The throat contains of 7 vertebraes, that belongs to the spine. As I wrote in the post about the spine, the two vertebraes at the top looks a bit different than the others. The atlas/C1 is the top vertebrae and the vertebrae that the head rests on. The atlas has no vertebral body and is formed as a ring. The vertebral body that belonged to atlas grows, during fetus growth, together with the next vertebrae, which is axis/C2. Due to this, axis has a tooth like process that goes up into atlas and is held in place by a sturdy ligament.

The muscles that exists in the throat are Sternocleidiomastoideus. It is long and goes on both sides of the throat. It goes from behind the ear down to the chestbone and the collar bone. It helps the head to move. If you bow your head forward both the muscles contract, and if you bend the throat to one side, only one of the muscles contract. The muscles pulls the chestbone and the collar bone upward and increase the volume och the chest, when you breathe heavily. If these muscles are tense you can have problems moving your head. If you get paralysis in the muscles you will not be able to lift your head lying down. In the throat you also have the hyoid bone/the tongue bone, the larynx and cartillage. For the hyoid bone you have muscles that are small and exists as upper and lower muscles. They are fastened at the hyoid bone and the upper ones forms the floor of the mouth and goes up to the lower jaw bone, and the lower muscles goes down to the chest bone. They help us swallow, lower the lower jaw and moves the tongue.

Before I do a cranio sacral therapy, I look at how the necks/throats moves. The client gets to turn the head, lay it to the side and nod. I can also feel sternocleidiomastoideus. This way I get a picture of which muscles that need stimulation to relax.

If you feel you have a tense neck/throat, try to lay your hands around the neck/throat and hold there for a couple of minutes. Remember to be easy on your hands. To enhance your body sense, try to feel what happens in your body as you do this.