neck exercises..

Having yogi's as friends sometimes is interesting, because they don't let you get away with things.
For a couple weeks there when I was sick and a little bit blue, I was having the worst neck and shoulder pain.
Now since every injury and pain we have can be related to an emotion...(neck problems usually relate to feelings of having "the weight of the world on our shoulders"). So instead of getting any sympathy, I was asked what was wrong, being psychoanalyzed..and having to deal with the issue instead of getting a little bit of comfort. However you always get what you need and I'm very thank full to my friends.

Now what came out of this was that I started to do the neck exercises again, and it's always interesting sometimes to start over in your practice. We think sometimes when we first do Asana's that we will reach a certain goal and that will be it, but due too injuries, stress or not doing our practice for awhile, that isn't always the case. These gifts and that's what I like to call them, help us get back in touch with the importance of some of the more basic practice. Doing the neck exercises reminded me how much of a struggle this can be for some people and how important they are to do, especially if its cold out, early in the day, if your on your feet all day or at the computer or just haven't practice in awhile . To remember that some of the more passive exercises can have the strongest benefits.

So if you haven't done them in awhile give it a try....

Sit cross-legged and practice each set of neck exercises at least three times.

- Back and forth. Drop your head back gently and then slowly drop it forward
- Side to side. Tilt your head to the right shoulder, to the center, and to the left.
- Turn your head. Turn your head to look over each shoulder in turn.
- Circling. Inhale as you rotate your head to one side, exhale to the other.