Front to Back: The Simple Magic of Putting Your Head Down

When in doubt, put your head down. That's my go-to strategy on days when nothing seems to be going right. 

Whether I rest my head on a block in a standing forward fold, settle Child's Pose on floor, or simply lean forward at my desk, the gentle pressure to the forehead works quickly - almost magically - to create a sense of spaciousness that quiets agitation and bring near-instant calm. 

Eckhart Tolle describes the dual nature of our awareness in terms of foreground and background. The foreground is our thinking mind, where most of us spend our time. It correlates with the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for executive functioning - the rational part that makes decisions, plans, and guides our actions in the world.  

Our background awareness is the witnessing consciousness—the self-reflective capacity we strengthen through meditation and an introspective yoga practice. This is the part of the mind that observes, as if watching from behind, what’s happening in the thinking mind. 

When you lower your head, something powerful happens. You can shift from the busy foreground of the thinking mind into that spacious background awareness.  

Whether you understand this through yogic philosophy or neuroscience matters less than simply noticing that it happens. The gentle pressure to the forehead seems to activate something deep within the nervous system, creating space between us and our habitual reactive mental patterns.  

This calming response isn’t limited to the mat. You can access it at your desk during a stressful workday, in your parked car before a difficult conversation, or while standing in your kitchen after a long day.  

For teachers, this principle of moving from front to back offers a profound tool to share with students navigating anxiety or overwhelm - and who isn’t these days? 

The next time you feel agitation rising, remember this simple invitation: put your head down and let the magic work.