A pain in the neck.
Shouldering a burden.
Sticking your neck out.
Put your shoulder to the wheel.
Not just our busy, screen-oriented lives, but our very language underscores the stress our neck and shoulders constantly bear.
The head is the heaviest weight of the body and its intricate web of tiny muscles is charged with holding the thing up all day The shoulders’ design which allows a wide range of movement in all directions is also what makes them vulnerable to injury and discomfort.
What’s more, the strain on the neck and shoulders from overuse, under use and misuse, leaves us carrying tension and pain in these areas that we may not even notice.
When my yoga teacher asks what body part needs attention, I never say “neck & shoulders.” When somebody else does, though, and we focus on them, I’m always shocked by how much better I feel after the practice.
This is why I have recently begun reminding myself, “P.S. Neck & Shoulders.” After I run through the parts that always jump out at me – hips, quads, hamstrings and my beloved side body – I tap myself on the shoulder (see what I did there?) and say, “P.S. Neck & Shoulders.”
If you, too, find yourself forgetting about the workhorses of neck and shoulders or if you are someone who is painfully aware of them, here are 8 P.S.s to consider to take care of these precious parts.
P.S. Neck
P ~ Pillow
Most of us have spent our entire sleeping lives on pillows. If you’re a fancy HGTV person, probably LOTS of pillows. Like eating sugar and drinking alcohol, it’s so ubiquitous we don’t even think about or question it. But it’s worth investigating since your pillow might be crooking your neck all night long, contributing to chronic stiffness, low grade discomfort, reduced range of motion and even headaches.
Internationally recognized biomechanist, author, and science communicator, Katy Bowman suggests that pillows have trained our bodies to move (and sleep) in a certain way and that if we want more strength and adaptability, we need to train our bodies. She writes,
Just as constant shoe-wearing and flat, unvarying terrain have left you with poor foot mobility and strength, always sleeping on something flat and squishy has altered the mobility and strength of your parts.
Her suggestion is to gradually “train” to sleep on less or even no pillow over time to increase your tissue strength and the load they can comfortably bear. (Read her great piece on pillows here.)
If you have neck stiffness, pain, headaches or limited of range of motion, one place to investigate is what you lay your head on at night.
S ~ Sight Lines
Next time you go for a walk, notice where your eyes tend to land. Do you look at your feet? At the path 5 feet in front of you? Up at the trees? When you take a movement class, what do you look at while you’re moving? Where does your gaze fall during yoga? As you go through your day, are you mostly looking at mid-range (for example, at a screen or gardening), close up (like reading a book or making detailed art) or long distance (looking for birds in the sky or gazing at stars)?
Where your sight lines go has a major impact not just on your eye health but on the alignment of your head and neck. Like most things in the body, variety is the way to go. Play around with where you look and notice how it impacts sensation in and functionality of your neck.
P ~ Position
Similar to sight lines, become aware of your habits of holding your head and neck. Occasionally during the day – while you are driving, working on your device, chopping carrots – and check out the position of your head and neck. As you start to be more aware of your tendencies, you have the opportunity to realign for more ease.
My habit is to jut my chin forward in most situations. When I bring awareness to this habit, I remind myself to imagine my head snuggling into a question mark: drawing my chin in and down, letting the back of my neck get long and lifting through the crown of my head. Check out what you do and adjust your head position so your head rests effortlessly on your spine.
S ~ Stress
Stress isn’t a bad thing, it’s part of life. However, our bodies need to release stressful energy in order to “complete the stress cycle.”
If we let stress fester, it can gather in the form of tension and knots in the body. And one of the most common places for stress to nestle in is in the neck. If you know you’ve had a stressful day, give yourself the gift of some gentle neck care. Self-massage and gentle stretching are two of my favorites.
P.S. Shoulders
P ~ Push
Are you choosing pushing movements during the day? Most of us in this device-heavy world have tight front bodies, especially across the front shoulders (this looks like rounding forward). Push movements strengthen and lengthen the muscles in the chest and fronts of the shoulders. To create more ease in the shoulders, include pushing movements in your routine. I love pushing on counters and railings and fences!
S ~ Switch Stretch
Most of us have a tendency to hold our shoulders either rounded forward or pulled way back “military style.” Like Sight Lines and Position, notice what your tendency is and then several times a day, stretch in the opposite direction. For example, I’m a shoulder-rounder, so after I’ve been working at my desk or chopping vegetables, I lace my hands behind me and open the fronts of my shoulders. If you’ve got a tendency toward “standing at attention” then you might lace your hands and opening the space between your shoulders. And truly, most of us could benefit from a bit of both.
P ~ Pull
Are you doing any pulling movements during the day? Again, since many of us are sitting at desks and dinner tables and in front of screens a lot, most of us have weak back bodies, especially across the shoulder blades. Pull movements draw the over-stretched space between the shoulders in to create more support for and ease in the front body. The back of your body’s large muscle groups are designed to hold you up, so to build a strong back and open heart, include pulling movements in what you do.
S ~ Squeeze
Shoulders are a place that many of us carry stress and tension. How many times, when something is going haywire, do I suddenly realize that my shoulders are up around my ears? One way of completing the stress cycle in the shoulders is to consciously squeeze them waaaaay up and then let them go a few times. The body then notices that tension has accumulated and releases. I also love to squeeze my shoulders with my hands and give them some love that way.
Your neck and shoulders are doing their level best every day...even if we don’t notice them. Attention to your body’s tendencies and offering it support can bring big benefits. As you make movement choices maybe, like me, you need a sticky note that says: P.S. Neck & Shoulders.