Relieve Neck Pain, Stress and Anxiety All From Your Home Gym

Neck pain is incredibly common and affects 1 in 3 people once a year. For the most part, the symptoms are generally harmless and go away within a few days. You’ve probably experienced some form of it yourself, whether from sleeping in a weird position the night before or sitting for hours on end in front of your computer. In fact, with the rise of white-collar jobs and smartphones, it seems neck pain is becoming more and more common. 

A crick in the neck isn’t just uncomfortable, it can also cause headaches and upper back pain, which can lead to a drop in quality of life and productivity. One of the best ways to reduce your chances of experiencing neck pain and relieve stress and anxiety is to improve your seated and standing posture. Good posture helps place the least amount of strain on your body, keeps your body in correct alignment, and allows muscles to work more efficiently. 

Continued poor posture can lead to some serious side effects excluding neck pain such as:

• Poor circulation - the average adult sits for over 8 hours a day. Sitting in and of itself is bad for your health, but combine that with bad posture and you have a recipe for poor circulation. This can lead to varicose veins, blood clots, and more.

• Reduced lung function - if you’re not sitting or standing properly, your lungs aren’t able to expand fully, which leads to less air in your body. Without enough air, your body cannot function properly. Decreased air intake can lead to shortness of breath, poor cognitive functions, and even heart disease.

• Poor digestion - If you have a desk job, it’s all too easy to slouch your shoulders and neck over your stomach. Unfortunately, this position compressed your abdominal organs, leading to poor digestion. Over time, poor digestion can negatively impact your metabolism and could lead to nutritional deficiencies.

• Pinched nerves - poor posture can lead to serious, long-term problems. The longer you take to fix it, the more your body starts realigning itself to your ‘normal’ resting state. Your muscles shorten and your spine shifts position. This eventually leads to pinched nerves, which causes pain in your back, neck, and other parts of your body.

• Misaligned spine - as mentioned, your spine starts adjusting to your poor posture, which ultimately impacts your spine’s position. However, the longer you slouch, the more your spine and muscles shift and even shorten. This can lead to misaligned spine and other bones, which can lead to back injuries and spasms.

While there are some long term effects of bad posture, it’s never too late to correct it. It will take some time to get used as you will have to make a conscious effort to adjust the way you stand and sit. When standing make sure to:

• Stand up straight

• Keep your shoulders back

• Have your head are in line with your shoulders

• Distribute your weight on the balls of your feet

In general, the same principles apply when seated but there are a few additional things to keep in mind:

• Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground

• Make sure your elbows and knees are at a 90-degree angle

• Get a chair that supports both your back, thighs, and hips

Why stretch neck

There’s a lot of pressure on your neck, especially if you have bad posture. The phenomenon of ‘text neck’ is becoming more prevalent thanks to the rise of smartphones. People are now spending hours hunched over looking at their electronic device, which ends up putting a lot of pressure on the neck and spine. When aligned properly, your head weighs between 10 to 12 pounds. By leaning forward just 15 degrees, the load feels more like 27 pounds, and at a full 60-degree angle the head puts around 60 pounds of strain on your neck.

Stretching you neck can help reduce any pain you’re experiencing. It can also improve your flexibility and overall strength.  Both of which can reduce future neck pain. Whether you’re experiencing pain now or just want to prevent it in the future, the following neck stretches can help keep away the neck pain and stiffness.

Ear-to-Ear Head Tilt

An easy home exercise is the ear-to-ear head tilt. Gently tilt your head toward your should and try to touch it with your ear. Stop once you start feeling the stretch in the sides of your neck and hold it for 5-10 seconds. Make sure you don’t raise your shoulders during this stretch.

Once you’ve stretched one side, move on to the other and repeat the process. You can do several reps up to 10 on each side. To feel a deeper stretch, put the hand on the same side that you’re stretching on top of your head and press lightly with your fingers. Stop if you are feeling any severe pain.

Side-to-Side Stretch

It might seem simple, but a good side-to-side stretch can really help reduce your neck pain. Unlike the head tilt, you’re essentially swiveling your head to the left and right. You want to make sure you’re practicing good posture during this exercise. That means keeping your head above your shoulders and back straight.

Once you’ve gotten into position, slowly turn your head to one side until you feel the stretch in both your neck and shoulders. Hold for 15-30 seconds then turn back to position and repeat for the other side. You can do up to 10 sets.

Neck Stretch Bow

If you’re strapped for time, you can do this exercise in under 60 seconds. Not only is it effective in reducing pain, but increasing your overall neck flexibility. Similar to the previous stretch, you want to first make sure you’re practicing correct posture before you go into this stretch. Not only will it give you the biggest benefits, it will also help prevent injuries. 

As the name suggests, the stretch involves bowing your head. Put both of your hands on the back of your head and gently push to bring your chin closer to your chest. You’ll feel the stretch in the back of your neck. Once you do, stop and hold for around 10 seconds and then go back to the starting position. Repeat around three times. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but after the stretch, it should feel a bit looser. If you experience more pain, stop and speak to a healthcare professional.

Seated Neck Release

As you might have guessed, this stretch requires you to be seated. You can get into a cross-legged position or use a chair if you need to do this stretch at the office. Once you’re in position, extend your right arm next to your right knee or along the right side of your chair. Then place the opposite hand on top of your head and slowly tilt your head to the left. Apply gentle pressure from your hand. Hold for 10 seconds and then switch.

If you need a deeper stretch, you can hold your right knee or the seat of the chair. This helps to stabilize your core. Hold the position for 30 seconds and then switch. The sides of your neck should feel much looser.

Seated Clasping Neck Stretch

This is an excellent way to stretch out the back of your neck and upper back. While seated on the ground or chair clasp your hands behind your head. Before you start stretching, make sure your back is straight. With your hips firmly planted on the ground or seat gently press your hands down towards your thighs and tuck your chin into your chest.

For a deep stretch, make sure to use pull your head away from your shoulders with the palm of your hand. Hold the position for at least 30 seconds and then slowly move back into your starting position and release. You can do this stretch multiple times a day, just make sure to stop once you start feeling the stretch. 

Grounded Tipover Tuck

This might seem complicated, but it’s actually a fairly simple stretch. Still, since you are placing your knees and head on the ground, you’ll probably want a mat to prevent discomfort. This relaxing stretch can reduce the aches and pains in your neck and shoulders while also relieving headaches and drowsiness.

If you’re familiar with yoga, this stretch is essentially a modified Child’s Pose. Not sure what a Child’s Pose is? Essentially you kneel on the ground and then lay the upper half of your body onto the mat while you extend your arms in front of you. In the Tipover Tuck, you start in Child’s Pose. From there, you then interlace your hands behind you. Then lift your hands as high as you can and lift your hips off of your heels. At this point, you should be resting on the top of your head. Hold this position for 10 seconds and then lower yourself back onto your hips and repeat the process 5 times. Once you’re done, release into Child’s Pose.

Chin Tucks

While all of these stretches will help improve the strength and flexibility of your spine, if you do one exercise, it should be the chin tuck. It is widely considered as one of the key exercises to keep your head aligned with your spine. When done consistently it can help strengthen the muscles that pull your head back into alignment with your shoulders while also stretching the scalene and suboccipital muscles.

If you’re doing a chin tuck for the first time, you’ll want to put your spine up against a wall or door jamb. Make sure to have your feet out about 3 inches from the wall or door jamb. Once you’re in position, place a finger on your chin. Without moving your finger, pull the chin and head back until you feel a good stretch at the base of your head and top of the neck. Hold for five seconds and repeat 10 times.   

Once you’ve become comfortable with this exercise against the wall or door jamb, you can eventually do it seated or standing without a wall. Just make sure to keep an eye on your posture. If you feel yourself falling back on bad habits, go back to the wall/door jamb to make sure you are practicing correct posture.

Remember To Incorporate Daily Stretches To Help Relieve Neck Pain and Stress

Neck pain continues to be a problem that affects a large portion of the population with the number increasing due to people sitting and using their smartphones more and more. In general, most neck pain stems from poor posture whether standing, sitting, or sleeping. Poor posture, if not fixed, can potentially lead to back pain, poor digestion, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Fixing your posture can go a long way in reducing overall neck pain and tightness. 

Of course, the exercises listed above can further help make your neck stronger and more flexible and relieve stress and anxiety. You don’t even have to use weights or have a home gym. Most of these exercises you can even do in the office, though the Tipover Tuck might be a bit harder to pull off at your desk. Still, if you’re feeling bouts of neck pain, these exercises can help you get through the day a bit easier.

For the most part, neck pain should go away in a couple of days. However, if you are experiencing severe and consistent neck pain it might be a sign of a more serious issue. You should reach out to a professional if all three conditions are met:

• It lasts for more than 6 weeks

• It is severe and not improving or getting worse

• You’ve recently had an accident 

There are other red flags specifically for neck pain. For the most part, people will not be able to check two or even one. The important thing to remember is that even if you do check off an item or two that you shouldn’t panic, be do be aware of them.

• Light tapping on the spine that is painful

• Weight loss without dieting

• Mystery fevers and/or chills

• Fierce headache and/or inability to bend head forward

• Severe headache that comes on suddenly

• Severe throbbing pain

• Unexplained episodes of dizziness or nausea

If are experiencing these issues, make sure to talk to a doctor.

Karen A Mulvey is a personal social blogger and mom with 14 years of experience in the every day world of motherhood and sustainable product research. Karen is on a mission to help everyday families select sustainable, non-toxic organic products, stop stressing about uncertainties on sustainable home goods and apparel, and start living the life they’ve always wanted.

Follow Karen at @karenAmulveycs | Karen A Mulvey

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