Pain in the Neck?
This morning, we are continuing a series here on the blog and over at Stay-at-Home Yoga, my virtual yoga studio, designed to help anyone who spends a significant amount of time working, playing, eating, driving or relaxing in a seated position (aka, almost everyone). You can read previous posts in the series here, here and here.
You’re sitting right now, aren’t you? It’s okay, don’t get up yet. Let’s take a quick inventory of what is happening with your upper body, head and neck. The tops of the shoulders are probably lifted toward your earlobes. Maybe the scapula (shoulder blades) are pulled up and away from each other. Your chest muscles are probably contracted. And, your head is probably hanging forward. No wonder we have so much neck and shoulder tension!
When we spend a significant portion of our day in this position, the muscles of the chest become contracted and the muscles around the shoulder blades grow weak and unable to maintain healthy shoulder alignment. We are also likely to carry the head forward of neutral, a misalignment that places an incredible strain on the discs of the cervical spine, and can also lead to chronic headaches and muscular tension.
So, we need to focus on opening the muscles at the front of the chest, strengthening the muscles around the shoulder and bringing the head into a healthy neutral position.
On the yoga mat, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose) is one of my favorite chest openers. (The restorative version is also wonderful!) But, you try this chest opener without even rolling out your mat.
Wall Clock Stretch:
Stand about six inches away from a wall with the right side of your body at the wall.
Lengthen your right arm up the wall toward the ceiling.
Imagine the right hand is on the 12 of a giant clock.
Keep your torso in neutral, as you exhale, gently slide that hand to 1 o’clock.
Inhale, then exhale the hand to 2 o’clock.
Inhale, then exhale the hand to 3 o’clock (arm is now parallel to the floor).
If you can do a little more, keep the arm here and the right shoulder blade squeezing in and down as you turn your feet, hips and chest away from the wall toward the center of the room.
Take a few breaths in this position, before slowly turning back toward the wall and taking the right hand back to 12 o’clock.
Repeat with the left arm.
Bhujangasana (cobra pose) is my favorite upper back and shoulder strengthener. You can also do this simple strengthener anywhere.
Scapular Contractions:
From a seated or standing position, lengthen up through the crown of your head.
Pull your shoulder blades toward each other and downward, then release.
Repeat this 10 – 20 times.
To get your head in the posture game, stand with your back to a wall. Bring your heels, hips and shoulders to the wall. Keeping the base of the chin parallel to the floor, draw the head back to the wall. Take a few breaths here. As you step away from the wall, try to maintain this head and neck alignment.
Don’t forget, a full yoga class and two yoga break videos designed specifically to help open the chest, strengthen the shoulders and restore healthy head and neck alignment are now open in the Yoga for Desk Jockeys series over at Stay-at-Home Yoga!
