Yogique Tips to Prevent Neck Strain in Yoga

Transcript

hi this is M for the yogi in today's segment I want to go over the neck issues and especially how to take care of your neck during your yoga practice in my classes I often notice that in forward bend side bends spinal twists and also back bends people don't really pay attention to their neck and there's a strain expression in the neck well the fundamental principle of yoga is AA harming and neck being so delicate we want to make sure that we really stay aware of this very important part in our practice so what I notice in forward bends that instead of hinging at the center you lead with your forehead and then as you come down your neck is taking all the pressure because the head is dangling and that's really not giving you much benefit the other expression I notice is is leading through your chin like this so the chin juts out and there's an excessive pressure right at the base of your skull and then it also strains your jaw so this is another one that I noticed so in order to avoid that make sure that you hinge right at the hip crease and visualize your spine and you're going to drop the entire spine as if you're offering your heart to mother Earth and then you have that Integrity in your spine and then what's the relationship between your tailbone and your crown and then you don't want to bend excessively in your neck so again keep hinging at the hip crease and make space in your lower back keep the shoulders away from the neck so the neck is nice and long and the chest is Broad and always make sure that you breathe evenly and fully in side bends I notice that once again people move through the shoulders and the neck just collapses so I notice this happening a lot so in side bends stay aware of what's going on in the underside and if you're again leading from the center and then coming side B into the side Bend make sure that your crown is facing the side wall and then roll the right side out and then you want to again maintain that Integrity in your spine in spinal twists you want to initiate the movement from the belly lift the spine so the direction of the spinal twist is always towards the sky and then if I'm rotating to my right I spin from the belly then rotate the shoulders and then the neck and that way you have no excessive pressure on any vertebrae and because the neck is the most mobile part we not overextending the neck and again that spinal act the spiraling action is even across the spine in back bends you want to you even want to place may want to place one hand on the neck and then one hand on your lower belly because those are the trouble spots if you will and then you want to again lift the spine and initiate that Movement by expanding the chest so keep opening the ribs but keep that space in your cervical vertebrae in your neck and in your lumbar vertebrae in your lower back and that way the back bend is more of a chest expansion and then you're not hurting any part of your spine so those are some some Basics to take care of your neck and become aware of that very important part in your practice I hope it helped you and I really uh wish that you take that into your yoga practice thank you for watching uh watch just watch more videos on the yogi namaste