Hi,
I'm Miriam Amavi and now we're going to do a little neck release that also doubles as sort of a vagus nerve reset.
It signals safety to your nervous system and it helps kind of release all that tension that accumulates in the neck,
Especially if we have a lot of stress,
If we feel anxious a lot.
And these muscles here,
If they have enough blood flow,
The vagus nerve can send these signals of safety to our brain and from the brain down into your body.
And if we're all tensed up,
The vagus nerve can't really do its thing really well.
And then we often feel more stressed,
More anxious.
And in this exercise,
We're going to release that tension.
Also give your neck a little bit more fluidity,
A little bit more ease.
And you don't need anything for this practice.
Just need a place to sit.
If you can't sit upright,
Even though it's recommended,
You can also just lean back because whatever your body is telling you,
That's the right thing.
And before we start,
I just invite you to check your baseline and turn your head to the right.
Turn your head to the left and feel how much range of motion you have here.
And how easy it feels to turn your head if there is any clicking or any tension here.
Just notice,
Don't judge,
It's okay.
We're here to support our neck in this moment.
You just need your right hand,
Put it onto the right side of your throat and we're not pressing into the skin but we're pressing just a tiny bit so you can get a little bit of grip on your skin and gently push it backwards.
And if you like to add on a little bit onto this,
You can just gently turn your head to the left.
And feel that stretch in your skin.
And now my nervous system did this little spontaneous sigh,
Which is a great sign of the nervous system.
Sort of shifting gears into a more rest and digest,
Relaxed mode.
But you don't need to force these types of releases like yawning or sighing or swallowing.
They will either happen automatically or they will happen after you practice these types of exercises.
A few times.
Because sometimes the nervous system needs a little bit more proof in order for it to work.
Allow to release tension.
And then you can let go.
Bring your head back to the center.
And then take your skin again and just gently shift it forwards if you like you can gently Shift your head to the right.
And just stay here.
You can even do this while you're watching TV,
While you're waiting at a red light.
And What we're doing here is called shearing.
It's a really gentle way of working with the nervous system.
Because we're not forcing it through like really intense stretching to release tension because often when we stretch intensely Our nervous system feels it needs to brace more because it hurts.
But if we just do this with our skin,
Our nervous system notices,
Oh,
We're safe.
Okay.
You can let go.
And now turn your head to the right.
Turn your head to the left.
I feel such a difference.
If you don't,
That's okay,
You can just continue practicing these types of exercises.
More and then we take the left hand bring it to the left side of your throat Gently pull the skin backwards and turn your head to the right.
Bye now.
Another thing that is happening here is we're interrupting tension patterns in the fascia,
In the muscles.
Because often when we just go about our daily life and experience all these triggers and stressors,
Our nervous system often puts our body into the psyche.
Holding pattern or we tense up in these areas where our body feels it needs to brace,
Which often is the neck.
What we're doing here is just gently interrupting these tension patterns for quite a while.
You know,
A few seconds.
Which then tells the brain,
Oh,
Attention,
We don't need it right now,
We must be safe,
We must be okay.
Ugh.
And you can let go here.
And then take your skin again and gently pull it forwards,
Turning your head to the left.
Notice if you have any releases like sighing or yawning or swallowing,
Even gurgles in your tummy.
Ah.
Allow those.
Notice those.
But if you don't have them,
That doesn't mean your nervous system is not.
Responding.
Each body,
Each nervous system is very different.
They react differently.
And now you can release.
And bring your head back to the center again.
Turn your head to the right.
Turn your head to the left.
I feel so much more range of motion and it feels so much more fluid in my neck.
You can keep practicing this practice every day,
A couple of times a day.
Once or twice a week,
Whatever feels good in your body to kind of support that tension release over the course of time.
And if you like to go deeper with somatic exercises like these and actually learn to retrain your nervous system,
To regulate your nervous system,
Check out my course,
Somatic Exercises to Soothe Your Nervous System,
And all of my other practices just like these and meditations that I have on Insight Timer that are always very nervous system focused.
Helping you to show your body safety rather than always trying to force yourself to function.
I'm Miriam Amavi and see you next time.
