Neck and Shoulder Tension: No Thank You

I don't know about you, but in our current climate my neck and shoulder tension feels like it's worsening on a daily basis.

The problems in the world are big, and can feel like they're encroaching on our daily lives constantly.

The wealth gap is bigger than ever, the achievement gap is a similarly vast divide, our president is a racist celebrity has-been, climate change is affecting the weather patterns of the world, we're living through a global pandemic, and the roots of systemic racism are being dug up and exposed to the world in a necessary and haunting reality of just how not-far America has come since slavery and Jim Crow.

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Have your shoulders reached your ears yet? Is your jaw clenched? Are you feeling a migraine coming on? Do you feel like you need to nap and shut out the world?

It's a difficult teeter totter to ride - that of engaging with the happenings of the world and trying to right the wrongs, and feeling so overwhelmed that you just have to turn off.

My History with Neck and Shoulder Tension

I grew up in a tense environment, even without the larger experience of the problems of the world. I would have terrible migraines from clenching my jaw all day long, and even had my two front teeth replaced because I had cracked them over time with the force of every human emotion I carried around with me.

I was prescribed muscle relaxers when I had my teeth replaced at age 18 so that I wouldn't crack the new ones. I went to physical therapy starting when I was 11 or 12 because my neck muscles were so tightly knotted, that they were actively pulling my vertebrae out of alignment.

Braces and expanders did not help the cause, and I would lay on the couch everyday after school with a bag of frozen peas agains my neck and tears streaming down my face.

My body absorbed all of the energy that I did not know how to channel - and I was hurting. I thought that I could absorb, deflect, and power through. But my body could not withstand the daily strain.

When I was 15, I found yoga.

I'm sure my physical therapist (or regular therapist) suggested it, and my mom and I started attending a community class weekly on Wednesday nights.

It was a beautiful room with hardwood floors, wooden beams and shiplap covering the ceiling, and an angled wall of windows at the front of the room overlooking a golf course.

At first it felt like torture. I could not do the deep breathing - inhale for 5, exhale for 6 - until more than halfway through the class. It took my body 30 minutes before I could actually relax enough to take a full breath.

Looking back, I feel terrible for the constant discomfort and pain that I went through before learning how to take care of myself.

I also feel grateful for having learned how to listen and respond to my body when I was young, and committing to taking care of it.

Though I feel immensely better on a daily basis, my neck and shoulder tension still feels like friends who have overstayed their welcome at my house party. (It's time for you guys to go now, I need to go to bed. K thx.)

But I have learned that self care is not indulgent.

It is way more fun to take care of yourself, than to feel the effects of neglect on your body.

You would rather get a massage than go to physical therapy, right?!

Yes, please and thank you.

Here are 7 ways to get your unwelcome guests - neck and shoulder tension - to leave

Get your yoga on

I am a big yogi, and am actually finishing up teacher training for my RYT 200hr at the beginning of 2021.

Stretching and moving your body may not feel like you're doing much, but it is so necessary.

Whether you want to go to a studio nearby, stream YouTube classes, or go it on your own. Yoga is physically, mentally, and emotionally healing.

I also love "Yoga with Adrienne" on Youtube!

Get a massage

Again, not indulgent! I try to schedule a massage once per month at my chiropractor.

That is 12 times per year that you spend on yourself.

There is no single activity that I can do that does a better job at reducing my number of headaches, improving my sleep, and all around making me feel relaxed.

Get a TENS machine

If you have really chronic neck and shoulder tension (welcome to the club, we should get cute T-shirts), I’m definitely not a doctor, but I love my TENS machine when I’m battling a particularly bad day of muscle tension.

These provide an adjustable electric current that works out muscle knots really well.

I will admit, it made me nervous to use one on my own, at first, but it is so easy to use and I am so glad I have this on hand! (read the directions, obviously, but you'll love it).

I cannot say enough good things about it when I am feeling a migraine coming on and need some relief.

Feed your body

Diets are stressful, and I am not suggesting anything other than focusing on eating the foods we all know are healthy, and reducing the foods that we all know are not healthy.

I like the saying "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Eating food means things that you recognize as actually growing from the Earth.

AKA a cheeto does not look like food, and it's really not "food."

Invest in a good pillow

I am a side sleeper (to my chiropractor's dismay) and I have gone through so many memory foam pillows and spent 100s of dollars and hated all of them.

I finally bought a pillow from my chiropractor (yes, Dr. Heidi helps me a LOT) and it has helped with me not waking up so crunchy in the morning.

This isn't the exact one that I have, but here is one that is very similar if you'd like a low-cost one to try out (I paid $40 for mine).

Drink more water

There's a reason everyone is always telling you to drink more water! Staying hydrated is huge for muscle tension.

I am a big coffee drinker, and I notice a significant difference in the amount of headaches I get when I drink enough water, versus when I definitely don't. I also try to replace my coffee with a caffeinated tea a few times per week.

So, get yourself a pretty water bottle, and drink up! I love Hydroflask - like, I love them so much I have three of them. I highly recommend these for keeping your water cold (or your tea hot) all day long!

Work the knots out with a lacrosse ball

Again, when my knots are really hurting, I will stand against a wall and put a lacrosse ball between my shoulder and the wall and just move up and down so the lacrosse ball works out each knot.

It can be painful, but it is a cheap fix that works.

You can also use a softer foam ball if you want something less firm - I like this one for days that I am really sore:

Takeaways to remember

You do not get points for how much you can endure before you break.

Lean on your self care routine and attend to your neck and shoulder tension before it takes over your day, or week!

And definitely, definitely get a massage.

Yours in self care,

Emily Rose // Miss Magnolia

Need some more ideas for self care? Check out this post!