Handy Manny

Posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

Handy Manny

Yoga Exercise for Fast Upper Back and Neck Pain Relief by Manny Aragon

Now in this exercise, I’m going to show you an exercise that really helps out with upper back and neck pain, upper back, neck, and shoulder issues, although it can also help with your lower back pain as well, and you’ll see why in a minute. But first of all, let’s talk about the props. I’m using a bolster here, so it’s a yoga bolster. You can get this from my website if you like, or you can use a couple of very firm blankets folded up, you don’t want that fluffy blankets, you’ll want that firm blankets. It’s about eight inches high or so and maybe about a foot and a half to two feet long. So, I’m using that, and on my side I’m going to have a yoga brick. You can use a wooden brick, you can use a soft brick, in this case I happen to have a soft brick, but it doesn’t really matter, although generally I prefer wooden bricks. Again, you can get this from my website if you like. And I’m going have a book, a handy dandy thick book, about four inches thick, nearby as well. You can’t get this from my website though. Okay, so, the theory here is, I’m going to drape my body over this bolster and stretch my arms out in front of me and my head, and in that way I want to fully support my spine so that my spine can release. Now, the upper back, the curve on the upper back, goes forward naturally, so, as, we have support in the spine, it will release and open. Now, this is good for people with lower back pain, because people with lower back pain generally have tight upper backs. People with upper back and neck pain also have tight upper backs, and they need to get that area released, okay. So this is really the key for that. This is a really good exercise; this is also good for relieving stress. It’s just a wonderful thing for balancing out your sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous system, and all kinds of other stuff. This is also good with this kind of pain. So, first, I start out, I’m on my knees, and I have my knees hip width, a little farther than hip width distance apart. My feet are together. I bring the bolster below my groin and sit down on to the bolster, the same way you sit when riding a bike, or a horse, then lower my upper body on the bolster, stretch my body forward, then take my glasses off, and I continue to further stretch my body forward, until my forehead touches the ground, my arms reaching out as far as they can. My body is completely supported by this bolster, and my forehead, down to my nose, is on the ground. This allows my neck to be fully extended, but also released. This also allows my spine, the rest of my spine, to have support. So my chest is supported and my buttocks are slightly lifted. Then I’m going to spread my knees a little bit, until my torso is touching and supported by this bolster. Then I drop my buttocks down towards my feet; so that stretches my spine there, and again, my forehead is supported here. Now it’s critical that my neck does feel jammed. If my neck feels jammed at all in base area of the skull I will having trouble breathing, and it’s just uncomfortable in general. I’m going to try raising my head. So, that’s where these props come in. Now this (yoga brick) is probably a little too thick for my head, raising my head too high but I’m going to stick it to my forehead anyway just to try it out, and my neck still feels kind of jammed. So this is probably not the right height for me, but some of you might need this. Now the book is considerably thinner than that brick. Sp I’m going to the book underneath my forehead and place my forehead unto the book, and then get a feel for what that does feel like for me, and this feels ok. So my arms are outstretched, my head is supported by the brick, my neck is completely released and relaxed, my chin is free, it’s not hitting the bolster on the floor, my nose is not touching the floor, or the brick, or the book, and my torso is completely supported by the bolster, my arms are outstretched. If I get tired I can relax my arms a bit but it is more effective if my arms remain outstretched. The reason is, it really puts the upper spine in a position that really has to open it passively. But if you find that you’re straining, just drop your arms down. The other thing that you can do is you can support your arms by your elbows. Ok, so I’m going to lie here for about ten to twenty minutes. If you don’t have ten to twenty minutes do five minutes, but the longer the better. So if you do five to ten minutes, great, if you can do twenty minutes, do it. If you do twenty minutes, I can guarantee you’ll get up and you’ll feel like you’re in another world. This is phenomenal for balancing out your nervous system, decimating the stress, just getting rid of the stress, and you will go feeling refreshed, your back will feel great, and you’ll feel like a whole new person.

It’s so easy to do this exercise. Its hassle free, it doesn’t require much space, and you can do this in the privacy of your home. What’s more this exercise relieves lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, all sorts of back pains fast. Try it, and see for yourself. To get the free video of today’s featured exercise visit http://www.backpainreliefworkshop.com. Register, and grab the video and all the other videos absolutely free, no hidden charges whatsoever. What are you waiting for? Grab one now, and take your first step to a newer, healthier you.

Manny Aragon is an advanced practitioner of Structural Integration, having successfully provided health resources for people with back pain problems at his clinic in Newport Beach California for over a decade. To grab his instructional videos of back pain relief exercises absolutely free visit http://www.backpainreliefworkshop.com or call (949) 375-7278 for more information.

Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Yoga-Exercise-for-Fast-Upper-Back-and-Neck-Pain-Relief/947384