This can also help prevent tension headaches. Lengthening and stretching small neck muscles will help quiet the mind and bring on a sense of well-being. Lengthening the larger muscles defuses stress held in the body and helps the whole body to relax. I Benefits: Stretching the neck muscles has an immediate effect on your state of mind. If you hold longer, you will overdo the stretch, which can cause injuries. Hold the final Restretch position for the recommended number of breaths. Remember to stay cool, calm, and focused. When you do the Resistance, do not push too hard. Keep the following guidelines in mind when using the three Rs, in this or any sequence of poses. The whole sequence takes only five minutes or so and is a great way to begin your day or as a preface to your meditation practice. These simple, effective moves can be done anytime, anywhere, such as during an hourly break from the computer, in the privacy of your office before a crucial meeting, when you get home after a long commute. I love this exercise series and can feel improvement immediately every time I do it. I also carry a great deal of tension in my neck and shoulders. Many of us have the habit of guarding ourselves in stressful situations by tightening the muscles in our neck and shoulders in an unconscious attempt to brace against trauma, real or imagined. Neck muscles react strongly to stress and this tendency can be further aggravated by driving or by sitting at a desk all day. The last two-the neck and shoulders-are a prime repository of stress. Think for a moment about where you feel stress and what words describe it: “knot in the gut,” “uptight,” “butterflies in the stomach,” “shouldering responsibilities,” “pain in the neck”-they all represent places on your body. ![]() It is typical of all of us to ignore our body’s discomforts until messages, which start as a whisper, become the cosmic bellow: “Hello? Anybody home?” Our physical body is stressed and affected by many things: how we sit or stand, temperature changes, repetitive movements, what we eat and drink, and what we are thinking. Let’s see how this approach works when it is incorporated into a series of simple exercises for releasing tension from the neck and shoulders. The three Rs are a creative way to listen to your body and to gently increase your range of motion. I’ve developed what I call the “three Rs”-Resist, Relax, and Restretch. ![]() While other yoga teachers mention the PNF phenomenon and occasionally tell their students about it, I’ve made it an integral part of the way I teach the poses-I call it a yin approach to stretching. I love seeing students’ amazement at the improvement in their own flexibility when they use the three Rs. In the process, I’ve developed what I call the “three Rs”-Resist, Relax, and Restretch. The subsequent stretch becomes longer, deeper, and far more comfortable than holding the limb in a static stretch.įor some years, I’ve adapted this way of stretching to my own mid-age body and for those who take classes from me. Before stretching a muscle, you tighten it and push against a fixed object-a partner, your own hand, a belt, the floor, or a wall. The basic technique involves alternating isometric muscle contraction and passive stretching. Scientific research supports the PNF phenomenon, but Larry Payne (co-author of Yoga Rx) refers to it as the “yoga miracle.” It’s miraculous because the results are instant, painless, and amazing! It is widely used by athletes and trainers, and different variations exist, but the way I incorporate it into most yoga routines is unique. Later I came across a technique called PNF, which stands for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. Over the years, I experimented in my own practice and found that these small moves could be effective in many other yoga poses. I wondered if this concept could be applied to other yoga postures, helping me to get a better stretch. In effect, I had tightened my muscle just before relaxing it for the stretch. ![]() But I found if I arched my back just a little, pushed my spine into her hands (the opposite direction of the forward bend), held the resistance for a few seconds, relaxed, and then redid the posture, I could comfortably slide even farther and deeper into the pose. My partner knelt behind me and applied gentle pressure to my lower back to help me lengthen my spine and go farther into the stretch. I was doing a traditional seated forward bend, legs extended, torso folded over thighs. I was in one such class when I made a discovery. I enjoy being a student in other people’s yoga classes, especially those taught by master yoga teacher Angela Farmer.
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