Whether it’s checking your phone for Facebook notifications, performing on a laptop, or watching Netflix on your tablet, you likely spend an excellent deal of your day looking down at some kind of technical device.
Thus, the dreaded tech neck occurs. As people still spend more and longer watching devices, neck pain in our society has exponentially increased as a result.
What Exactly Is Causing Your Neck Pain?
When you glance down at your device, your weight follows the road of your gaze. Your head angles forward, putting strain on the upper back and causing your shoulders and thoracic spine to round forward to compensate.
This, in turn, displaces extra weight to your hips, which are then forced to compensate by lessening the curvature of your lower back. together small movement results in another, your entire body is found in misalignment and, inevitably, pain ensues.
According to a recent study, during a neutral position, an adult head weighs roughly 10-12 pounds.
Yet when compiled with the force of gravity, if the top is removed of neutral alignment and tilted forward by just 15 degrees, its weight skyrockets to 27 pounds. At 30 degrees, it weighs in at 40 pounds, 49 pounds at 45 degrees and an astonishing 60 pounds at a 60-degree tilt.
Combat Tech Neck – Here’s How!
Obviously, the more the top weighs, the more strain it causes within the surrounding muscles and therefore the body as an entire . the simplest thanks to counter the consequences of tech neck is to attenuate them within the first place. Try your best to carry your devices at head-level and keep your spine during a neutral position when watching any screens.
But, when you’re already feeling the pain of poor posture in your body, luckily yoga can help!
Yoga Poses to alleviate Neck Pain
The following seven yoga poses and yoga-inspired positions are helpful to stretch and strengthen the muscles in and round the neck that tend to be either contracted or elongated once we move our necks out of neutral alignment.
Try to practice each pose with mindfulness and only move within your own limits. Consistency and patience are key factors to reducing the pain from tech neck, so take some time .
Practice these 7 yoga poses to alleviate tech neck pain:
1. Neck Stretch
When someone experiences tech neck, the muscles of the neck are obviously strained. Simply working to stretch and lengthen these overworked muscles can help alleviate a number of the pain.
Here’s the way to do it:
Start seated during a ny comfortable position (you can sit in a chair or on the floor). attempt to align the crown of your head over your shoulders and your shoulders over your hips. Find length throughout your entire back body by sitting up nice and tall.
Maintaining this posture, reach your right arm behind your back and take a hold of your left bicep (if this feels out of reach for you, you’ll wrap a yoga strap or a towel around your left bicep then hold onto that together with your right hand). Allow your left arm to rest in your lap and relax your shoulders down faraway from your ears.
Inhale to succeed in the crown of your head toward the sky, and exhale to softly release your left ear toward your left shoulder. Soften your shoulders and your jaw as you lengthen through the whole right side of your neck. you’ll experiment with turning your gaze (and chin) down or up to seek out the angle of the stretch that best serves you.
Hold for 5-10 deep breaths then repeat on the other side, switching your arms and therefore the tilt of your head.
2. Shoulder Thread-the-Needle
The shoulders devour tons of the slack left over from the neck, and since tech neck can misalign the body so severely, shoulder stretches also are essential to eliminate neck pain.
Here’s the way to do it:
Start on high-low-jack during a tabletop position together with your shoulders aligned over your wrists and your hips aligned over your knees. As you inhale, reach your right arm up toward the sky and open your chest toward the proper .
As you exhale, reach your right arm underneath your left shoulder, “threading the needle” as you lower your right shoulder and right cheek to either the ground , a block, a bolster or a blanket.
You can stay as you’re , or if you’d wish to deepen the discharge , you’ll wrap your left arm around your lower back (perhaps even hooking your fingers into your hip crease) to twist your chest open further toward the left. Hold for about 5-10 deep breaths before repeating on the opposite side.
3. Supported Fish Pose
This position is superb to counteract the posture that the majority people hold all day – hunched over a computer, looking down – which results in tech neck. Opening the chest and shoulders and moving the neck within the other way can work wonders to enhance the symptoms of tech neck.
Here’s the way to do it:
Recline over either a block, a rolled up yoga mat, a pillow, a rolled up blanket, a stack of books, or a yoga wheel. Place whichever object you’re using directly underneath your thoracic spine (the bottom of the thing should touch rock bottom tip of your shoulder blades) in order that your chest expands upward toward the sky during a supported backbend.
You can allow your arms to release toward your hips, you’ll open your arms out wide into a T-shape, otherwise you can reach your arms up over your head (each option will stretch a special a part of your pectoral muscles, so choose whichever feels best or maybe work all three!).
Relax your weight completely into the thing you’re reclined over and surrender muscular control. Hold for about 3-5 minutes, maintaining deep breathing.
4. Dolphin Pose
While stretching is vital to combat tech neck, strengthening exercises also are crucial. Dolphin works to both stretch and strengthen the muscles surrounding the neck to make a stable base for your (heavy!) head to rest on in healthy alignment.
Here’s the way to do it:
Again, start on high-low-jack during a tabletop position. Bring your forearms to the ground and grab hold of opposite elbows to make sure that your arms are shoulder-width apart.
Maintain that distance as you place your forearms parallel to every other on the mat. Spread your fingers wide and depress firmly into your forearms to lift your chest up and faraway from the ground .
From here, tuck your toes and lift your knees off the mat and begin to steer your feet toward a Downward Facing Dog shape while leaving your forearms on the ground . attempt to walk your feet as close toward your hands as possible (feel liberal to bend your knees here).
Keep pressing your forearms into the ground and expand your chest toward your thighs. Relax the load of your head and let it hang heavy with gravity. Hold for 5- 10 full, deep breaths.
5. Forward Fold with Neck Stretch
Allowing gravity to assist pull the load of your head and torso down toward the ground can help to elongate the cervical spine and release any built-up tension within the neck and shoulders.
Here’s the way to do it:
Place your feet about hip-distance apart and hinge forward from the hips into a standing forward fold, or classic Uttanasana. be happy to bend your knees the maximum amount as you’d wish to . Relax the load of your head and torso and let everything surrender downward with gravity.
Interlace your fingers behind your neck and soften the load of your arms toward the ground . take care to not push or pull on your neck here – instead, simply allow the added weight of your arms to maneuver you extra into your release. Hold for about one minute.
6. Forward Fold with Chest & Shoulder Stretch
As noted within the previous pose, using your own weight in conjunction with the force of gravity can move you deeper into stretches. This stretch works to release the shoulders and chest (which are both highly contracted as a results of tech neck).
Start within the previous forward fold, but this point , interlace your fingers behind your back and work toward straightening your arms the maximum amount as possible over your head. Reach your arms first straight up then allow them to surrender with gravity towards the front of your mat.
Here’s the way to do it:
Draw your shoulder blades toward one another and broaden your chest. Allow your torso and your head to be heavy and relaxed. Hold for about one minute.
7. Wall Chest & Shoulder Opener
As previously mentioned, releasing strain and tightness from the chest and shoulders is critical to relieving the pain and tension caused by tech neck. Our bodies are one interconnected web and releasing tension from one area can help to alleviate it from another also .
Here’s the way to do it:
Find a neutral stance facing a wall and stand one foot faraway from it. get up tall and stack your shoulders directly above your hips. Heel-toe your feet hip-distance apart and place a micro-bend into your knees. Gently activate your core to support your spine.
Place your right on the wall up line together with your shoulder and point your fingers toward the proper . Maintaining your neutral spine, slowly begin to show your torso faraway from the wall and walk your feet toward the left as far because it feels comfortable. Breath into the discharge through your chest and shoulders for about 5-10 deep breaths before repeating on the other side.
Neck Pain Be Gone! These Yoga Poses Will Help
Practicing these yoga poses to alleviate neck pain will assist you find some relief from tech neck. Remember – the poses and stretches themselves are even as important as restructuring your posture once you use technical devices.