This exercise relieves tension in the neck, head, and shoulders, and lightens the fixed quality of thoughts and images.
If you are pregnant or have had any kind of neck injury, it is best not to do this exercise. Do it especially slowly if your neck muscles are tight. Throughout the exercise breathe very slowly and evenly through both nose and mouth. This is important, for if the breathing is too fast or uneven, this exercise can produce effects such as nausea or disorientation.
Sit . . . with your hands on your knees. With your mouth slightly open, breathing gently, very slowly lower your chin toward your chest; then very slowly lift the chin until it points toward the ceiling. Repeat this very slow lifting and lowering of the chin several times.
Now very slowly, move your head so your right ear moves in the direction of your right shoulder, and then so your left ear moves in the direction of your left shoulder. Repeat several times.
Softly close your eyes and slowly begin to rotate your head clockwise, as if drawing a perfect circle with the top of the head. Relax your shoulders--they should not move with the head. Let the neck muscles open and lengthen, without stretching too much. Make the circle as large and full as you can without straining--let the ears come close to the shoulders and the chin near the chest. When you come to a tight or painful place, move your head back and forth very slowly, allowing the muscles to loosen and lengthen. You may catch a thought related to the tightness. Slow the speed of the rotation down with mind, breath, and senses until the movement is almost imperceptible. Be aware of your whole body, even your toes and fingertips.
During the rotation, concentrate loosely on the juncture of your skull and spine, under the occiput. You may feel a special energy there, almost a sense of home. Deepen this feeling and expand it as much as you can. Use the spine as a channel for this feeling, distributing it throughout your body. Expand the feeling so it becomes larger than your body and continues to expand outside your body, on and on.
Do the rotation three or nine times in a clockwise direction. Then find a place in the movement where you feel comfortable changing direction, and begin three or nine counterclockwise rotations. Throughout this movement remember to breathe evenly through both nose and mouth.
On the last rotation, move your head more and more slowly until it finally stops moving. Then sit quietly in the sitting posture for ten minutes, continuing to expand your feelings and energy.
(pp. 153-5, Tarthang Tulku, Kum Nye Relaxation, Part 1. (Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing)
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