First off, sending SO many prayers to people in the South and all over the country without power or heat. We too went without heat the past couple days and it just puts so many things in perspective. We are so blessed to have a roof over our head and warmth in our home. Saying many prayers for everyone affected or dealing with issues.
For my Thursday Thoughts, I would like to talk about something I have found myself dealing with and everyday “actions” are definitely worsening things!
As of recent, I have significantly noticed a ton of tension in my neck and shoulders. This tension would lead to migraines and major neck pain. When these occur, they are generally stress induced but I’ve also noticed them pop up whenever. When that would happen, I often found myself blaming it on the weather (changes in pressure)
I started finding so much relief pressing on the acupressure points GB20 & B10.
After targeting and discovering these pressure points, I fell down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why my neck pain was so bad (almost to the point I mentioned to my husband I feel like I could have arthritis in my spine!) and couldn’t believe what I found.
First off, I know my posture is TERRIBLE. Seriously so bad. My sister-in-law sent me this and I was DEAD!
I was reading that horrible posture can affect your neck “health” – obviously and I need to work on that, but another thing that seems more of an issue is TEXT NECK.
I am guilty of this x1000000 and it makes me think of all the pressure I’ve been putting on my neck without working to counter the position shown above. I’ve already done so much damage and now need to work on ways to improve.
Text neck (to me) doesn’t necessarily mean being on your phone all the time – it could be reading, working (I used to decorate cakes at Dairy Queen for 7 years and we were constantly hunched over), anything where you are looking “down” or have a neck tilt for a long period of time. For purposes of this post, I will share some of the information I found and how I’m trying to alter my lifestyle – particularly because I’m cognizant of it.
Ways to reduce tech neck are:
Changing the way you hold your phone – either head supported laying down or in a more neutral position with the phone directly in front of you. Take more breaks – it is recommended to take a 2-3 minute break every half hour and do some stretching in between.
In terms of stretching and relief, yoga is obviously amazing for this. Healthline gives some awesome counteractive stretches in this article including Cat-Cow, Downward Facing Dog and Bow Pose.
Another thing that has intrigued me are these neck and shoulder relaxers. I’m thinking of purchasing this one below, as it has great reviews and looks absolutely incredible.
What a great routine to do throughout the day to keep my posture in check and my neck/spine healthy. To me, this is time and money well spent.
Would be curious if anyone is dealing with similar symptoms or notices a change in their neck curvature. It is SO SO important to be aware of these things to prevent future problems from arising! Hope this at least makes you think about throwing some neck stretches into your daily routine as I am!
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