Practicing yoga can help you relieve stress, stiffness and tension in your neck, but it can also cause further pain and possible injury if you cannot maintain proper posture and form. Understanding the proper posture for your neck can help you avoid unnecessary tension during the day and improper movement when performing yoga poses.
Proper Posture
Stand in front of a mirror and hold your chin level with your neck. You should be able to look straight ahead into your eyes. Place the fingers of one hand across the back of your neck to feel the tissues when they are soft and relaxed. Yoga Journal suggests feeling how the tissues tense as you lower your chin to your chest. Lift your chin to feel the compression in the back of your neck.
Considerations
Yoga Journal says that the muscles of your neck can shorten and tighten as the result of years of neck tension, inhibiting your ability to touch your chin to your chest. Forcing your neck to flex can result in bulging or herniated cervical vertebrae. Keep your movements slow and deliberate when performing yoga poses and focus on feeling the muscles that work during the stretch.
Warning
People who are not naturally flexible can benefit from the stretches in yoga, although they may need time to progress to advanced yoga poses that require a greater degree of flexibility. Spine Health says that patients with spinal stenosis should avoid poses that require extreme stretching of the spine such as backbends. The website also cautions patients with cervical spine disease to avoid headstands and shoulderstands.
Muscles of the Neck
The levator scapulae extend horizontally from the vertebrae of the neck to each shoulder blade, according to Yoga Journal. The upper trapezius muscles rest on top of the levator scapulae, originating near the base of the skull. The lower trapezius muscles that help support your spine attach to the vertebrae in the middle of your back and extend toward the shoulder blades. The levator scapulae and the trapezius muscles work in conjunction to turn the head and bend the neck to the side.
Causes of Tension
Your head can weigh between 12 and 15 lbs., accounting for the stress your neck accumulates from turning your head, according to Yoga Journal. Poor alignment of the head and neck, such as leaning your head forward as you walk or sit can contribute to chronic stress and pain in the levator scapulae and upper trapezius muscles as well as compressing the cervical vertebrae. This tension can result in arthritis or a pinched nerve.
Member Comments