“If exercise could be packed in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed, and beneficial, medicine in the nation” (Robert Butler, quoted in a phone interview by the author, 2009)
Exercise has been pretty non-existent for me for a while now. Don’t ask how long! Suffice to say, my virgin active membership has lapsed and I’ve kind of left it. It was getting to the point where I was going there just to swipe my card.
I have always had neck and shoulder pain but it sure has taken on a new dimension having a child.
Firstly, breastfeeding requires sitting still for great lengths of time. It has taken me a while to get organised, but now I have my supporting cushions I think I have sitting up in the daytime sorted. Although lying down is working for sleep, I am still working out suitable back support at night.
Also the book mentions you shouldn’t be carrying more than 10 to 15 % of your body weight, and with Nicky increasing in size it is going to be less wrap and more stroller for sure.
Before the exercises are dealt with, Krucoff deals with contributing factors to neck and shoulder pain.
1) Postural stress :
When I did ballet as a child I had excellent posture. My teacher said we should imagine a flower growing out of our head. Since then I haven’t really focused on how I have been sitting and standing, to my detriment.
Krucoff talks about “forward head posture” and it is amazing how we continually go around with our heads hunched over. She says the chin should be parallel with the floor. When you sit, your feet should be flat on the earth. You have to make an effort to line up knees and ankles, hips with knees, shoulders with hips, and the hole in your ear with your shoulder.
2) Emotions
Do you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you feel like the highway (neck) between your head and heart is blocked? These are the kind of questions to be dealt with. You can use emotional freedom technique set up statements such as “Even though I have all this stress on my shoulders, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. I’m choosing to release that burden and breathe. Even though my head and heart aren’t always in agreement, I deeply and completely accept both of them. I’m choosing to find a way through this, to think of creative ways to bring all the parts of me into alignment.”
Anyway, without further ado let’s get onto some examples of the actual exercises she suggests.
1) Centre and Breathe
The purpose is to focus and connect the mind and body through breath. Lie on your back with your legs folded up. Breathe, scan your body (sending the breath to any discomfort), exhale tension and give a deep abdominal breath.
Neck release
2) Whole body stretch
This is your warm up boost. The exercises I liked here were the neck release (where you move your neck from side to side) and
the upper back and shoulder stretch (where you move your arms up and down).
Tree
3) Standing poses
These are for strength, balance, stability and confidence. You’ve heard of standing on your own two feet? Well, that’s the grounding that we are cultivating with these exercises. The most basic of these is the Mountain pose (standing) but I also liked the Tree pose.
Shoulder clock
3) Neck and shoulder poses
There are many poses here to give your neck and shoulders flexibility. I liked the Shoulder Clock (where you move your shoulders in the direction of the quarter hours) and
Angel wing circles
Angel Wings (where you bend your arms and move them forward, back and in circles).
Bridge
5) Back bending
This is particularly helpful for the forward head posture we spoke of before. I liked the Bridge pose, where you lift your torso upwards.
6) Deep relaxation
An exercise where you lie down and totally let go.
Krucoff says the effectiveness of these poses are when you integrate them into your daily activities. You can do Mountain pose while waiting in a queue and shoulder shrugs while on hold on the phone.
I hope you found this post useful!
I should really try this. My back and neck are always bothering me and I’m pretty sure it’s linked to posture. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you for the review. I have a tenancy to slump at my desk and constantly need to remind myself to sit up straight! All my stress and anxiety gets stuck in my neck & shoulders so must really make an effort to do some of these exercises.
I really love how yoga can help in so many different ways. Great stuff and I hope it works for you.
Thanks, I think it’s a universal problem.
Stretching is a must for personnel maintenance. A good book to read is “The Genius of Stretching” by Bob Cooley who was the trainer of Dara Torres the swimmer who went to the olympics some years ago who defied her age. I don’t agree with his new age views but he definitely knows his p’s and q’s on stretching. Bob Cooley also has a very interesting life story as well.
Hi Heather, I have suffered neck and back pain multiple times, and I discovered that most common causes of neck pain include: Too much time hunched over…for example hunched over a steering wheel or your laptop or your smartphone which is very common today; Sleeping in a position that causes strain in the neck such as sleeping on a pillow that is too firm or too high; Carrying a heavy object like a suitcase on one side of your body; Any trauma that causes a strain in the neck such as falling and landing on the top of the head. However, simple remedies at home like applying ice packs, use of epsom salt and apple cider vinegar or even a nice massage over a hot shower can help to alleviate the pain.
I have problem with my back & sometimes have to take painkillers when the pain is severe. Thanks to your post, I will start doing these exercises regularly to improve the situation instead of taking medicine. Thank you very much for writing.