Physiomontreal - Medical Conditions

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Relaxation

Most of us lead a stressful life, the more stressed we are, the more likely that we adopt a stressed out posture; our muscles tense up, our head goes forward and our shoulders are up next to the ears. This is how we accumulate knots in our muscles. This kind of posture, maintained the whole day can lead to chronic neck pain. So to alleviate and/or abolish pain we must learn to relax, mentally and physically.

Muscles that are allowed to relax intermittently throughout the day have better blood flow, receive more oxygen and nutrients than ones that are constantly in a contracted tense state. Those muscles that are constantly tense tend to be painful because they are overworked and undernourished. For example if you keep you hand in a fisted position all day, your hand would be sore; but if you allow your hand to relax sometime and use it sometime then your hand would feel fine. The same principle applies to the muscles of the neck. So try to relax .

A few relaxation techniques that worked well for most patients are to simply performing deep breathing exercises. I recommend people with chronic neck pain to practice deep breathing exercises every hour on the hour for at least 3-5 minutes. The goal of the exercise is twofold:

Reduce the stress that contributes to tightening of the neck and shoulder musculature during the working day.
Reduce strain and pain in the neck by relaxing those tense muscles caused by stress

Fact Sheet: Deep Breathing Exercise for Relaxation

Deep breathing is the most basic relaxation exercise. By breathing slowly and deeply from your abdomen (stomach), you can easily enter a deep state of relaxation anywhere, at any time, with no special equipment or training. All you need is practice. Here's how:

Make yourself comfortable. You can either sit up straight in a chair or lie down on your back. If you're lying down, make yourself comfortable with a pillow under your head, and/or under your knees.
Let your shoulders and neck muscles drop and relax.
Close your eyes. Rest your hands gently on your stomach so you can feel your own breathing. Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose. You should feel your stomach expand as you breathe in. When you've breathed in as much as you can, slowly breathe out through your mouth with your lips puckered. That helps slow your breathing down. Exhale until your lungs feel empty.
Continue to breathe in and out slowly and deeply. In through your nose, then out through puckered lips. Remember that your stomach should rise and fall with each breath. Your shoulders and chest should barely move at all. If you'd like your breathing to be more rhythmic, try counting silently to four slowly as you inhale and to four slowly as you exhale.
Focus your mind on your breathing. If any thoughts or worries come into your mind, gently put them aside and focus once again on your breathing.
Every time you breathe out, try to relax your body just a little bit more. If you're aware of any part of your body that is particularly tense, focus especially on relaxing that part as you exhale. Continue to breathe deeply and slowly for just a few minutes, or for as long as 20 minutes if you have the time. When you're ready to stop, open your eyes slowly and remain still for a moment before resuming your regular activities.
Practice this breathing technique regularly and you'll find that the more you use it, the better it'll work for you. You can get the maximum effect from relaxing with slow, deep, abdominal breathing every two or three days for 10 to 20 minutes.

Source: Ask Noah’s web site