For me, it’s important I practice these simple yoga poses every single day in order to feel my best, to relieve the pain in the muscles of my neck, jaw and head. Attempt to take either the backs of the hands together, or bring the palms to touch if flexibility allows. Making sure to keep your shoulder blades sliding firmly down your back, begin to lift the elbows up to shoulder height while actively pressing the elbows away from the face. Next, moving with your breath, begin to curl and round the spine, bringing the elbows in toward the chest, further opening the shoulder muscles and the muscles at the base of the neck. Hold for 5 to 10 long inhales and exhales and repeat on the other side, with the right elbow underneath. Make sure your sit bones are rooted and try to keep the torso upright, without leaning to one side. Keep space between the shoulders and ears. Use your right hand to bring your head back to center and repeat on the other side. Stay for a few breaths, all the while reaching through the opposite arm. Try to bring the palms to touch and, keeping the shoulders down, breathe deeply while expanding through the chest and extending the arms long behind you. On your exhales, expand more through the back of the neck. In other words, a strong back body helps prevent us from hiking up and hunching through the shoulders, without even thinking about it during the day. Because of this, I practice back-strengthening exercises daily. Begin this Locust Pose variation commonly called “Superman” by lying on your stomach. Take your feet mat-width distance apart and bring your forehead to the floor. Draw your arms forward and wide so that your entire body is in an “X” shape. Then, exhale all the air out of your lungs and lift everything up as high as you can on an inhale. Remembering to breathe, squeeze your legs and arms together, then extend your body back out into a lifted “X” shape. Lower and repeat 8 to 10 times.
