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To convert "anterior and superior" into more everyday words, I
think that "front and top" come about as close to a match as we can
get. In actual practice, then, the direction can be considered to be
flowing frontward and topward into our heads from
the essential source of freeing of our necks in the region of the atlanto-occipital joint (wherever our heads may be
in space in relation to our necks at any given moment) so that our heads can
lead the lengthening and widening of our torsos in such a way as to
facilitate the lengthening of our whole stature, which in turn allows us to
achieve an "integrated (normal) working of the postural
mechanisms". . ."in reaction to the stimulus of living" (UCL,
p. 108 and p. xxvii).
In 1988, to facilitate this
understanding of the head direction, I began phrasing it as: "for the
direction to come forward into my face and up into the top of my head"
("Directing and Ordering," STAT Books, p. 18); rather than:
"my head to go forward and up" or "head forward and up."
My students seem to have much less trouble conceptualizing this altered
wording as they link it up with the actual head direction I'm giving them
with my hands, no matter what orientation their heads are in with regard to
gravity, and especially if I show them an illustration or make them a drawing
of the exact location of the atlanto-occipital and atlanto-axial joints just beneath the center of the base
of our skull, between our ears and just behind our nose and throat.
This wording, of course, helps to bypasses the frequent consternation
many students express when a teacher tells them they're supposed to be
directing their heads "forward and up" while they are lying down,
for instance when doing table work. With the head direction being expressed
as "for the direction to come forward into my face and up into the top
of my head" we also get farther away from the danger of trying to direct
the surface of our head through space as the main understanding of the
direction or order—which, in most students, inevitably leads into some kind
of holding or "right position."
Of course, it's perfectly obvious
why F.M. chose the wording "forward and up" during his examination
of his use of himself while he was standing upright reciting in front of his
mirrors, since, in that relation to gravity, he was clearly pulling his head
"back and down" in space whenever he engaged in his habitual mode
of reciting. But I've often wondered if he would have used the words
"forward and up" for the head direction if he had been having his
vocal troubles only while he was performing a role where he had to speak lying
down, say, on his side, like I seem to recall hearing of Lawrence Olivier
doing once in Hamlet's soliloquy. In that case, it seems F.M. might
easily have identified his habitual head direction as going "backward
into the rear of and downward into the bottom of my head” and therefore might
just as easily have reasoned through to say "the direction to come
forward into my face and up into the top of my head" as being the most
serviceable for that particular situation—as well as any other. (This
scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem because I think most
actors—and singers—tend to find it much harder to project their voices while
they’re lying down.)
For a long time, it's seemed
to me that one of the greatest subconscious influences on our reasoning about
the head direction stems from the way many illustrations of the head, neck
and torso are usually presented in books, articles, etc.—particularly in
anatomical and medical texts, but also especially in many of the more recent
books and articles written to introduce or explain the Technique.
Almost always, the head, neck and torso are pictured in the upright and
often from a side view. And while this vertical side view might be
useful for illustrating certain aspects of our anatomy, it certainly doesn't
serve us well for conceptualizing every facet of our living and being in
relation to gravity.*
But if we take any of these
upright illustrations of the head, neck, and torso and turn them on their
sides (or even upside down) we are immediately obliged to consider the words
"forward and up" inaccurate when referring to the actual experience
of intrinsic unity we are hoping to give students with our hands when
directing them toward "the integrated (normal) working of the postural
mechanisms". . ."in reaction to the stimulus of living."
However, I don't necessarily think that my expression "for the
direction to come forward into my face and up into the top of my head,"
is the best, and I would hope others would be able to provide us with an even
better wording—in terms of one that would be more accurate and meaningful
both to the general public and to researchers as well.
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*Ironically, given that we generally see anatomical features presented from
an upright point of view, I recently came across some medical drawings in an
article written by a doctor to illustrate both healthy and deteriorated knee
cartilage to members of a medical insurance plan. The contrasting joints were
drawn horizontally on the page from a side view as if the owners of the two
different legs were lying on their back. This, of course, gave little
or no cause for readers to consider the effect on their knees of their use of
themselves in the upright activities of standing and walking or the
likelihood that undue downward pressures during those activities might cause
a wearing away of cartilage. The article, though quite enlightening in its
description of the actual joint condition and admitting that being overweight
might somehow factor into the damage, only vaguely suggested that any kind of
preventive or curative measures could be taken by improving movement
mechanics, "posture," etc. The new "horse pills," condroitin and glucosamine,
were all the author recommended as possible aids to
the damaged cartilage.
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