The Worst Thing We Ever Did Was Call the Neck a Neck (And Give a Name to the ‘Lower Back’)

One of the biggest problems in movement, pain, and Pilates is not actually movement, pain, or Pilates. It’s language.

The worst thing we ever did was call the neck a neck. And worse still, give a name to the “lower back.”

Because the moment we name something, we separate it. We give it an identity of its own. We turn it into something that exists apart from the rest of the body. And in doing so, we make it vulnerable.

Your Neck Isn’t Just a Neck

Let’s start with the neck. People come into the studio and say, “I have a bad neck.” Or, “I just hold all my tension in my neck.” They move in a way that protects it, stiffens it, and locks it down.

But the neck isn’t a single, isolated structure. It’s the continuation of your spine. Your head isn’t just sitting there like a bowling ball balanced on a stick—it’s part of a whole system of movement. The way your feet meet the ground affects your neck. The way your ribs move affects your neck. Your posture, your breathing, your habits, your stress levels—everything plays a part.

But because we call it a neck, we treat it like its own separate entity. We try to fix it in isolation, stretch it, rub it, strengthen it—without addressing the rest of the system.

And Then There’s the “Lower Back”

The “lower back” is the place where so many people point when they say, “It just hurts here.” It’s the site of so much frustration, fear, and misunderstanding.

But why do we even call it a “lower back”?

It’s not a different back. It’s not a separate thing. It’s part of the spine, part of the pelvis, part of the way the whole body moves. When we give it a name—when we make it something apart from the rest of us—we start treating it like something fragile. We hold it, we brace it, we fear it.

And that fear creates more stiffness. More pain. More problems.

What If We Stopped Naming Things?

What if we stopped thinking of the body as separate parts? What if we stopped calling it a neck and just thought of it as the upper spine? What if we saw the lower back as just the back—connected to the pelvis, the hips, the legs, the feet?

In Pilates, we don’t just train body parts. We train movement. We train systems. We teach the body to work together, not in pieces but as a whole.

So the next time you catch yourself saying, “Oh, my bad neck,” or “My lower back is the problem,” pause. Think bigger. Your body is a whole, integrated, connected system. And when you move it that way, everything starts to change.