I’m sure at some point all of us have experienced varying degrees of neck pain and tension. Our busy lifestyles, poor posture, lack of sleep, excessive computer use and basically the way we live our lives can create a lot of pain in our necks. LITERALLY. On average an adult’s head weighs anywhere from 12-15 lbs; when that much weight sits forward of your lower vertebrae for extended periods of time the muscles on the back of the neck (the levator scapulae and the upper trapezius) work extremely hard to hold the head up against gravity. It then becomes only a matter of time that this pain becomes chronic and can lead to more serious issues such as arthritis, nerve damage and possible disk problems in the cervical spine. What most people do to alleviate next tension is pop a pill. Yoga postures can help repair the damage rather than just putting a band aid on the pain.

“Chronic neck tension is a modern American epidemic. Even the more benign consequences—the painful crick in your neck, the dull headache radiating from the back of your skull—can be mighty annoying. The more serious ones, like pinched nerves, arthritis, and damaged discs, can be debilitating. Fortunately, yoga can do wonders for neck problems while simultaneously teaching safer, healthier posture habits.”
– Physical Therapist and Yoga Teacher Julie Gromstead

Katie Blunt is my cousin and also a Yogini at COIL Yoga who uses Yoga postures to help address the issues she has in her neck. During the labor process of her second son some damage was most likely done to her neck from the pushing (without pain meds I might add!) So she suffers frequent neck pain that is accompanied by migraine headaches.

This morning Katie and I demonstrated some easy helpful postures that ANYONE can do to cultivate a healthier neck!

Postures:
Seated side bend with neck release
Locust
Rabbit
Warrior 1
Partner Boat Pose
Assisted Neck Release