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Mara Nicandro NMT – Holistic Neuromuscular Massage Therapy for Vital Wellness

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Tag: Suboccipital muscles

Headaches, Scalp Tenderness, and the Neck Connection

Oct 5, 2026

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by

Mara Nicandro

in Structural balance is essential for health!

A headache at the base of your skull. A forehead that feels tight. Your scalp feels tender when you brush your hair. These sensations bring your attention to the place you feel them. Beneath that place are muscles, connective tissue, and nerves, each with a different role. Understanding the anatomy gives us context. Meanwhile, observing…

Does turning your head feel tight? Your jaw may be

Does turning your head feel tight? Your jaw may be part of it.

When you move your eyes, does your jaw shift, your tongue press or your neck tighten?

Your eyes and neck coordinate movement, and jaw activity can influence neck muscle activity. Here, I gently bite the front of a jaw trainer and compare what I notice when I repeat the movement.

No jaw trainer needed to notice your own pattern. Gently turn your head each way. Face forward, close your eyes and slowly move them left and right while keeping your head still. Notice any effort in your jaw, tongue or neck. Then gently turn your head again and compare.

Go slowly, without forcing. Stop if you feel dizzy or uncomfortable.

I’m Mara, a neuromuscular therapist with 23 years in practice. I assess how your body coordinates movement and breathing, then combine hands-on care, lymphatic support and targeted movement to help you move with greater ease.

If your jaw and neck keep tightening together, I assess how they coordinate with the rest of your body. Comparing movement and comfort helps guide your care beyond the tight spot.

Wicker Park, Chicago • Clarendon Hills (Tuesdays)
Online movement and breathing sessions nationwide.

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Years of TMJ symptoms first brought her to my prac

Years of TMJ symptoms first brought her to my practice. This time, she came in for her neck after photographing a wedding.

She had spent hours raising her camera to capture the faces of people lifted on chairs. During the event, she recognized her neck taking on more effort and adjusted as much as the task allowed.

Through ongoing sessions and home practice, she was learning to recognize where she held tension and how she supported herself during movement. That learning became something she could use while working.

In this recent session, I assessed her neck alongside her jaw, shoulders, low back, hips and feet, looking at where movement was available and where effort concentrated.

Afterward, her shoulder muscles engaged more easily, and her hip moved more independently. Her low back and tongue held less tension. Breathing felt easier, and her shoulders rested lower.

My approach combines hands-on care with learning you can carry into your day: noticing when you clench, grip or hold your breath, and practicing other ways to move and find support.

If jaw tension or recurring neck discomfort sounds familiar, book a Discovery Session through the link in my bio.

Client experience shared with permission.

Your toes may grip when you stand. Your jaw may cl

Your toes may grip when you stand. Your jaw may clench when you concentrate. Your breath may pause when you reach.

Next time you reach for a high shelf, notice whether you keep breathing comfortably.

If you live with chronic pain or tension that keeps returning, Your Body’s Natural Stack™ offers a starting point for understanding how you stand, breathe and move.

Its ground-up approach connects your feet and hips with your rib cage, jaw, breathing and balance. You learn how you find support and bring that awareness into everyday movement.

You can also bring this awareness into resistance training or exercises prescribed by your physical therapist, paying attention to how you breathe, move and find support as you practice.

The book also introduces lymphatic self-care and explains how movement and breathing help support lymph transport.

Align & Breathe™, shown here, is one of the practices inside. Notice the gentle exhale and the time given to each breath.

One client described a lighter head, more natural breathing and walking without hip discomfort through her sessions and home routine. Those everyday changes give meaning to the work.

Whether you’ve worked with me or are discovering this approach for the first time, the book gives you practical guidance to return to as you learn your own patterns.

Explore Your Body’s Natural Stack™, available as a digital download through the link in my bio.

You’re raking leaves. Is your back doing all the w

You’re raking leaves. Is your back doing all the work?

Watch my stance as I reach, pull and turn. My feet, hips, pelvis and trunk contribute as the direction changes.

Your back participates too. The question is whether the effort can shift with the task, or whether the same area keeps holding on.

You may feel comfortable after exercise, then notice familiar tension returning when you rake, carry groceries or reach into a cabinet. What happens during those ordinary moments matters.

Sharing movement does not mean every joint moves equally. It means having options for how you move and find support.

During a comfortable reach, notice whether your jaw clenches, your breath pauses or your back stays tight after the pull ends.

You may be used to finding support by holding on. Practicing another comfortable way to reach and turn can help that option become more familiar.

My new article, “Why Neck and Back Tension Keeps Returning,” takes this everyday observation further.

Read the article through the link in my bio.

Can you stand up and keep breathing comfortably?

Can you stand up and keep breathing comfortably?

You get out of a chair. Reach overhead. Carry the groceries.

Your diaphragm is a muscle. It helps you breathe and works with your pelvic floor and other trunk muscles to support you as you move.

Picture your trunk as a canister. Your diaphragm is the lid, your pelvic floor is the base, and your trunk muscles form the walls. They work as a team.

You can complete the movement and still feel yourself gripping. Your neck, waist or low back may tighten and stay tight. You may notice your shoulders rising, your jaw clenching or your breath pausing. You might notice yourself rushing.

Some neck muscles normally help with breathing too. Their involvement alone does not mean something is wrong. Notice whether that effort can change as the movement changes. You may have more options than the holding you’re used to.

The place that feels tense is not always the whole picture. How your body finds support matters too.

Get out of a chair as you normally would. Next time, try a comfortable exhale as you rise. Do your breathing and effort feel different?

Notice the effort. Notice the breath. Notice what joins in.

A clue to explore, not a verdict.

You notice your neck at your desk. During an asses

You notice your neck at your desk. During an assessment, I also watch what it does when you stand on one leg.

As she lifts each foot, I’m observing how her pelvis, trunk and shoulders respond. I compare sides, ask what she feels and explore whether she is gripping, clenching or holding her breath.

This movement gives us information to guide hands-on care and movement practice. It is one part of understanding a pattern that keeps returning.

What do you notice first when you balance: your foot, your hip or your neck?

Your eyes move. Your neck can respond, even while

Your eyes move. Your neck can respond, even while your head stays still.

The small muscles beneath your skull help support and move your head. They also provide information about its position, which your brain combines with signals from your eyes and inner ears to coordinate looking, turning, and balance.

Research has measured changes in neck-muscle activity during eye movement. That is the deeper connection behind today’s observation.

On slide 3, gently look left and right with your head comfortably still. Does your jaw clench? Does your breath pause? Does your neck join in, or do you feel an urge to turn?

You may notice a change or no obvious sensation. These observations don’t tell us how accurate your position sense is. They help describe how you organize the movement.

The goal is comfortable support with less unnecessary effort.

Read “Headaches, Scalp Tenderness, and the Neck Connection” through the link in my bio.

A headache at the base of your skull. A forehead t

A headache at the base of your skull. A forehead that feels tight. There’s more beneath your scalp than you might think.

The galea connects the muscles at the front and back of your scalp. The greater occipital nerve travels from your upper neck to the back and top of your head. Knowing this anatomy doesn’t identify the cause of your headache, but it helps explain what’s beneath the sensations.

Notice what happens during a comfortable head turn. Does your jaw clench, a shoulder rise, or your breath pause?

These observations give us information about how you coordinate movement alongside the tension you feel.

Your Body’s Natural Stack™ explores how your head, ribs, and pelvis organize together as you stand, move, and breathe. The goal is comfortable movement, which may mean turning your head with less jaw clenching or shoulder lifting, without pausing your breath.

When headaches come with recurring neck, jaw, or scalp tension, you may want more than temporary comfort.

A Discovery Session includes a stacking assessment to explore the movement patterns alongside that tension, plus a plan to support more comfortable movement between sessions.

In studio or online. Link in bio to book.

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