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Try it on yourself first

Do you know the sensation caused by some apple peel stuck between your front teeth? There is no movement, nothing would be visible in an x-ray, still, we can feel it precisely. We react strongly to pressure differences and tiny movements in and around our skull. This is what this lesson is about.

There is little to see - what is best seen is the absence of movement.

Please try it out on your own ears first. Get a good hold on the lower part of the ear, and close to the skull. The tissue you are feeling here is cartilage: flexible, but quite strong.

• Move your fingers to use your ears to move the head a little. This is far more than you will see while doing it with your child, this lesson is not about creating a bigger movement.
• As you are probably sitting right now, it is easy to create an up / down movement by doing a small half circle with your fingers. This will be much smaller or invisible if the child`s head is resting on a blanket. You should feel the movement in the upper vertebrae of your neck.
• Now try moving one hand clockwise, the other counterclockwise. You will see (almost) no movement of the head, but still, feel a difference in your upper neck. These are movements that happen in walking. This joint has a huge impact on balance.
• try moving one hand up, one down. If you leave your mouth slightly open, you might feel your jaw shift. Another thing that could happen is a slight reaction of your eyes. (in minute 3.30 you can see how my client`s eyes are reacting to the movement, going up and down)
• Last, try to feel a connection between your hands. We cannot really create a movement here, but we initiate slight pressure differences through the skull. This is where the eustachian tubes are located. If your nose is stuffy, you also might feel a reaction there, or a small impulse to swallow.

Working with the Child

This is a lesson that can be done wonderfully with a sleeping child. If your child is awake, it should lie down in a relaxed manner. You could play some music, or tell a story, but take care the child isn`t watching anything exciting - this would change the muscle tone of the neck.

Put some support under the child`s knees, and possibly lower back (if the child tends to arch backward) Possibly elevate the child`s head slightly with a folded towel or blanket (no soft pillow).

Take about 5 minutes to work with your child. First, find out where to touch best, then start with moving your hands in different directions (one hand clockwise, the other counterclockwise. Do this patiently until very small movement appear (remember the apple peel? Even no movements make a difference here, don`t worry).

Only at the very end of your lesson, you might try some movements with both hands in the same directions, going up and down in a small nod.

This is the area you will be working with: (Picture: thanks to Wikipedia)