Early bird price of $149 held until September 3, 2026 / $249 thereafter.
The Emotional Posture Continues…
EXPRESSION: The Neck, Face and Emergence of Presence
The heart feels.
The arms reach.
The neck orients.
The face meets the world.
Before we speak, the face is already communicating—reaching towards connection, projecting ahead, withdrawing from contact or holding an expression in place.
This three-part webinar series approaches the neck through three distinct but interdependent layers: the Outer Cylinder, Motor Cylinder and Visceral Cylinder. We move progressively from surface support, through movement and orientation, into the expressive interior—before bringing all three cylinders into relationship.
Anticipated Outcomes
You will develop an expanded understanding of how whole-body support travels through the neck and becomes visible in the carriage of the head and face.
You will improve their ability to assess the three cervical cylinders, recognise protective and compensatory patterns, and apply practical movement and Structural Integration strategies that support lift, volume, orientation and expressive choice.
You will leave with a clinically grounded framework for exploring how a person reaches towards the world, withdraws from contact, communicates and returns—without reducing emotional experience to posture or imposing expression upon the client.
Students will have lifetime access to the recordings.
This course will be provided over Zoom webinar with live chat and Q&A.
Course schedule:
September 5 – The Supported and Orienting Neck
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
Layers One and Two: The Outer and Motor Cylinders
We begin with the Outer Cylinder: the visible neck, superficial tissues and shoulder girdle that create containment, breadth and support. Structures explored may include the platysma, sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius and clavicular region.
We then move into the Motor Cylinder: the muscular and skeletal organization that balances and moves the head. Examples may include the cervical spine, scalenes, deeper cervical flexors and extensors, and selected suboccipital relationships.
Through BodyReading and movement, we will explore protection, projection, reaching, retraction, orientation and return. At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
- Describe how support travelling through the Deep Front Line, thorax and shoulder girdle influences the organisation of the neck, head and face.
- Differentiate the anatomical territories and functional roles of the outer and motor cylinders of the neck.
- Identify common protective and compensatory strategies, including superficial neck holding, head projection, retraction, elevated shoulders and restricted orientation.
- Perform whole-person BodyReading focused on the relationships among the feet, thorax, first ribs, shoulder girdle, cervical spine, head and facial carriage.
- Distinguish lift from upward holding, reaching from projection, and functional retraction from withdrawal or collapse.
- Apply movement-based assessments to evaluate eye-led orientation, cervical rotation, reaching, retraction and return.
October 3 – The Expressive Interior
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
Layer Three: The Visceral Cylinder
The second session enters the Visceral Cylinder—the intimate interior of the neck involved in breathing, swallowing, vocalization and expression.
Regions explored may include the jaw, tongue, oral floor and hyoid. We will consider how these structures contribute to internal space, pressure, resonance and facial carriage.
What happens when the jaw braces, the tongue withdraws or the throat narrows? What allows expression to move—and what holds it in place?
At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
- Explain how the jaw, tongue, hyoid, floor of the mouth, larynx and breath contribute to swallowing, sound, facial carriage and expression.
- Assess the relationship between jaw movement, head position, cervical support, breathing and vocal effort.
- Recognise how facial holding, gaze, jaw tension and head carriage may reflect structural or protective organisation without assigning a specific emotional meaning.
- Differentiate facial expression emerging from whole-body support from expression produced through excessive muscular effort or projection.
- Apply movement, breath, swallowing and gentle sounding explorations to assess the functional adaptability of the visceral cylinder.
- Demonstrate cueing strategies that encourage facial volume, jaw–neck differentiation and expression without forcing or interpreting the participant’s experience.
October 4 – Outer, Motor and Visceral Cylinders
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
Bringing the Three Cylinders Into Relationship
The final session brings the Outer, Motor and Visceral Cylinders together and follows their relationship to the Deep Front Line, cranial base and sensory systems of orientation.
We will explore how surface support, motor organization and internal volume cooperate to carry the head and face. Rather than treating the jaw, throat or cervical spine as isolated regions, we will ask where support may need to be prepared before expression can emerge more freely.
How can the face reach towards the world without losing connection to the body beneath it? How can we move into contact while retaining the possibility of return?
Presence is not something we perform. It is what becomes possible when support reaches all the way to the top.
Each two-hour webinar combines anatomy, BodyReading, movement exploration, and practical Structural Integration strategies.
By the completion of this webinar, you will be able to:
- Explain the Rolf concept of the Line reaching through the neck into the head and becoming visible through lift, volume, orientation and presence
- Analyse how the outer, motor and visceral cylinders cooperate or compensate during posture, movement, facial expression and communication D
- Develop an integrated clinical pathway that connects whole-body support with the neck, head, jaw, face and voice.
- Select appropriate Structural Integration or movement-based strategies according to the cylinder carrying excessive responsibility.
- Reassess changes in facial carriage, head support, orientation, breath, jaw movement, voice and whole-body participation rather than relying on range of motion alone.
- Recognise common clinical presentations and red flags affecting the cervical spine, jaw, swallowing, voice and neurological function that require caution or referral.
- Use observational language that distinguishes visible structural organisation from emotional interpretation or personality diagnosis.
- Integrate the principles of support, orientation, expression, boundaries and return into manual therapy, movement education and clinical practice.
Michael Watson’s journey of self-discovery has led him around the world, teaching and sharing his passion for anatomy and alternative modalities of exercise and therapy.
Beyond yoga, Pilates and Anatomy Trains teaching certifications, Michael leads advanced training programs, retreats and clinics worldwide. He has worked with athletes with disabilities at the Paralympic level of training and continues to develop ideas that bring an integrated approach to health, movement and wellness. As a certified teacher of Yoga, Pilates, functional anatomy and with a degree in Sports science, Michael brings an in depth awareness to his clients based on a strong understanding of anatomy, the body and its function.
A proud father of 3 home birthed children, Michael is also a natural birth advocate and works progressively in his home base of Bermuda alongside his wife in bringing awareness to birth and reforming birth options for women.
