Have you ever experienced severe and persistent pain in the shoulder blade area that just doesn’t go away? ò How about chronic neck tension while sitting at your desk? You’ll rightly say that massages feel great, but a few hours later the pain returns, there are yoga exercises for pain.
Upper back and neck tension are complaints are becoming more frequent in physical therapy offices, with the increasing use of computers, desk jobs and with all the time sitting in traffic, it is difficult to avoid these aches and pains, no matter how active you are.
Why do these things happen?
So why, most of our daily activities are performed in front of us while sitting. How many hours a day do we spend driving, working, writing or eating?
Over time, gravity takes over and the shoulders begin to turn forward, the chest contracts, the head extends and the upper back extends or rounds.
The result of this posture are tight pectorals, shortened neck and weak upper back muscles, consequently, smaller muscles that were not originally designed to be postural muscles have to be activated and work hard to keep our bodies in an upright position.
In addition, some sports, including cycling and weights can exacerbate the problem, pain in the upper back and neck is often just a sign that your muscles are tired of doing work for which they were not intended, the solution is to solve the problem, not the symptoms.
How to apply yoga exercises for pain.
In order to combat chronic tension in these areas, you must first work on stretching the tight structures that prevent you from sitting or standing with ideal alignment.
If you strengthen the upper back without stretching the front of the chest, you will simply continue to fall back into the same faulty posture, once you open the chest and stretch the back of your neck, then it will be time to work on strengthening the upper back.
Yoga is a wonderful way to achieve both stretching and strengthening in a gentle and effective way, here are some suggested attitudes that you can apply while working, driving, sitting in the office, in your car or at home.
Postural Awareness and Breathing
Importarte is the belly breathing, deep breathing is the first step to relieve neck tension.
When we breathe shallowly, the neck muscles instead of the diaphragm contract, to start breathing deeply using the diaphragm, sit upright on the edge of a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor.
Make sure your knees are lower than your hips, place your hands on your belly and close your eyes, as you inhale, feel your belly rise in your hands and as you exhale, feel it fall, observe any tension in your neck and relax in your neck muscles as you direct your breath towards your belly.
As you breathe, place your consciousness on the front of your chest and neck bones, expand the neck bones so that the front of the chest and feel them rise, release the shoulder blades away from the ears and lift your head towards the sky.
Continue to breathe this way for 10 deep breaths, try to do this every hour, setting an alarm as a reminder to stop, breathe and notice your posture.
Yoga Stretch The Clock
To stretch the clock, stand along a wall and place your right hand on the wall in the direction of 12 o’clock, slowly move your hand from 12 to 1, 2 and finally to the position at 3 o’clock.
Take your left hand and place it in the right rib cage, take a deep breath and while exhaling, pull the rib cage forward without moving your right arm.
You should feel a stretch in front of the right shoulder or under the right arm, hold six deep breaths, to intensify the stretch, approach the wall, repeat on the other side, if there is any tingling in the arm is lack of circulation, move away from the wall until it is resolved or interrupt the exercise.
Upper arms with use of a strap
For belt stretching use a yoga strap or belt, hold your arms above shoulder distance.
Make sure the palms of your hands are facing each other, otherwise you can straighten your elbows in this position, place your arms on the belt, place your chin on your chest to relax the neck muscles and pull the strap apart, hold six deep breaths and repeat twice.
Downward dog position on the wall
The dog position down on the wall, runs in front of a wall with your hands at waist height, lifts the chest bones towards the sky while pressing your hands on the wall.
Feel as if your heart is melting to the ground, if you feel a lot of stretching in the hamstrings, keep your knees slightly bent, hold this position for six deep breaths, focusing on opening the chest and lengthening the spine.
As with everything else, consistency is the key, and the more regularly you do these exercises, the better off you’ll be.
Ideally, you should get up every hour to stretch for even a minute or two, remember we are fighting a battle against gravity, with regular practice and the right orientation you can be tall, proud and painless for a lifetime.
It is possible that your pain comes from a different condition and therefore it is important to consult with a doctor or physiotherapist before starting any yoga exercise program for pain.
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