Get Rid of the Pain in Your Neck: Beneficial aligning posture exercises

   

      As I've mentioned before, in 1989 I was in a significant auto accident. It left me with a cervical vertebra that doesn't move quite right. This means I need to take exquisite care of my neck and can still have problems.

     I've tried many different things over the years, but these are by far the best exercises I found. They  have made a great difference for me. They keep my neck supple and moveable, even though it still has bad days.

Beneficial aligning posture exercises 

*Do 1-3 sets, 10-15 reps, everyday when possible 

-shoulder rows backwards motion 

-shoulder squeeze (chest in an upwards motion)

-head side to side (keeping shoulders squared in place, I call this one ‘tick tock’)

-overhead single side stretch (hold each rep for 10 sec, do 3 sets)

-doorframe stretch (forearms on doorframe and lean into it till you feel the stretch, hold for 20-30 seconds)

-rag doll (hold for 30 sec, no bounce)

-standing/stretching backward bend (hold for 20-30 sec)

-chin tuck (neck backward)

-chin tuck with backward tilt-up

-turn head side to side/left to right, trying to stretch a little farther each time

-turn head to one side as far as it will comfortably go and then rock head up and down 10 times, then switch to the other side and do it 10 times, repeat if time allows.

I like to do these exercises when I listen to a podcast or a book on tape. The reward entices me back each day—I hope it does for you as well. Enjoy a pain free neck! 

When Life is a Pain in the Neck, Part 2

    Earlier this year, I posted about an easy acupressure technique to release a stiff neck.  Here is the YouTube video to demonstrate the technique.

   We have used this in the past several yoga classes, but I would like to add something that I discovered today.  When I looked at my students after we had done the technique and thoroughly warmed up the body, though the necks were moving freely, there was still a lack of motion in the upper body.

   Now, I'm not sure where I learned this so I can't call it an acupressure point, but I do know that today's students experienced more freedom of motion after pressing it.
    Start on your weaker side. To find the correct place, lift your arm to over 90 degrees with your elbow bent.  Pressing around in the back curve of your armpit, you'll notice a big plate of muscle on the back wall of the armpit.  The point that you are looking for is just in the front of the muscle.  Dig in gently and (for most of us) the body gives a pretty strong pain reaction.
  After you have found the point, let your arm relax down by your side.  Hold the point until your pain diminishes (or your arm gets tired).  Move to your stronger side (for most of us, this is the dominant hand).  Find the point, relax your arm by your side, and hold the point.
      Usually the act of using the weaker arm will aggravate the shoulder again, so go back to the first side and do the hold again.
       Finish with a bit of deep breathing and go back to enjoying your day, this time with a bit more freedom of motion.

Not Tonight, I Have a Headache: Yoga for the Head

    Until this last week I would have said I don't get headaches very often, but I was wrong. It is one of the curious things about long term pain.  So often we forget it is there, just like the static on a stereo system or the twinge in your knee.  If you can't fix it, ignore it.  Over the past week, I have been using the poses described below and the relief is amazing.
    Recently, I attended the closing classes of Shine Yoga Studio (here's a post on what a gift the studio has been to me for many years).   Not only are classes with the traveling teachers like Sianna Sherman  fun and interesting, but they tend to use poses that we may have let drop from our daily practice.  She used several facial expressions in various ways throughout the classes.  What I have discovered in my home practice is they are wonderful in releasing facial tension, relaxing the head and shoulders, and, best of all, relieving stress headaches!

source

        The class was about opening to change in our lives, becoming a bit like this guy here on the left.  He is Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god.  Hanumanasana (the asana or pose of Hanuman) is the splits, one very open position that I love watching other people do.  One thing you will immediately notice is his very puffy cheeks (here is the story of how it came to pass). Sianna mentioned making his face is a great way to open up the muscles in your face, but we didn't do it in class. So here is what I came up with at home....
            - sit quietly, becoming more aware of your cheeks and jaw
            -  inhale, filling your cheeks up with air
            - swish the air around in your cheeks, pressing the ball of air into anyplace that feels tight
                                                        - remember to go into the lower jaw, the hinge of the jaw and the area between your nose and mouth
                                                         - exhale, noticing how the cheeks and jaw feels

source

      Our other facial expression was from the god, Kali.  She is often pictured with her tongue sticking out.  Unfortunately, the only pictures I could find had her mouth closed and that is not the posture we are looking for.  This lovely cat, on the other hand, has the mouth just right. Kali face (as I call the expression in my mind) is much more active than Hanuman's.  To find the Kali face....
            - inhale with the face relaxed
            - exhale - open eyes wide
                         - open mouth wide
                         - stick your tongue way out
                         - make an audible Hah! with the breath
            - repeat
     I noticed that this expression really digs in and releases the tongue and jaw muscles.  Hanuman's face releases the cheeks and lips.  Once I let go of the tension in the lower half of my face, my head begins to feel better.  The more I relax it, the feeling begins to spread to the base of the skull and down the neck and throat.
      The funny thing is how making these faces also makes you laugh.  You feel ridiculous and that can be lots of fun.  I'm sure the laughter helps in stress relief as well.  Play around with them and let me know what you think.  Blessings and laughter. Pam

The Universe Speaks

   As I posted on Wednesday, two weeks ago one of my fundamental beliefs was really challenged. I believe that anything can be healed. After all, to be in the healing business, you need to believe that healing is possible.  How could I square the words of these two doctors (who told me I'm basically in a holding action with my body) with my healing business?  All I can say is, we ask, God speaks (or the Universe or whatever term works for you for a Higher Power).  This week I asked and He delivered!
     On Thursday I went to mass then had a singing lesson.  There I am, running on no sleep, tired and cranky but also present and accounted for.  In my experience, this is the best time to hear because all of your defenses are down.  Our first reading was from Ecclesiastes 1: 2-11.  This selection begins with "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  What profit has man from all that he toils at under the sun?"  For the first time ever I understood.  The author is not saying that labor is not worthwhile, rather that all things pass away.  So, I have labored fruitlessly my whole life to heal my eyes, but the knowledge that I gathered gave my son back his perfect vision. (As I read this, it doesn't make much sense, but the truth I glimpsed in mass is hard to put into words).
     Also, all of this physical stuff is just the shell.  I want to take good care of my body, not as the end itself, but rather so that I can continue to help others and take care of my family.  There are also times to accept help, and I need help from my eye doctor and chiropractor and yoga teacher and husband and sons and.... (you get the idea).  Darn it.  I can't tell you how many times I have told others that their infirmities give others an opportunity to serve.  Guess the advice has come home to roost.
    At the singing lesson, God struck again.  These lessons are very hard for me.  Singing very loud, very high is like running around naked, every flaw shows (sorry for the picture that just conjured up...).  I so did not want to show up.  We warmed up, sang a few songs, worked on ways to sing differently.  Somehow, right in the middle, we got to talking.  I told my teacher how devastating the news had been.  We talked back and forth for a while and I could tell that she was searching for inspiration.  At the same time I was praying for God to speak to me through her because my mind was so crazy I couldn't be quiet and listen.
     All of the sudden, her face clears and she asks me "Does this close any doors?"  You know what, it doesn't.  Just because, barring a miracle, my eyes won't be perfect in this lifetime does not negate all of the learning and practice that has gone into trying to heal them.  One of the techniques I learned gave my son perfect vision.  All of the pain in my neck and back had created a great yoga practice and lots of techniques, to help both clients and friends.  Looks like these actually opened doors.    We always get help just sometimes it is hard to recognize.

When Life is a Pain in the Neck

    All this work on changing beliefs can really be a pain in the neck.  If you fee that way as well, here is a great energetic release for neck and shoulders.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to figure out how to get the image onto blogger, but if you click here, it will take you to Google Docs.
     My husband and I had a head on collision with a bus in 1989.  He had a 40% compression fracture of  the lowest vertebra in the neck, C7.  Needless to say, I have had a lot of practice working on his neck.  Each time I find something new, he is willing to try it out.  This one from Capacitar International works!
     In yesterday's yoga class, we all lined up and did this release to one another.  It was great to make a community doing energy work on one another.  Take it for a spin yourself.

Such a Pain in the Neck!

One of my most requested classes is for pain relief in the neck and shoulders.  I love the request because there are many ways to approach it.  This video is geared to increase blood flow and mobility, then find the correct shoulder and neck alignment.  There is a brief cameo appearance by my cat, Joy.  She would not leave the room for the hour and a half it took me to shoot and edit this (yes, I am that slow).  I think she just wanted to make sure that she did not end up on the cutting room floor.

The funny thing is, when iMovie "optimized" the video, it cut off my feet so you can't see her moving around nearly as much as she did.  Though Joy is not nearly the rock star she was hoping to be, please enjoy this gentle but deep practice to open and align the upper body.

Pain Free!

                There are days where I think “How did I ever end up here?”  When I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1988, not in my wildest dreams did I ever see myself as a wife, mother or even wilder- a reiki master. I was an officer and an engineer.  I love real, tangible things, yet here I am spending all of my time with the reality of the unseen.

                To help one of my most recent clients, I really had to dig through the dusty archives of my memory (and the even dustier basement) to unearth what I was looking for.  What I found was Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain by Peter Egoscue. As I reread the book it was such a great trip down memory lane.  This was the beginning of my explorations into alternative medicine.

                On Martin Luther King Day in 1989, my husband and I had a head on collision with a bus that left both of us with long term aches and pains.  I had found temporary relief from many sources, but by 2001 I was spending as much time as possible on the couch.  There was nothing more to be done short of surgery.  I knew that this was note for me, but where was I to go.

                As always, my first stop was the library. I read through the pain management, anatomy, yoga moving on to psychology (just in case it was all in my head).  In this search I found Pain Free.  The idea that all I had to do to relieve the pain was 30 minutes of exercises per day was unbelievable.  I spent the summer on the deck (listening to a Harry Potter novel) putting my hips back in alignment.

                I am a big fan of western medicine for acute injuries, but before you have the hip replaced, the bones shaved or the next shot into the nerve, check out this book and try the exercises for a few weeks.  All it cost me was a bit of time, but it gave me my life back.