Neck and shoulders

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone!<br><br>Lately I have been so

tired in my neck and shoulders. I feel really stiff in

those areas. I am sure that I am doing something wrong

in my Ashtanga practise. F.eks. my neck hurts in

warrior 2 and I feel a lot of tension both in my neck and

shoulders in downward facing dog. It would make my so happy

if anyone could give me a good advice please. Thank

you.

[Guest guest]

Hei!<br><br>I had also a period when my neck and

shoulders felt very tense. At that time I found push ups

and chaturanga dandasana in sun salutations quite

difficult and due to that I think came also feelings of

tension to my shoulders and neck area.<br><br>I think

that the reasons for creating this tension in my case

have been lack of strength in arms and not using

bandhas effectively. The strength has grown during the

practice but what I really found helpful is concentrating

in bandhas and from there making the positions

lighter. <br><br>Our instructor adviced us in chaturanga

dandasana to keep the weight of the body on both, feet and

arms (not to move the weight to the arms but more like

to push it a bit back), and to concentrate to hold

the position with bandhas. This way it actually feels

very light and strong. <br><br>Also in downward dog

position pressure from the hands and shoulders can be

reliefed by effective use of bandhas. I have been

corrected in this position to the way of more like curving

the back up with bandhas (think how cats or dogs

stretch )than to let it bend down and it helps for me.

<br><br>In general I sometimes cathc myself from overdoing

and using a lot of power witch creates tension. Then

I try to concentrate in the feeling of lightness

created through the rhythm of breathing and also

conciously think of relaxing my muscles in difficult asanas.

<br><br>I wish you a nice day. Think light <br><br>Katja

[Guest guest]

Here's my advice: when i went through my period

of my neck and shoulders hurting, this is what I

found...I had my shoulders somewhat hunched. Not hunched to

the extreme, but moving more towards my ears than

rolling down my back. [especially when you're in down

dog] when you're rotating your elbows and arms inward,

also roll the shoulders down the back. This is a

similar movement to doing backwards shoulder rolls

(remember in gym class?!), only you stop when you get to

the bottom. This is a little awkward feeling at

first, but after my teacher told me to do that, I

haven't had any problems since then. Then again, I also

go to the chiropractor once a week now...but that's

because I have major shoulder and back issues. Especially

when I did yoga a thousand times a day...I would get

SO TIGHT!<br><br>In chatarunga--I find that it helps

when I press into the balls of my feet (so your heels

move backwards--consequently putting more weight on

your feet than you had on them before) and engage the

bhandas like CRAZY! Especially uddiyana bhanda. Pretend

there is a fire underneath your stomach! Once you

over-engage the bhandas for a couple rounds of sun

salutations, your body will find the proper amount of

engagement for that pose.<br><br>Hope this

helped!<br><br>Lauren

[Guest guest]

I still cause myself some neck and shoulder

tension by reflexively hunching my shoulders. I try to be

mindful of it throughout my practice, especially in

Utthita Parsvakonasana (extended shoulder), Utkatasana

and Virabhadrasana A and B. Focusing on relaxing my

shoulders in these postures has been especially helpful in

developing awareness of the problem throughout the rest of

my practice.<br><br>Spunky

[Guest guest]

My neck usually hurts after some careless

Chakrasanas 'cause it's a killer when done

wrong.<br><br>Anyway, your problem seems to me like a case of a slight

spinal misalignment that causes tension and muscle

stiffness. Try and find an osteopath who could see if the

problem lies in the bone structure. <br><br>Or you might

have misaligned asanas and that is where your teacher

can be of help... but what you wrote about warrior 2

& neck pain indicates that something might be askew

in the boneland.<br><br>This from a fellow sufferer

who got aid from a pro. Good luck in finding relief.

[Guest guest]

Imbagogg, <br><br>this is what I do concerning my

own neck pain: <br><br><br>a. watch the cervical

vertebrae! <br><br>aa. I have learnt to maintain an

appropriate distance between my vertebrae and the floor in

all Asanas where the head is placed on the floor

(like Savangasana, Matsyasana). You might try to place

a towel or cushion under your neck to help you

maintain the distance. A distance of two fingers´

thickness, maybe. I actively press the back of my head

against the floor in these Asanas to relieve the neck.

<br><br>ab. Be careful with Chakrasana! Avoid to overstrain

the neck. I myself put my feet behind my head first

(similar to Halasana) and only then place my hands under

the shoulders and roll over. <br><br>ac. Be careful

with Sirsasana! Distribute the weight so that the

cervical vertebrae do not become overstrained.

<br><br><br>b. Avoid tension in the neck and

shoulders<br><br>ba. Push the shoulders away from the head and pull

the head away from the shoulders, e.g. in Surya

Namaskar or Dandasana. Pull the shoulders back.

<br><br>bb. Carefully relax neck and shoulders during

Savasana. Repeatedly relax neck and shoulders during my

regular day. <br><br>bc. What helped a lot: I have

arranged my desk so that I have to turn my head sideways

as little as possible (phone, screen etc.).

<br><br><br>Good luck <br>Thomas

[Guest guest]

Take care with your neck. It is not difficult to

tear a ligament and then you are in a serious

situation with your cervical vertebrae. Chakrasana should

not be attempted until you are confident with your

halasana and variations of shoulder stand. Those asanas

give you important preparation and information on your

cervical flexibility.<br><br>take care,<br>yeshe

[Guest guest]

Ok, I'll borrow something I wrote already in

January about Chakrasana on the Ezboard

thread<br><br><a

href=http://pub42.ezboard.com/fyoga84291frm3.showMessage?topicID=17.topic

target=new>http://pub42.ezboard.com/fyoga84291frm3.showMessage?topicID=17.topic<\

/a><br><br>"For some reason chakrasana has been really easy for

me from the first beginners class onwards. Perhaps

it is because of the way it was taught or because I

don't have any inner fear about it. On the very first

class where we were shown chakrasana the teacher

stressed the importance of rolling directly over your neck

while your chin should be pressed to your solar plexus

and making the whole thing in a relaxed fashion. This

way no injuries should happen.<br><br>I myself do it

by first lifting my legs and going to Karnapidasana,

then I put my hands next to my ears, and then

simultaneously straighten my legs, as in halasana, and push with

the hands while exhaling. This way I roll over

effortlessly and land in catvari. I think that the short phase

in Karnapidasana helps me to keep my neck straight.

Perhaps that would be the key to overcome some fear? I

think it feels very safe with the support of both

thighs and once you push from there you'll roll into

catvari without even noticing any strain on the

neck."<br><br>Since, then I've experimented with skipping the

karnapidasana phase and rolling stráight into catvari with legs

held straight all the time. And sometimes, on stiffer

days perhaps, I notice after the practise that my neck

is hurting a bit and makes slight creaking noises

when tilting my head around and about. <br><br>It is

quite worrying, so I've returned now to how I did that

asana before and decided to consult my osteopath for an

opinion. One can never be too careful when personal health

and at worst paralysis could be at stake.