It is well known fact that our body posture is very important. The head should sit directly on the neck and shoulders. The weight of the head , holding forward, puts tremendous strain on our neck and upper back muscles. Unfortunately, our life style doesn't contribute to proper posture. Look around - we all have very poor postures - "forward head postures" when we check our smartphones, tablets, computers. The result can be aching neck, because the neck and shoulders have to carry head all day in isometric contraction.
Our head is quite heavy. Average adult human brain weighs about 3 pounds, average human tongue weights about 1 pound. Yes, it is very large and strong boneless mass of muscles! That is why tongue position is very important for posture and individual's health in general.
The tongue is the primary propulsive agent for pumping food through the mouth, into the pharynx while bypassing the airway, and through to the esophagus. ("Senescent Swallowing : Impact, Strategies and Interventions" Denise Ney, PhD, RD, Jennifer Weiss, MD, Amy Kind, MD, and JoAnne Robbins, PhD).
We emphasizing importance of the oral posture in our brochure FacExer and Method of exercising using FacExer: ' your lips are closed, tongue is flat and resting on the roof of your mouth with tip of the tongue behind the front teeth. Your upper and lower teeth are in relaxed position and are not engaged.' This tongue position helps to balance your head on the neck and keep proper body posture. Exercises with FacExer for tongue involve neck muscles engagement and relaxation and help maintain proper posture.