Finding Pain Relief by Returning to Your Natural Posture.

This week our focus in class was the upper back, chest, shoulders & neck. An area that gets tight, tense & even painful. It’s an area we hold our stresses, both physically & emotionally. Over time our body can round forward & cause the head to protrude forward of our body. The muscles of the neck were not designed to hold the weight of our head this way, so pattens of holding happen in our back & front body to try to save us. Add on top of this the mental stresses we go through on a daily basis & you have a recipe for disfunction, pain & even injury.

It is important to move the body & use techniques to help release the tight muscles so you can strengthen the muscles that are meant to support the body. To change our posture so that the head can be supported over the centre of the spine instead of in front of it. In class we often use massage ball, fascial balls, foam rollers, black strips etc to help release the muscles in the back body & to open the front. These simple tools can help bring a more natural position of the upper body so we can work through our asanas on strengthening all our supporting systems.

A simple way to explore at home, could be as simple as rolling up your yoga mat, placing it from between your shoulder blades to your head & lie there & breathe (extra support under the head/pelvis if needed till your spine feels long & an ease is in your neck). Gravity will help to undo these patterns & when you come out, your will feel your natural posture coming back in line.

So if you heard as a kid “just sit up straight” that is what we are needing to do. Not by forcing ourselves, adding even more tension, but by working with our body through awareness in our practice. Also, by moving throughout the day to counter the static & unnatural position of sitting, as often as we can. This way we are encouraging our natural posture to find us again.

See the attachment below, from one of my teachers Gary Kraftsow, on some poses that can help change these unhealthy patterns to find relief from neck, back & shoulder pain.

https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/healing-yoga-sequence-ease-neck-shoulder-pain

Also, here’s a write up on the workshop I will be giving in July on this idea. More information & registration should be available on YogaMcc website by next week. Watch for it!

Unwreck Your Neck

with Anne Cox E-RYT 500

July 16, 2017 10 am - 12 pm

In our culture of sitting at computers & texting on our phones, our necks pay a price. The cervical spine bears the weight of our head & all the stresses & strains of life. This can lead to pain, stiffness, tension & decreased range of motion.

Over time, with all this rounding, the head becomes held forward of the body. The neck has to find a way to support this weight, which it is not designed to do, so more discomfort to not only the neck but the back, shoulders, jaw & even arms & wrists.

Are you ready to change your habits & stop hurting your neck in the process?

In this 2 hour workshop, learn how to use self massage to release the muscles & fascia of the neck & upper back & to open up the front of the body. Breath & meditation techniques will also be introduced as a way to allow the “weight of the world” to fall off our shoulders & to encourage an open heart.

With these areas more relaxed, find ways to strengthen all the supporting muscles. These areas now learning to function effectively, the head can find it’s way back to being supported over the centre of the spine & body, how it was meant to be.

Now that the head is held with strength & not tension start saying goodbye to all those pains in the neck, headaches, back pain & even wrist issues that can occur. Are you ready to make the change?

Anne Cox E-RYT 500 started practicing yoga more than 20 years ago due to chronic headaches. She found out she has degenerative discs in her neck due to accidents she had in her youth. Her headaches were due to tension held in the upper back & neck that were both physical & emotional. She teaches from her own experience of helping her neck & body come back to health while managing the stresses that caused her dis-ease.

http://www.yogamcc.com/upcoming-workshops

Namaste,