“YOGA” – Focus on Neck Injuries!!

What if I told you that!!! 👇🏼

The head is the heaviest part of our body weighing in at approximately 5 kg and needing the first 7 vertebrae of our spine to balance on and over 20 muscles to support, move and keep centered.

I would say the NECK is one VERY important piece of bodily equipment, wouldn’t you?

Let’s take a bit of a dive into the neck today and see how and what are the common injuries and some modifications we can do in our yoga practice to support, prevent and help our necks.

1. Whiplash – If you have ever been in a car accident, landed badly when jumping off something, skiing or just been doing something ridiculous you may have had this… I know I have had it more than a few times due to accidents, idiocy, etc… Whiplash is caused when the muscles or ligaments in the area are damaged creating pain and problems with movement in the neck…. basically a big fat OUCH…
2. Strain – A lesser form of whiplash, it is repetitive like looking at a computer, or phone all day, or sleeping badly it causes pain, stiffness, and reduced movement in the neck.
3. Sprain – Another lesser form of whiplash, but nonetheless pain full – This is usually caused by too much movement like in sports causing muscle and/or ligament damage restricting movement.
4. Herniated Discs – Like with the spine these are the cushioning sacks between each vertebra that become squeezed together or slip out herniating inwards or outwards. The closer to the Cervical spine area which is the upper 7 vertebrae of the neck support the more pain, movement restriction, tingling, pain, weakness, or numbness is likely.

If I have someone come in with upper vertebrae herniation I would like to have a doctor’s clearance to be able to continue with yoga and know that they are safe from creating further harm to themselves. That however is just me, I do ask for clearance for certain injuries or body ailments before I will happily teach for the safety of the person joining the group and also for myself as a teacher.

How do we prepare the neck for practice and how do we keep the neck from becoming injured further?

Like with everything we do in life, we are responsible for our own actions, a teacher may offer suggestions or modifications, however, if this isn’t working for your body you need to take control.

Personally, I can direct people in modifications to help alleviate or remove the risks of injury, however, if the person proceeds to do the movement without modifications or pushes through and harms themselves, they need to take responsibility for that action.

1. Warmup – Like in every other blog about injuries we need to warm up and to do this we do a few simple things.
   • Roll the neck around to the left and right gently.
   • Rotate the neck side to side gently.
   • Move the neck chin to the chest and back gently.
   • Thread the needle and child’s pose to warm up the neck further.
2. Keep the neck elongated and relaxed – Keeping length in the neck while moving into poses we avoid strain on the neck area.
3. Keep chin tucked in supine poses (laying down) – So we don’t scrunch or shoulder up while laying down we tuck our chins into our chest.

A few simple modifications can be done to help support the neck!!!

1. Savasana – Add a slight chin tuck and place a bolster, blanket, or other props to support the neck and elevate the head a bit.
2. Downward Dog – Broaden through the shoulders to relieve tension on the neck and keep the neck elongated and relaxed.
3. Backbends in GENERAL – Lift up higher and expand through the chest rather than the neck area. Open and lift through the chest area keeping your Dristi (vision) focused forward and chin tucked slightly towards the chest.
4. Chair – Keep shoulders down and away from the ears, keep length in their spine, and keep the neck long and relaxed, this will relieve some tension but you can also bring hands to prayer pose or to the hips to reduce through the shoulders and neck.

When we practice yoga in our homes we take care not to harm ourselves, so when we practice in a studio shouldn’t we still listen to our bodies and make sure that modifications are taken, the teacher is aware, and we are aware of our body’s feelings?

Yes, we are responsible for ourselves, we are unique and our yoga practice is as unique as ourselves.

This is the reason we take charge and make sure that we do no harm to ourselves (AHIMSA), talk and be aware of ourselves.

Having injuries is a natural part of our lives but there are things we can do to help ourselves from furthering injuries or creating pain in the injured areas.

To do this we just need to practice Ahimsa which is the practice of not causing injury to ourselves or others.

That’s it for this month’s injury, Next month we will move on to “breathing” otherwise known as “Pranayama” where a few different styles are able to be worked with.

Have a lovely practice and I look forward to seeing, hearing, and chatting with you all further as we explore “yoga” a little deeper over time.

Namaste 🦋❤️

” The light in me sees the light in you”