Gentle Neck Stretches For Migraine Ease

One symptom of migraine can be a stiff or uncomfortable neck. This gentle practice helps to ease tension in the upper back, shoulders and neck. Creating more space through gentle daily movement can encourage less tightness and a feeling of greater ease. While this will not cure a migraine, it may help to soothe upper body tightness and symptoms which many experience within the prodrome phase.

Please work gently with the body during this practice and move within a pain-free range at all times.

Music used with kind permission from Chris Collins, Indie Music Lab.

Transcript

Welcome to your shorts. Five minutes. Yoga for releasing neck tension. Maintain a comfortable seated position. Place one hand onto your stomach and begin to focus on your breath. On the inhales, Expand the stomach out into your hands. On the exhales draw the navel back towards the spine. This is diinformatic reading. And this helps to activate your body's relaxation response. Keep your attention on your breath. Expanding. Feeling a lunch film. It's healing. Now going to move to some seated cat-cow stretches. So on the inhale lift your chin up to the sky. As you exhale, Draw the chin in towards the chest, Grounding the spine. Take several of these. Movements. Gently warming the spine up. Now come to a seated position and drop your left ear towards your left shoulder. Trent Chastes. Right ear to right shoulder. Moving. Mindfully loosening off the back of the neck. Leaving the ear to the left shoulder, Extend the right arm out to the side to intensify the stretch. If you want you can see the ring hand behind the head. You can even place the left hand over to the right side of the head. Not pricing. Just offering a bit more pressure. When you're ready switch to the opposite side. We'll be taking some neck circles. Between saints. This video is all about it. Or blazing. Loosening off my neck. Goodbye, People. The shoulders, Retention can accumulate. And add to your links. Now take your head back to centre, Tuck your chin down towards the chest, This time without moving the spine. And slowly Lift your eyes up to the ceiling. And then take it down. Moving gently. And then we're going to move from side to side as I've seen normal. Moving slowly with the breath. Movements. Our time is of great value. Now take your head to look down towards the left knee please. The left hand on the back of the left hand. So a slightly different position for the head next. Slightly different stretch. A few breaths there and move to the opposite side. Taking the chin in, Looking down towards the right knee. Come back up when you're ready. Take the arms behind the back, Clasp the fingers. You're going to take both hands and go to the right, Pulling the right shoulder back. Dropping the left ear towards the left shoulder. Working the pain free range, This is a deep stretch for the neck. Into the top of the shoulder. When you're ready, Extend the arms, Switch to the left side. Take your hands to the left side of the body, Dropping the right ear towards the right shoulder. Now extend the arms behind you. We'll take the right arm to the ground, Left arm up to the sky. And rotating the head to look down and up. Only moving as far as is comfortable for you. Again, Mobilizing the neck, The upper back. Switch to the opposite side, Left hand comes to the ground, Right arm up to the sky. This is about the names. Not so much a side bend at the moment. Noting the right arm down to the ground. Left arm sweeps up and over, Moving into that side bend. Find the best, Most comfortable position for your neck here. Move to the other side. Taking several breaths. Before coming to set back up. Sitting tall, I'm going to take a twist round to the right. Gentle twist. Healing to length spine. Exhaling to drop the left ear towards the left shoulder. Turn to the other side, Twisting to the left. Right ear towards the right shoulder this time. Moving mindfully. Coming back to centre. Taking several slow deep breaths, Enjoying the sense of release in the neck.