8 Yoga Poses To Help Cervical Spine And Neck Pain

The vertebral issue is nowadays one of the most common problems that one encounter in day to day life. Vertebrae pain is commonly found in adults and old age people. It includes cervical, spine and neck pain. Problems of back pain are mostly reported in women and Neck pain prevalent in men.

Main causes of vertebral pain are –

1. Degeneration in vertebrae and discs as we become older.
2. Development of bone spurs which irritates nearby muscles, ligaments and nerves.

Credit for these growing issues should be given to our changing lifestyle. Development of materialistic ideology for an easy and comfortable life is one of the major threat to our healthy life. Along with this factor, there are some other risk factors for unhealthy spine includes:

• Occupational factors including prolonged keyboarding jobs, jobs may place extra stress on the neck.
• Poor posture as mostly lean when standing and sitting, wrong sitting posture.
• Age- As spinal disk tends to dehydrate and shrink with age.

The spine is the most important part of the body. It forms a primary support system that keeps our upper body firm and allows all movements of the upper body like forwarding, backward and twisting. The yogis say that person’s age is determined by the flexibility of his/her spine. So for avoiding backache and making our spine flexible, we need to do exercises on a daily basis. Yogic exercises can prevent and reduce vertebrae pain but only in the initial stage. When a degeneration is at critical level one should go for medical treatment. Yogasana helps to stretch and strengthen muscles. It makes our spine flexible through various yoga poses and improves posture. Yogasana is also appropriate for any age group hence easy to perform.

So here is 8 yoga poses to help cervical, spine and neck issue:

1. Tadasana:

This asana stretches the entire spine and loosened it. Helps to clear up congestion of spinal nerve at the point of their emergence from the spinal column. It also stretches nearby muscles like rectus abdominal muscles, chest muscles and arms. It also relieves the stiffness of the spine and hence makes the spine flexible.

Technique:

1. Stand straight with feet together 10m apart and arms by the side.
2. Interlock your fingers and raise your arms over the head.
3. Concentrate on a point, with deep inhale raise your heels and stretch your arms shoulders and chest upward.
4. Try to maintain your balance and concentration. Stretch your body as much as possible from top to bottom.
5. After some time, lower the heels with proper exhale and relax your arms and bring palms on top of your head.
6. Relax for some seconds and perform second round.

Breathing pattern: Inhale while raising your arms, breath normally while a stretch, exhale while lowering your hand.

Duration: Practice 5 rounds and try to stretch the spine more in every round.

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2. Kati-Chakrasana:

It means rotation of the waist. It is helpful in reducing extra fat from the waistline as well as the lower abdomen thus makes wait slim. It helps in relieving stiffness in the neck and trunk area.

Technique:

1. Stand straight with feet comfortably apart.
2. Raise the arm to shoulder level, then twist the body to the right.
3. Bring the left hand to the right shoulder and wrap the right arm around the back, bringing the right hand around the left side of the waist. Look over the right shoulder as far as comfortable.
4. Hold for two seconds, accentuate the twist, gently stretching the abdomen.
5. Return to the starting point.
6. Repeat on the other side and it completes one round.
7. Relax for some seconds and perform second round.

Breathing: Inhale while raising the arm, exhale while twisting, inhale when returning to center, exhale while releasing the posture.

Duration: Practice 5 rounds and try to twist more in every round and breathing synchronize with movement.

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3. Hasta Utthanasana:

It is raised armed pose in which the upper body slightly bends backward. Asana makes the waist slim and increases the flexibility of the spine for backward movement.

Technique:

1. Stand on the ground with legs together. Raise the arm and stretch both arms above head keeping them shoulder-width apart.
2. Now bend the head, arms and upper trunk slightly backward.
3. Hold on for some second according to your capacity and then return to the initial position.

Breathing Pattern: Inhale while raising your arms.

Duration: Practice up 2-3 rounds and slowly increase rounds as well as the time period of holding asana as your strength increases.

4. Marjari Asana:

Also known as Cat stretch Pose. This asana improves the flexibility of the neck, shoulders, and spine.

Technique:

1. Sit in Vajrayasana. Then raise the buttocks and stand on knees.
2. Lean forward and place the hands flat on the floor beneath the shoulder with the fingers facing forward.
3. Hands should be in line with knees and the arms and thighs should be perpendicular to the floor.
4. Inhale while raising the head and depressing the spine (back become concave) and exhale while lowering the head and raising the spine (back become convex).
5. This is one round. Repeat this sequence in next round.

Breathing pattern: Perform the movement breathing as slowly as is comfortable. Inhale while the back is placed in depression, exhale while the back is raised.

Duration: Practice up 5 rounds and movement should be synchronized with breathing.

5. Bhujanagasana:

It is also called as cobra pose. This asana makes the waist slender and chests broad. It increases the flexibility of the back and massages the abdominal organs. It is good for sciatica, slipped disc and low backache.

Technique:

1. Lie down on the abdomen. The lower limbs should be joining together and place close to the ground. The hands should be placed beside the chest on the ground.
2. The body should be lifted above the ground from the navel as high as possible so that it resembles the hood of the cobra.
3. Maintain the final posture with normal breathing.
4. Then slowly come back to the initial position.

Breathing pattern: Inhale while lifting your upper body, normal breathing while maintaining posture, exhale while lowering your upper body.

Duration: Practice up 4-5 rounds and slowly increase rounds as well as the time period of holding asana as your strength increases.

6. Dhanurasana:

In this asana body takes shape of bow.it is helpful in treating back pain.

Technique:-

1. Lie down on the abdomen. Bend both knees and hold the legs just above the ankles by both the hands.
2. Raise the whole body from the waist upwards and try to maintain the weight of the body on the lower abdomen.
3. Maintain the posture for some time. Low down the body and come back to the initial position.

Breathing: Inhale deeply in the starting position. Retain the breath while raising the body. Retain the breath inside in the final position or practice slow, deep breathing. Exhale while returning to the prone pose.

Duration: Practice up 4-5 rounds and slowly increase rounds as well as the time period of holding asana as your strength increases.

7. Ardha Matsyendrasana:

It is also called half spinal twist. This asana simultaneously stretches muscles on one side of the back and the abdomen while contracting the muscles on the other side. It tones the nerves of the spine, makes the back muscles supple, relieves lumbago and muscular spasms and reduces the tendency of adjoining vertebrae to develop inflammatory problems and calcium deposits.

Technique:-

1. Sit with the leg stretched out in front of the body. Bend the right leg and place the right foot flat on the floor on the outside of the left knee. The toes of the right foot should face forward.
2. Bend the left leg and bring the foot around to the right buttock. The outside edge of the foot should be in contact with the floor.
3. Pass the left arm through the space between the chest and the right knee and place it against the outside of the right leg.
4. Hold the right foot or ankle with the left hand so that the right knee is close to the left armpit. Sit up as straight as possible.
5. Raise the right arm and slowly twist to right simultaneously moving the arm, trunk, and head.
6. Bend the right elbow and place the arm around the back of the waist.
7. Reverse the movement to come out of the posture and repeat on the other side.

Breathing pattern: Inhale in the forward position. Exhale while twisting the trunk. Breathe deeply and slowly without strain in final position. Inhale while returning to starting position.

Duration: Try to hold the asana for some seconds according to your capacity. Gradually increase your strength.

8. Gomukhasana:

The interlocked hand in this asana takes the shape of gomukh, which means “a cow face”. This asana helps in making the spine straight. It strengthens the muscles of the back and biceps. The practice of this asana removes pain in hips and lower extremities. Relax muscles of shoulder and neck.

Technique:-

1. Sit on the ground with the leg bent so that the heel touches the anus. The right leg also should be bent so that the right heel touches the left buttock. Care should be taken so that the left foot should remain straight touching the ground and the toes of the right foot also touches the ground.
2. The right arm should be raised and bent upward behind the back so that all the eight fingers of both the hands are interlocked. Then the right elbow should be lowered as far as possible.

3. During all this, the eyes have to be kept open and the respiration has to go on as usual.

Breathing Pattern: Normal in final position.

Duration: Practice up for 2-3 min. If comfortable then you can also relax in this asana.

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