20 Feb Yoga for Neck Pain – Exercise for Stiff and Painful Neck
We all keep running behind jobs that can easily replace us in just a week’s time. Sure, you get the money in return and you get to have the lifestyle of your choice but it all comes with the price of your health. The excessive stress and tension definitely take a major toll on your health. Out of all the body parts, the neck is not only the most tender part but also the first part of the body that catches all the stress.
Our lifestyle and professional life demand us to constantly keep slouching over the laptops and stay glued to the computer screens for a long duration. This creates an undue pressure on the neck muscles that causes neck pain, or better known as Cervicalgia in medical terms.
To do away with the neck pain, you must:
- Have a good posture
- Reduce the tension and stress levels
- Practice Yoga
Speaking of Yoga, here are some simple yet effective Yogic practices that can be performed anywhere, some even right at your desk!
- Balasana:
This pose is also known as the Child’s Pose. For this, sit in Vajrasana and bend forward to rest your forehead on the floor. Stretch your arms above your head and hold the position for a few breaths. Then gently release the pose one vertebra by vertebra and relax. This pose will calm the nervous system and relieve the extra stress on the shoulders and neck.
- Marjarasana:
Popularly known as the Cat Pose, this asana gently relieves and opens up the back and neck muscles. Along with strengthening the spine, it also helps to relax the mind. For this asana, get on all your fours, inhaling lift your head up and arch your spine, exhaling, bring the chin towards the chest and lift the spine up. Practice this asana for 2-3 rounds and slowly release the pose. You can also practice a variation of this while sitting on a chair, right at your desk.
- Viparit Karni Mudra:
This inverted pose can also be practiced in a simplified manner by just resting the legs on the wall. It helps to bring the impure and stagnant blood back into circulation, which thereby helps to release the fatigue and neck pain.
- Vakrasana:
A simple seated twist is not only helpful to open up the back muscle but also soothe the neck pain. You can practice this twisting posture in a sitting position, standing position, and even on your chair. Simply twist your upper body to one side and breathe normally through the pose.
- Bhujangasana:
The Serpent Pose strengthens your spine and helps to open up the shoulders. This further reduces the burden and stress from the neck as well, thereby reducing neck pain. Lie down on your abdomen, with the palms by the side of the chest. Inhaling, lift the head and chest off the floor, hold the position and breathe normally. Exhaling, gently release the pose.
- Yastikasana:
The simple Stick Pose can be done right after you wake up as well, in your bed. Gently take the arms above your head and stretch the body in the opposite direction. This opposite stretch will help to open up and stretch the complete body and ease out all the neck pain. Yastikasana acts like an instant dose of refreshment to your tired
Besides the active stretching poses that release tension, there are other Yogic techniques that can relieve stress and physical pain, such as the ones below:
- Shavasana:
The good old Shavasana is the one-stop solution to all your problems. Just lie down in Shavasana or the Corpse pose to release all the stress, anxiety and the caught up tensions in the body as well. Simply lie down with some distance between your arms and legs, focus on your breath and slowly release yourself. day and body.
- Pranayama:
Sit with your back straight and pull the elbows downward. This will stretch your spine and also prepare the body for Yogendra Pranayama II or Intercostal Breathing. You can also practice Yogendra Pranayama III or clavicular breathing to relieve the stress. Abdominal breathing has also proved to be quite helpful to relieve neck pain.
- Shoulder Rotations:
Simple shoulder rotations instantly help to get rid of the neck pain. Just do light movements like lifting and dropping the shoulders, gently rotating it in clockwise and anticlockwise directions helps to open up. You could also cross your shoulders in front of the body while exhaling and then behind the body while inhaling. A boost of oxygen and shoulder movements, combined together, can relieve the caught up neck pain with ease.
So now what would you say, health is the true wealth, isn’t it? Bid goodbye to your neck pain by just incorporating these simple yet fantastic Yoga asanas and techniques in your daily routine.
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