5 Ways to Reduce Shoulder Tension
Stress has many physical manifestations, but for me its main targets are my neck and shoulders.
Muscles tension builds up and seems to create a barrier between the brain and the body, causing pain and making it hard for me to concentrate. If you are feeling stressed, or even just stiff in the neck and shoulders, it pays to move, stretch, and massage those areas.
Here are five ways you can release your shoulders while sitting at your desk:
- Inhale lifting your shoulders toward your ears, taking three slow counts to raise them. Exhale and just let your shoulders fall. It is ever so nice to just give into gravity once and a while. Repeat five times.
- Gently lower your right ear toward your right shoulder then slowly switch sides. Don't hang in any one position for too long, this isn't really a stretch — super-tense neck muscles don't like to be stretched. Just try to get your stiff, tense neck moving around. Repeat five times on each side.
Learn the other three ways to reduce your shoulder tension when you read more.
- Exhale and squeeze your shoulder blades together by pulling bent elbows toward each other behind your back. This might feel like you are doing the funky chicken, but it is a great move for opening your chest.
- Nod your chin toward your chest, taking three slow counts to do so. Really isolate the movement so just the neck is moving; don't round the upper back. This move provides a stretch for the muscles in the back of the neck. Repeat three to five times.
- Take your left hand to your right, really tighten the muscle between your neck and shoulder joint (the upper trapezius) and squeeze the muscle like a sponge. Squeeze all the tension out. Repeat five times.
Still feeling stressed? Check out these other tips on how to relax.
