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The neck is one of the most common parts of the body to injure. Not ONLY from any sudden movement or accident, but ALSO from long term damage - such as cellphone use, computer use, driving etc. We also hold a lot of our day to day stress in our neck.
So one of the easiest and best ways to relieve that tension is to stretch our neck. We love to stretch it up and back, forward and down, and side to side.
How you rotate your neck is important. We sometimes have a tendency to wantonly rotate our neck as if it were some spineless doll. If you are laughing at me, think again.
What most people do is they throw their heads back and let gravity and momentum do the work. Bring their sometimes dizzy heads back and think they have done themselves some good.
Truth is, you might have just caused further harm to your neck, especially if you already have a long-standing forward neck tilt, and have some minor impingements you weren't aware of. Sure, once or twice may not affect you, but if you do this everyday, you are bound to cause harm to your neck.
In Yoga, there are lots of head back postures and upward neck stretches.
I too wantonly flung my head around and wondered why I felt dizzy. As I became more aware of my movement, spinal alignment and muscle usage - I realised I wasn't doing myself any favour by throwing my head back as far as it would go.
Consider these two statements:
Let your head hang back OR let your head drop back.
Lift your head up slowly, allowing your chin and the front of your neck muscles to guide you in the stretch.
Go ahead! Try it.
You will feel the difference immediately.
Like I said, I could do this one day and never be affected by it, or perhaps if Murphy would have his way - it just might.
But if you continue to wantonly throw your neck like a rag doll, then most likely you are going to be wearing out a lot of the natural lubricants around your spine (neck region) and invite some unnecessary trouble down the road.
Hope this tip brought about a greater awareness and appreciation for your body. Oh, and "You're Welcome!" ;)
Thank you, Namaskar and continue shining your brightest.
p.s. I haven't made a video or audio recording of what I do in class, so I will have to leave you with this one from the web if you are looking for a good neck sequence. ;)
I like their approach and all the muscles groups they are targeting in this video. Pls find the link at the very end. Thank you for stopping by.
Previous Posts of Interest:
The Art of Living through the Science of Yoga
Yoga and Leadership Series: #3 Practitioner to Instructor
How to Relieve Writer's Block using Backbends and Downward Facing Dogs!
Yoga and Leadership Series: #2 Yogini to an Entrepreneur - an Insight to Yoga and Spirituality
Yoga and Leadership Series: #1 Introduction - A Brief History of Yoga
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What I LOVE: Writing about life, expressing ideas, poetry, haiku, short stories and motivational quips. Practicing yoga and internal reflections, walks in nature, compassionate acts towards nature, animals and humanity.
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What I am/can be PAID FOR: Writing, teaching yoga, books (in the making), training, facilitating. And hopefully to sit and spin out creative ideas/solutions at whim!
What I'm GOOD at: Hypnotising my Yoga students apparently! Writing from the heart, being a hopeless romantic, passionate utopian, innovator and creator of all things fun and uplifting.
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Neck sequence video:
