Techniques for Tech Neck Part 2

Well the time is fast approaching for us to be spending more time inside. Our moments of outdoor activity on warm days are numbered so here are a few exercises to help you undo damage from too many hours you’ll spend on the computer, driving the car or looking down at your phone or books.  Raking leaves these days? This series of exercises will help relieve neck strain & improve posture!

We spend a great deal of time living our lives “out front”. This tends to create a great deal of strength and overuse of the front body muscles and creates weakness, tension or tightness in the back body. It is very common for people to focus on the muscles they can see and not spend much time on the back body; even for people who are regular exercisers (perhaps without proper guidance). This collection will help realign the spine, strengthen the upper back and shoulder muscles as well as release tension we hold in this area. Exercises such as these can be the difference between maintaining good posture or looking older than our age as we begin to creep forward. Slow down the process of aging with visible signs of looking younger than you really are by standing tall & feeling strong!

pull face away & keep nose towards floor

Back Extension Series:

  1. Lying flat on a mat or towel, place a folded or rolled up towel beneath your forehead. This will allow room to breathe and also facilitate a tucked chin.

  2. Keeping the FEET ON THE FLOOR and only using your arms somewhat, lift the face away from the towel keeping the nose towards the floor, not looking up to the side wall.

  3. TURN the head sideways slowly and rest the cheek or temple on the towel. REMAIN here for 2-3 breaths to allow the side neck muscles to stretch. LIFT the head from here and then return to the centre starting position.

  4. REPEAT to the other side. DO each side 3-4x daily to reverse serious damage or do 3-4 days/week if doing a maintenance/lifestyle program.

  5. Once strength has been improved hold the head up longer in STEP 2 and add the arms by raising them off the floor to HOVER and HOLD 2-3 seconds before turning & releasing. Allow arms to rest when in the head-turned position; focus on the stretch and breath.

start & end position - can be done on it’s own or with the twist/neck stretch (steps 2-4)

Laurie Surey