Neck Muscle Stretching Exercises
Yoga for neck pain is an excellent way to get relief as well as stay calm, relaxed and healthy. Is there anything worse than a pain in the neck? Nearly all of us suffer from some kind of neck muscle pain at some time. The intensity may vary, but it’s usually a result of overworked neck muscles. Find out how yoga can be used to alleviate your neck muscle pain.
Yoga is a natural cure for various physical problems, besides having tremendous calming/meditative qualities. It helps greatly with neck pain and there are several asanas (yoga poses) which help strengthen the neck muscles (the Half-Spinal Twist and Triangle pose are two of them).
While medication may offer short-term relief for neck muscle pain, for long term benefits nothing can beat yoga. And the side effects with yoga for neck pain are only good!
Yoga For Neck Pain – Young Guys Need It Too
Neck muscle pain and tautness are becoming increasingly prevalent among men of all age groups these days. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t just affect older guys.
In fact, younger men are often more susceptible to it because of their lifestyle which usually includes long hours spent in front of the computer. This places tremendous strain on the neck muscles and over time they are bound to get sore and exhausted.
So, no matter how physically agile you are, your neck muscles might just cease to function properly owing to the increased physical stress they have to bear. Neck pain is an obvious indicator that your muscles are overworked. This might also be accompanied by acute headache and nausea.
Yoga is an excellent way to get rid of neck pain quickly – and permanently! Not only will it relax your neck muscles, it will also calm the rest of your body and senses. You probably know how tight your neck feels if you are stressed, so helping keep life in balance is an important preventative measure.
Yoga for neck pain doesn’t just give immediate relief, but also helps prevent long term occurrence of neck muscle pain.
Yoga can also help in recovery from serious neck injuries like “Whiplash”. A whiplash is an injury caused to the soft tissue of the neck due to sudden movements of the neck muscles. These movements might be caused by a car accident, through playing sports, or can just happen while you are doing routine activities. If you have a neck injury I would strongly advise you to seek guidance in person from a qualified yoga teacher.
Yoga For Neck Pain – Some Simple Stretches That Work
So let’s get down to it! These basic stretches are among the most popular for healing neck pain. They are almost so obvious and simple, but if you do them they will help.
1. Sit upright on a chair, or comfortably on the floor or your yoga mat. Keep a straight spine.
2. Inhale deeply followed by an equally deep exhalation. While you exhale, slowly move your chin towards your chest and raise your head to its initial position again during the next inhalation.
3. After a few slow up and downs, and if you feel confident, on an exhalation allow your chin to move towards your chest, let your head feel heavy, breathing easily in and out giving a gentle stretch to the neck muscles.
As well as up and down, take a few similar movements to the side, this time allowing your right ear to move towards your shoulder during exhalation, back up on inhalation, then the longer hang. Repeat on the left side.
Besides these neck stretches, you could also try exercises which involve rotating your head in a circular fashion. This will also reduce the stiffness in your neck muscles. Rotate slowly clockwise and anti-clockwise, breathing gently throughout. Be careful not to allow your head to hang too far back as this can cause other problems on the top of the spine.
Caution: If you experience pain whilst doing these exercises then stop! Forcing the body only increases the risk of injury. Exercising tight muscles may cause some temporary discomfort, but we want to avoid pain. So if doing yoga for neck pain be sure to build up bit by bit and exercise a little patience.
Regular practice of these simple neck stretches will help reduce stiffness and tension. It is also a good idea to exercise your shoulders and upper back while doing neck exercises. This way, the whole region will remain free of any sort of muscle tension. By incorporating these into an all-round yoga routine then not only will your neck feel better but so will your whole body.
So, once you start performing yoga for neck pain regularly it shouldn’t take you too long to be able to get back to having pain-free neck muscles. What a relief!
