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Neck Exercise Simulate Vomiting
Find your way to your hands and knees and rest comfortably Simulate the action of throwing
up Dry heaving will induce contractions in muscles from the stomach to the back of the head
as part of an innate action pattern As you use the vomiting pattern to reach into muscles
throughout the neck twist and turn the neck in every direction You should notice small
cracking sensations as well as the achy sensation of activating muscles that rarely get used
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Before Program Peace vomiting was painful for me This was the case because muscles in my
abdomen were braced to the point of stagnancy At times when retching my internal organs
would feel like they were on fire As you might have guessed the diaphragm and stomach
produce much of the force used to expel food This exercise along with those from Chapter
and have made it so that vomiting is painless
Keep Your Shoulders Down and Back
In cartoons when a character becomes defensive or deferential they raise their shoulders
Body language experts and animal behaviorists point out that this behavior may represent an
effort to protect the neck specifically the carotid artery and jugular vein However prolonged
use of this insecure posture causes the muscles along the back of the neck and shoulders
trapezius to become stuck in partial contraction This means we walk sit and sleep in our
beds with raised shoulders
The simple act of actively pushing the shoulders toward the floor can remodel the upper
body The latissimus dorsi lats that start under the armpits and run along the sides of the
torso provide this tug The more often you use them to pull the shoulders down the more tone
they develop Pilates practitioners concentrate on keeping the head up and the shoulders down
by imagining they are trying to maximize the distance between their ears and the tops of their
shoulders In personal training this is referred to as shoulder packing It involves depressing
the shoulders and squeezing the shoulder blades together Regularly engaging in a practice like
this will improve your kinesthetic awareness of what it feels like to appropriately position your
neck and shoulder blades
Neck Exercise Keeping the Shoulders Down and Back
Bring your neck into a gentle retraction Next press your shoulders down toward the floor
The shoulder blades should be lightly squeezed together adducted with neck elongated
chin angled down and chest open From here engage your entire shoulder girdle by pressing
your shoulders and arms down You can pretend that you are a gymnast performing a
support hold on two parallel bars You could also imagine that you are pressing yourself up
out of a sewer hole Once you have gotten the hang of it try it pressing down against a hard
surface such as a chair tabletop or the floor Again you want to reinforce this position from
as many angles as possible
Chapter Antirigidity for the Neck and Shoulders
Pressing the shoulders down is made easier by carrying or pretending to carry a load in
the hands This is the posture of a highly commanding and athletic person It is also the posture
that our body was designed for given that we have been finetuned for carrying items while
walking Imagine yourself carrying large hunks of meat or a long spear and a heavy wooden
club The most efficient way to carry these things is with the shoulders fully pressed toward the
ground as our ancestors would have Whether walking socializing carrying things exercising
or in bed you want your shoulders back and down
Neck Exercise Keeping the Shoulders Down with Weights
Hold a two to pound dumbbell in each hand and allow the weight to pull your shoulders
toward the floor Dynamically shift the position of your shoulder blades and focus on the
sensations involved While letting the weight tug at your shoulders gently rotate the
shoulders outward and inward Next try rolling them either forward or backward in circles
As you do so try to contract all the muscles in your upper torso You should feel this stretch
reaching into previously hidden rigidity all over your upper body
Puff Up and Open the Chest
Many women hold the breastbone down and inward to withdraw their breasts Men do it to
make their chest less conspicuous This unnecessary modesty leads to unhealthy posture by
depressing the collarbones and lowering the head Ladies and gentlemen it is healthiest for you
to project your breast forward so disregard any perceived social consequences
Neck Exercise Heart Opener
With your neck retracted clasp your hands behind your back and pull down This should
draw your shoulders back and down and spread your collarbones wide Arch the chest
upward and forward Project it out into space Walk and move in this way with your chest
cracked wide open
For optimal shoulder stability you want to strengthen the muscles that externally rotate
your shoulders Do this by turning your wrists outward so that your palms face forward
Allow this to rotate your shoulders toward your back so that they are no longer slumped
forward With this simple change you should feel your chest and collarbones spread open deep
within their joints Alternately try lifting your arms to waist height with the palms facing the
sky At the same time retract your neck flex your glutes and puff out your chest Keep
practicing this external rotation of the shoulders until it is habitual It is especially important
during cardio and weightbearing exercises
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
T
Illustration A woman A pressing herself out of a sewer hole B allowing weights to tug her shoulders down
C with her shoulders back and down and the hands clasped behind the back D E with her palms facing the sky
and her shoulders externally rotated
Use Shrugging for Antirigidity
Apes generally walk on all fours Their upper body which we have inherited was designed for
it To support this form of locomotion apes assume a multitude of neck and shoulder postural
configurations as they press their hands against the ground with each stride There are many
such postures between shoulders completely shrugged and shoulders completely down
You will find that shoulder shrugging is a great counterpose to shoulders down and that a shrug
enhances your ability to find achiness in the neck retracted position
Postural Exercise Shrugging
Place your hands on the ground a table or a countertop and push away while
simultaneously shrugging your shoulders to rehabilitate frailty Vary this posture in as many
ways as possible Try it with your neck extended and retracted Try it with the shoulders
bowed toward the front of the body and then rotated toward the back
Illustration Shrugging positions for antirigidity
Other Methods of Antirigidity
Aside from knucklewalking apes are also built for climbing trees and swinging between
branches You may know where am going with this recommend using either gymnastics rings
Chapter Antirigidity for the Neck and Shoulders
or TRX Bands to recreate similar isometric poses to repair your neck and shoulders You can
hang rings or bands from many places including a tree branch or even a pullup bar ina
doorway Use these supports to place your body into unfamiliar positions from which to search
for areas in need of antirigidity
Neck Exercise Using Gymnastics Rings for Optimal Neck Retraction
Place each of your hands in a ring with your arms spread out at degrees Press down
lightly on the rings as if you were attempting to perform an iron cross Retract the neck
pulling the chin toward the neck This position should be very frail and unstable and should