Introduction to the Practice for Tight Shoulders and a Stiff Neck

(You will find the practice in the Members Section)

We all know the unpleasant feeling of tight shoulders and neck.  At its least it’s distracting and fatiguing, it limits free movement, disrupts sleep and at its worst it leads to chronic headaches.

We might suffer from tightness in the upper body due to injury, due to unfamiliar overhead or lifting work, or due to a long recovery from injury.

For most of us, chronic tightness in the shoulders and neck derives from repetitive unhelpful postures where the arms and neck are forward, which is necessary sometimes, but then we forget to mobilise and counter-pose afterwards.

Chronic unrelieved stress will also contribute to tight shoulders and neck.  The awareness cultivated in yoga and its stress relieving techniques will definitely help in this regard.

Some of the asana in this practice will gradually loosen and ease a tight neck and shoulders, and others strengthen weak muscles that can prevent future strain.  It is very important to work with great awareness, not to push limits and do little and often rather than all at once.  This practice is really a sampler…choose what works best for you.