductors are ALL CONNECTED and can directly decrease our sensory abilities, level of consciousness, and overall energy vibration. 

Remedies:

1. Chew your food! Be sure to chew down all of your food to a mash before swallowing. If you find yourself a lazy chewer and are gulping large bits of food down, slow down and use your jaw muscles and full jaw mobility! Feel your teeth and actively engage with your meals through jaw exercise. The digestive enzymes in the mouth begin to prepare the nutrients to be integrated and the stomach will not have to produce as much acid or work as hard to break down the food as it should have been done through the chewing process.  

2. Exercise your jaw during the day: up, down, side to side, and around (like a goat:). Don't grind your teeth. Do Jaw yoga and breathing exercises while exploring your full jaw mobility. Practice yoga with your jaw naturally closed while breathing through your nose. If you feel an awkward jaw pull and want to open it, keep it calmly closed and work through those pulling blocks, unless you are opening your mouth to simply breathe of course. Both nose breathing, mouth breathing, and natural intuitive breathing are all essential during our sacred yoga practices. Just be conscious of any jaw pulls to clear through.  

3. Neck alignment: Be conscious of and balance out your neck alignment. Limit your time looking down at your computer and phone. Have your computer aligned up and level for a straight head and neck. In yoga, we create balance from performing a backbend for every forward bend. 

4. Neck mobility: Move your neck fully up, down, right, left, and in circles. Hey gen x do you remember metal head banging and thrash dancing? I'm not talking about the mosh pit lol. (Breakdancing will always be the ultimate to me). Be careful and move your neck intuitively in both a slow controlled hatha style manner and gradually crank up the smooth relaxed intensity for deep clearing and mobility activation. Work it! Be sure to turn your neck and eyes to gaze up into the sky during our triangle pose variations. Always begin your twists from your hips.  

5. Eye exercises: Practice moving just your eyes fully to the right, left, up, down, and around in circles with your neck and head stationary with level alignment. 

6. Walk with your head and neck aligned so it's calmly resting between your shoulders. Power your mobility from your hips   

7. Knee mobility: Perform knee circles. Shake the knees from side to side using your hips and core from a properly aligned neck and head. It's all connected. 

8. Be conscious of your shoulder alignment. Both sides should be level. Correctly aligned yoga asanas and practice pulling the shoulders equally down and back while opening your heart center is a practice of proper posture. Also do shoulder rounds and full forward and back arm circles one at a time like the old school boxers used to do. Activate your hips when doing any upper or lower body work. Remember the hips are connected to your neck, jaw, ear, and vestibular system.  

🎵The thigh bones' connected to the backbone, the backbones' connected to the neck bone, the neck bones' connected to the jaw bone...doing the skeleton dance...

It's all connected

To your health and happiness,

JK

Something looking like this may possibly be related to a vestibular related jaw and hip problem, or in this case, really funny and good acting. Don't let this be you! The first person who tells me which movie this is from gets a free astrology reading to their email!