Chair Yoga Video to Release Tension in your Neck and Shoulders

If your days look anything like mine, then you spend most of your waking hours on Zoom calls and in front of your computer or looking at your mobile devices. How are your shoulders and neck?

Your head weighs about 10-12 lbs (that is about 5 kg for my European friends), weight your neck easily supports when you are standing or sitting straight. But did you know that a study from 2014 shows that if you lean your head just 15 degrees forward, the effective weight of your head on your neck more than doubles to 27 lbs? With a 30-degree tilt, the effective weight of your head increases to 40 lbs! Clearly, leaning forward is putting extra pressure on the discs in the neck and spine. This can lead to chronic neck and shoulder pain and severe headaches. No wonder our necks feel stiff!

Here are some suggestions: Try to have your screens at eye level, so you don't have to lean your head forward. And take multiple mini-breaks throughout the day to stretch the muscles and ligaments in your shoulders and neck. To help you with the stretching, I have created for you a 5-minute chair yoga sequence focused on releasing tension in your neck and shoulders. You can do this sequence anywhere and anytime. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to share it with others.

Be well,

Christine

P.S. If you would like to practice more yoga with me, sign up for my live online yoga classes. We flow slowly and I offer modifications, so my classes are appropriate for all levels, including beginners. My teaching style includes precise instructions, is light-hearted, in plain English (no Sanskrit), and free of yoga philosophy. No healing crystals in my yoga classes!! Sign up via my website. Or if you would like to watch one of my recorded yoga classes, click here to access a recent slow flow yoga class focused on releasing tension in neck and shoulders.

P.P. S. Sign up for my weekly wellness newsletter. Instantly receive my free Yoga Bites video series, where you discover effective yoga tools to regain your energy to do the things you love in just 5 minutes!

www.wellnessyogachristine.com

My goal is to inspire you to bring wellness into your life and to provide you with tools to do so.