If you are recovering from neck and shoulder injuries, you should consult with your physician or physical therapist before continuing or beginning a yoga practice. It is essential that your yoga instructor is made aware of your situation, so they can help you modify poses and give you alternate exercises, if necessary. Listen to your body; if a pose causes pain, avoid it.
Significance
If your neck and shoulder injuries were caused by chronic tension and stress in your upper body's muscles, then yoga may help you avoid future issues. Yoga poses rely on the proper alignment and posturing of the body for successful execution. Yoga Journal contributing writer, Iyengar instructor and licensed physical therapist Julie Gumestad reiterates that you should consider how your neck, shoulders and head feel as you hold poses.
Function
According to the Mayo Clinic, exercises may help your neck and shoulders by improving muscle strength, flexibility and endurance. A few of the yoga poses that can lengthen and strengthen the neck and shoulders include locust, upward plank and fish. Depending on the extent or intensity of your injury, you may need to modify or avoid yoga poses which target the neck and shoulders.
Effects
The sphinx pose can strengthen and stretch your upper body. Lie on your belly. With your elbows on the floor directly below your shoulders, place your palms on the floor with your forearms parallel. Relax your face and lower back as you lengthen your spine upward and press your shoulders downward. Hold for up to 15 breaths. Use the staff pose to improve your posture and build awareness of your shoulders and neck. Sit with your legs straight in front of you and your toes pointed up. If you are unable to keep your back upright, raise your hips up by sitting on a folded blanket. Bring your palms to the floor, directly by your sides. Keep your head over your shoulders as you sit up tall. Hold for up to one minute.
Warning
Headstands and shoulder stands are the most dangerous poses for neck injuries, in particular. Work closely with your yoga instructor and doctor if you decide to pursue these fully inverted poses. A shoulder stand may be accessible if you place blankets or fitness mats under your shoulders, so your neck is not flat on the floor.
Expert Insight
In locust pose, which has you raise your feet and chest off the floor from a prone position, be sure to keep your gaze down, so your neck is in line with the rest of your spine. Modify upward plank --- which is similar to a table-top position, except your legs straighten out and your feet flatten to the floor --- by resting the back of your head on a pillow placed on a chair. You may be able to do the fish pose if you back bend onto a bolster and rest the crown of your head on a blanket or towel. In this pose you start on your back with your arms tucked under your body. By pushing into the forearms, the torso rises, then arches back, so the head comes to the floor.
