Transform Your Yoga: Supporting the head, neck and spine
How do the habitual positions of your head and neck influence the rest of your spine?
How often do we find ourselves craning our neck to see a screen, reaching our head forwards over the steering wheel or straining to see clearly when our eyes need testing? We even speak of “sticking our neck out” when life asks us to extend ourselves beyond what feels comfortable.
The neck is not separate from the spine — it is its uppermost region. As the position of the head changes, the rest of the spine responds beneath it to maintain balance. These everyday patterns may follow us onto the yoga mat, particularly when we lead with the head, fix our gaze or try to reproduce the external shape of a pose.
In this practical workshop, we’ll explore the relationship between the head, neck and the rest of the spine through accessible anatomy, movement and guided awareness. Using the Buttafly to provide support in a range of positions, you’ll be invited to notice how the balance of the head, the direction of your gaze and the support beneath you influence effort, breath and movement.
Rather than pulling the head back or trying to hold the neck in a “correct” position, we’ll explore how the right conditions can allow unnecessary effort to soften and a more adaptable relationship between the head, neck and spine to emerge.
Suitable for all levels of yoga practitioner, from beginners to experienced teachers.
Join live or watch the recording
The workshop will be held live online via Zoom, giving you the opportunity to learn, ask questions and explore the practice together.
If you can’t make it live, or would simply like to revisit what you’ve learned, everyone who books will receive access to the workshop recording for 7 days.
There will be opportunities to ask questions during the live workshop. If you’d like personalised guidance specific to your own body or practice, one-to-one consultations are also available.
This workshop forms part of Transform Your Yoga, a series exploring the relationship between the spine and the rest of the body — and how support, awareness and curiosity can change the way we experience yoga. Each session brings together accessible anatomy, imagery, movement and guided awareness, inviting you to notice your own patterns and understand your body more deeply through your own experience. Each workshop can be enjoyed on its own or as part of the complete series.
About Loulou James MCSP
Loulou is a Spine Health Specialist, retired physiotherapist, yoga teacher, educator and founder of the Buttafly. Drawing on more than 40 years’ experience, her work explores how the body’s innate intelligence expresses itself through the spine, and how the right conditions can support greater ease, adaptability and balance.
Don’t have a Buttafly yet? You’re still very welcome to join. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how thoughtful prop use can support your practice and help you decide whether the Buttafly is right for you.