Straight Neck

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Any suggestions for asanas that will help to restore curvature to a straight neck?

I am nightly laying on a rolled up towel for 20-40 minutes to help the tendons to relax and realign (I believe this is what they are supposed to be doing!) and am sleeping on a therapeutic pillow similar to this one: http://www.the-pillow.com.au/more/naturelle-more.php

I was hoping there might be more I can do specifically, and I know that performing a regular asana practice will also help the neck muscles to become stronger and hopefully begin to pull the neck back into alignment.
As long as my neck is not causing me bad headaches, I am not visiting my chiropractor weekly, as adjustments just seem to slip back within a day or two anyway.

Any suggestions?

#2

[QUOTE=Joanna63;58881]Any suggestions for asanas that will help to restore curvature to a straight neck? [/QUOTE]

Hello Joanna,

You answered your own question:

[QUOTE=Joanna63;58881]“I know that performing a regular asana practice will also help the neck muscles to become stronger and hopefully begin to pull the neck back into alignment.”[/QUOTE]

But it’s not about just making the neck muscles “stronger” in some isolated fashion: to “pull the neck back into alignment.” Changing something as dramatic as the curvature of your spine, honestly might be more than one could hope for. There’s no one thing that will do it. It takes a very broad focus, an overall approach, careful consideration for the “whole” body, and some, several years at least (on the order of 10 to 20), of dedicated practice. If you’re not in pain, then as you say, long-term, regular asana will be the most you can do for it. Take your time, don’t worry about the lack of curvature, just do your asanas well and let the “whole” thing change as gradually as possible.

peace and good luck,
siva

#3

Thanks Siva, I am in pain, so it’s become a very important issue for me. I have known for most of my life that my neck was “mostly” straight, but due to my constant headaches and neck pain that was not relieving with adjustments, and asana only seemed to relieving it a little, we did an x-ray and found it is now completely straight.

I appreciate the feedback, your reply is what I have suspected must be my course, but as with the lying on the rolled towel and using the therapeutic pillow, I was hoping perhaps there were some more specific things I should focus on as well. I have obtained some relief with the towel and pillow, so am feeling a bit encouraged that I’m not going to have to suffer with this pain forever. I only visit my chiropractor for the pain when it feels as if I’ve lost some range of motion or the headaches are requiring me to take pain killers rather than just ignoring them. This means every two or three weeks.

#4

Joanna I'm so sorry to hear of your pain. Were you in a car accident and/or suffered neck trauma?

http://www.amazon.com/Riters-Real-Ease-Neck-Shoulder-Relaxer/dp/B000KEUFW4

Above is a link to a neck relaxer that I've had for several years. It's wonderful. Maybe it will help?

Also: http://www.amazon.com/Cervical-Traction-Neck-Pillow-Large/dp/B001E39Z8A

The above is a link for a traction pillow.

Are you mainly trying to relax the neck muscles? If so, PM me and I'll forward some sequences that may help.

Shanti

#5

[QUOTE=Joanna63;59187]I was hoping perhaps there were some more specific things I should focus on as well. [/QUOTE]

Joanna,

Generally speaking, adaptive misalignment is accompanied by a reciprocal problem elsewhere in the spine. For example, your “straight neck” may be the result of a deeper, stronger misalignment in your hips, lumbar spine, weakness in the lower abdomen, a straight thoracic spine, winged scapulae, etc: things that go unnoticed because the pain is referred elsewhere. That’s the nature of my caution here: not to be overly preoccupied with the neck when the problem might be mostly elsewhere.

By all means, do what you can with relaxation, anti-inflamatories, gentle stretches, massage, etc. Alexander Technique people or Feldenkrais practitioners may be able to help you. Not easy to find or afford, but they may give you some clues to long-term changes you can make in your mechanics. Those things have to be evaluated by qualified people. They can go a long way, it’s one degree at a time, hopefully in succession, but that’s really all we can ever do.

I have had to deal with the same problem for many years and have adapted my own system for relief of pain, realignment and strengthening of posture. I invite you to take a look. I continue to breakthrough and improve mainly through deep release in my hips through use of horse, warrior and eagle stances, alternating isometrics (mudra) of the upper-extremities, as well as becoming aware of the elevation of the chin. I have had to hold it slightly higher than I thought and let things change from below.

I feel lucky now as I once used to lie in bed at night and cringe with pain, wondering how I was going to get out of it. For years, I could not lie on my left side, never on my stomach with my head turned to the left. Chi Harmony PRO is the result and I have yet to find anything better (short of regular asana practice).

peace,
siva

#6

Joanna,

I find AIS stretching methods excellent, the exercise healed my neck / shoulder tension from too much sitting in front of computer, and overall enhances my asana practice. Perhaps you can give it a try by following the below link? Wishing you finding a solution soon. Namaste

Stretching the neck using AIS method

Intro to AIS by its founder Aaron Mattes

Aaron Mattes website
http://www.stretchingusa.com/aboutAIS.cfm

#7

Siva bring up a very good point Joanna. Do you have access to a good teacher who could look at some key alignment points, i.e. spine, hips? Many of us unknowingly compensate when there is misalignment and/or injury. Case in point: me. I had lower back pain for a couple years. I over compensated for the pain, but overusing my back muscles and neglecting my core. When I went to my initial PT assessment and they asked me to do reverse sit ups and then a sit up (all the way up) I came down fine through thoracic area, but slid through the lumbar area. My therapist then asked me to come back up. I looked at her and laughed as I knew there was just no way I could. In the beginning, I couldn’t even budge. I had no abdominal strength. After practicing this daily, I was able to rebuild my abdominal muscles and this made a huge difference in my back. The pain was almost gone. So, like Siva said, don’t assume it is just in your neck. By all means, treat your neck as is appropriate, but look elsewhere for a possible culprit.

#8

Hi Joanna,

A reversed cervical curve is also referred to as a “military” neck.
What this means is the the cervical vertebrae between C1 and C7 have moved posteriorly or toward the back of the neck (in this case).

As with most therapeutic issues the approach is three prong; asana/pranayama, lifestyle/nutrition, and meditation.

Of course each person is addressed individually but generally speaking the vertebrae can go back, over time, when the work supports such return. Traction allows the vertebrae to come out of compression. Traction can be both passive and active. Then restoring the curvature is more complicated and takes time as well as a balance of tapas (effort) and santosha (contentment).

Of course if the student’s thoughts, foods, actions do not support this work they detract from it. It is truly a “part of the problem or part of the solution” situation.

Since this sort of work is so involved and so uniquely tailored, writing something here would not be appropriate. It should be addressed by a skilled teacher, crafting a practice for you to follow.

gordon

#9

Thank you all for your wonderful responses. I do have hip and low back issues, as I was born with hip displaysia in one hip that was treated by a chiropractor twice a week for my first 6 months. Thank god my parents were into the more natural approach and didn’t put me in a brace!
My left leg is shorter than my right and I wear a 5mm lift in my shoe, and my sacrum often causes me discomfort when I am very active.

Lotusgirl, no I never suffered neck trauma that I can recall, other than one time when a dentist pulled a particularly difficult tooth (it had a little hooked root!) and in my “helping” him by holding very strong, I pulled a muscle in my neck and was unable to turn my head for weeks. Very painful! But I have always tended toward a straight neck which was discovered in my early 20’s but I did not realize that anything could be done about it then, or perhaps I would have tried!

Siva, thank you very much for that insight. This helps me begin to understand the whole a bit better as I consider my tendency to resist core building (I manage to keep my belly soft even when I should be using it and making the muscles stronger). I can do some situps, but I am unstable in balancing poses that require core stability.

I will be watching those videos on the stretches when I get home and will begin practicing those as well.

Also, I do not know if I have access to a good teacher yet. I recently discovered that there IS an alignment based yoga studio local to where I work, so I will be checking into that in the next couple of weeks.

Gordon, hopefully I can find a skilled practitioner who can also help me to motivate to live a more yoga life. As always, your responses remind me over and over that there is more to yoga than asana, and I remember what that used to feel like. Thank you all for your responses, each and every one was helpful.

I think I will avoid purchasing traction pillows and the like until I have determined that they would be of greater benefit than my rolled up towel, and worth all the extra expense!

#10

I have to edit, my left leg is not shorter than my right but rather my left hip is higher than my right.

#11

Joanna,

It takes only 8 minutes to do a round of AIS neck stretches, and can be practiced anytime, anywhere. Please try the first video ( the youtube video has the [B]complete[/B] set of exercises for the neck ) for a few days. I have confidence your neck muscles will response, and you will rely less on pricey professional services soon. Just be mindful never overstretch because neck is a sensitive area, but because we are stretching own neck, there is less chance of injury.

Notice when stretching one side, we are strengthening the opposite muscles.

Namaste

#12

[QUOTE=Joanna63;59447]I do have hip and low back issues, as I was born with hip displaysia in one hip that was treated by a chiropractor twice a week for my first 6 months…My left leg is shorter than my right and I wear a 5mm lift in my shoe, and my sacrum often causes me discomfort when I am very active. [/QUOTE]

Joanna,

This is my point exactly. Nothing you do to or with your neck will effect these deeper causes and may only do more to hurt it. I think your chiropractic ventures are also proof of that.

Did a professional actually measure the bones in your legs, or was it assessed visually?

Often times the “shorter leg” diagnosis is done without actually measuring the bones, which is THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW FOR SURE that it’s not something else, like a scoliosis or other, general misalignment. Please beware. If someone prescribed a lift for you just by looking at you, it may not have been the right course of action and could be contributing to the problem.

peace,
siva

#13

As I corrected in the post after (as I realized it hours later), it was diagnosed using an x-ray of my pelvis. The sacrum is tilted to the left side - or perhaps it’s that the pelvis is tilted to the right, and the sacrum does not fit properly as a result. As for the length of my legs, I am pretty certain it is the tilt of the pelvis causing the discrepancy.

Antaraayaah, I have begun doing those exercises, I have no doubt they will help. Thank you.

#14

[QUOTE=Joanna63;59748]Antaraayaah, I have begun doing those exercises, I have no doubt they will help. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Joanna,

Please note not to use hand to stretch / press the neck, it gently sets the direction of the intended stretch. It is the neck muscle which creates the stretch not the hand, e.g. we contract (thus strengthened) the right side to stretch the left neck muscles. Notice every subsequent stretch should touch deeper muscles, we allow awareness to penetrate and align our neck.

Also the upper back should be kept in position, it does not participate in the stretch.

In summary, the hand is gentle. In every repetition, the working neck muscles contract more to a deeper stretch in the 2 seconds when we exhale.

I sounded like a nagging grandma ? :smiley:

Good Luck, and Namaste

#15

thanks antaraayaah, I seem to remember him stating gently using the hand to help with the stretch after you have done the first stretch in each position without using the hand to help. I think the way you describe it sounds much more beneficial and less likely to cause any injury. It certainly has helped to emphasize my awareness of the “trouble areas” in my neck.