Decompress your Neck

It is helpful to learn how to relax and lengthen, and decompress your neck as you become familiar, again, with your own body. Because of the structure of our chairs, the positions we sit in, the kind of pillow we use, the weight of our own heads, and the stress we maintain, our necks compress little by little. This can cause neck aches, headaches, and your shoulders to further tighten up.

Here is a simple exercise to prepare you for keeping your shoulders down and your neck relaxed. Hold an object weighing one or two pounds in each hand, letting the weight of the objects pull shoulder blades down. Make sure that you keep the breastbone lifting up so that the tops of the shoulders don’t pull down and forward, collapsing the chest.

Now set the objects down and see if you can find the muscles you need to pull your shoulder blades down just as the weights did.

These muscles are called the lower trapezius. They attach to the vertebrae of the midback, and insert on the inner border of the shoulder blades. They are antagonist muscles to the upper trapezius-in other words, they are very important posture muscles, helping support the spine in the midback. When the lower traps are too weak to conteract the pull of the stronger and tighter upper traps, the scapulae will tend to ride up, compressing your neck. Use your oxygen.