We're going to look at the Magilla again today. In my last video on the subject, I posed some questions about the position of the head relative to the torso. Today, I'm going to try to be a little more clear. Most people who are highly interested in this topic are people who want to improve the appearance of their face and jawline. The concern is that the Magilla is recessed and depressed, which can obstruct the airway and cause a deterioration of the facial structure. The main remedy to this problem that is out there is mewing, which is the idea of pushing the tongue against the roof of the mouth to push the Magilla up. What I've tried to make clear is that nearly everyone in the modern world is pulling their head back and ultimately down in space. This is an idea that some people struggle with. They think that forward head posture is a big part of the problem, and so they believe that people's heads are generally too far forward naturally. They do not like the sound of moving the head forward and up.

to counteract this habitual pulling back and down of the head. But there's actually a bigger problem here, which is that people are pulling the top end of their rib cage back in space. That's why you see people with an angled sternum and rib cage. To me, this is clearly a rib cage that is pulled back at the top and pushed forward at the bottom. That inevitably leads to a head that is pulled back in space. We can see this in someone with so-called good posture. This person has the back of their head lined up with their back, so they would be declared free of forward head posture. But we see the rib cage massively bent back, which arches the back. If we look at someone with so-called forward head posture, we see the same pulling back and down of the top of the rib cage. The head is forward compared to the previous example, but the head is really, really not forward. It's obviously back relative to the sternum. Here's a picture of me. I'm not a

perfect example, but this gives you an idea of what I would say is closer to where the head should sit. My ear is in line with my sternum, and my back is not bent and hallowed out. Instead, I have a full back, which allows my head to be suspended forward and up. You may or may not agree with this model of posture I'm saying is correct. If you're looking for further explanation of this model, I have many videos on my channel that go into that. For now, let's accept my basic premise so we can see what that would mean for the Magilla. For a little fun, let's edit this picture of so-called good posture to make it look more like what I support. In order to do that, I will rotate the rib cage, which will relocate the head. You can see that if you wanted to do this in real life, you would need to tremendously lengthen your back and your torso generally. Now let's compare the Magilla in these two images. The one with so-called good posture has the Magilla

very far back compared to the corrected image. Again, if we accept for now that the model eye support is right, then obviously pulling your head back and down like this will exert a force on the head and the Magilla. If you habitually move your head to this spot instead of keeping it forward and up, your Magilla will be back and down relative to where it should be. The musees, who are the orthodontists that popularized interest in the position of the Magilla, say that modern people have their Magilla too far back and down. Their followers believe they need to achieve forward growth of their face to undo this problem. They worry that forward growth of the face may be impossible in adulthood, that pushing the Magilla forward and up is just too difficult because the bones of the skull have set. But we can move our head and change where it rests, not through growth but through movement. If we compare an older picture of me to my newer picture, we can see that my ear used to be back relative to

my sternum and my back used to be bent and hollowed out. By using a system of conscious guidance and control, my ear is now in line with my vertically straight sternum, and my back is not hollow. You absolutely can change the position of your head relative to your torso, but it will require a change to your torso as well. It's not just a problem of the head. If we return to our edited image, let's think about what pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth will do. You might improve your jawline simply by engaging the musculature of the face. You can increase the muscular tone in this area. Chewing gum or chewing on harder foods can help this as well. But will that ever get your Magilla forward and up to where it's supposed to be? Most people who use mewing say that you want to do chin tucks, that you want to prevent forward head posture, so they are never going to push their Magilla forward and up to where it could be.

will also not change the condition of your back or your torso generally. By manipulating your tongue, you will never get your head from here to here with your tongue. Some people do have some amount of success with mewing; others do not. Some end up rotating their whole head back and down, which pushes the jaw forward, making the jawline arguably look better. But let's dig into why this small amount of change is not getting at the root of the problem. The skull is made up of a number of bones connected by muscles, fascia, and other connective tissues. If you've found yourself with a depressed and recessed mandible, that means the bones of your skull have been pulled somewhat out of place. Coinciding with that, the fascia of your skull will not be taut, and so important fascia like the temporomandibular raphé will not be supporting your mandible. You can try to make up for that lack of support by shoving your tongue up against the roof of your mouth and

that might even lead to some improvement over where you started, but the only way to actually get the tissues of the head and neck to work the way they're supposed to is to get the head to be where it's supposed to be. We can look at the torso to understand this more easily. At your back, you have your thoracolumbar fascia. If you bend your back, which really means your rib cage is tilted back at the top and pushed forward at the bottom, and the pelvis is tipped forward and down at the front and lifted at the back, your thoracolumbar fascia will be shortened and slack. The only way to get the thoracolumbar fascia taut as it should be is to reorient the rib cage and pelvis. That is, we need to move these structures to where they're actually supposed to be. When they're out of place, the fascia cannot function properly. This is why the solution to this Magilla problem is not growth there.

really isn't a way to grow your face forward and up, but you can move your head forward and up simply by getting your head closer to where it's supposed to be. You will be helping your fascia to work the way it's supposed to, and that will move your Magilla forward and up and widen your pallet. Though to be clear, suspending the head forward and up depends on the Torso also being in good condition. The goal is not to have forward head posture because people with forward head posture have their head retracted and their back bent. The goal is to get to this entirely new posture where the head is forward and up and the back is back. This requires massive lengthening and will not be gained in a moment. It takes time to get this amount of length in your back, but it's entirely possible. I had years of Orthodontics and Decades of horrible habits dragging me down, but I made this change exclusively using the system of conscious guidance and control that I promote on this channel. You might be starting from as

bad a place as I started from, or maybe you'll be starting from a little better place, but either way, you can make this change, and in doing so, you will likely see numerous other benefits, not just a change in your Magilla. And if you're still weary about this idea of moving the head forward and up, just think about it. Why did the Muse say that you want to grow your face forward and up? It's obviously because people with this problem have their face and head too far back and down. So why would you want to pull your face and head back like is Ed advised in something like a chin tuck? How is pulling your head back going to get your Magilla forward? The Muse advised chin tuck and other common advice around forward head posture because they don't know anything about body posture. Their expertise is in Orthodontics. They are not aware that the common advice around posture is just as wrong as the common practices of Orthodontics that they oppose and criticize. To me, the first question you

should ask if you have a depressed Magilla and want to correct it. Is what's happening with your sternum or more broadly your torso. Is your sternum tilted back at the top. I invite you to observe yourself, take a picture with your webcam at 90°. Where is your ear relative to your sternum? How is your sternum oriented? I don't have a quick easy fix to offer you. I have nothing as simple as pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth. But getting this visual feedback of where your head is relative to your torso and how your rib cage is oriented will help you understand the changes you need to make in order to get your fascia working. If you're looking for more information on how you can correct your posture in a reasonable way, you can look through the videos on this channel. I also have some playlists that go in-depth on various parts of the body. This channel is all about using conscious guidance and control to gain the skill to reorganize your body.

through coordinated controlled movements. And if you're looking for direct assistance, I do offer lessons in conscious guidance and control, done in the style of the initial Alexander technique. These lessons will help you understand how your body works and develop the skills you need to use your body the way it's meant to be used. Lessons are done one-on-one over Zoom, and you will record yourself during the lesson through Zoom. That way, you can actually see yourself and see what you're doing, and in time, you will see yourself change for the better right in front of your own eyes. For more information, visit my website mechanicsof.com or send me an email at delsartlons@protonmail.com.

Indirectly Moving Your Maxilla (Forward and Up)

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