It may be difficult to work on neck and shoulder issues (whiplash) until the rest of the body is relaxed. First, work with supine lengthwise and crosswise chest openers. Then supported and active bridge poses are active back bending poses. Weight bearing Down and Up Dog poses are best introduced before upright and arm elevation activities. Standing poses are good ways to introduce arm elevation helping with whiplash.
The most common postural error is when the head is pushed forward. This leads to a tensing and shortening of the neck musculature, circulatory problems in the head, neck, shoulder and arms, and an overtaxing of the ligaments and discs.
Some cases with whiplash have chronic pain, and breathing tends to be shallow and you frequently hold your breath. With restricted breathing you're not exhaling fully and can't remove from the lungs stale air and the residual build up of toxins. With chronic pain the muscles are cold and contracted from poor circulation, so even less oxygen comes in and fewer toxins are removed. When you breathe fully and deeply, the lungs work more, the diaphragm moves, the inter-costal, back, and abdominal muscles work. This generates heat into the core of the body and helps the whiplash.
Another positive result of conscious breathing is its calming effect on the emotions, reducing fear and anxiety in the nervous system. You feel safer emotionally as well as more at ease and relaxed physically. Conscious breathing also helps diminish tension before it accumulates around the areas where chronic pain exists (whiplash).
The next step in releasing chronic pain involves changing the person's attitude toward the part of the body in pain. Invite the person you are working with (the student) to observe not only what the pain feels like, but how they feel about the pain, in this case whiplash. The intention is for your student to feel the emotions connected with the part of the body that hurts. This important step connects emotional pain with physical pain, and enables your student to recognize the continuity between his or her body, mind, and feelings.
There are many attitudes associated with chronic pain: suffering, anger, despair, depression, loss, and helplessness, to name a few. And with whiplash, this of course adds to the stress because of the negative self-directed energy required to deny parts of ourselves.
A forward head can eventually damage neck and upper back structures, as they bend and rub at angles they were not built for.
Chronically holding neck muscles in an overstretched position weakens them. The forward head creates shortened, contracted muscles in front, and a stretched, weakened back. Cervical (neck) discs are pressured posteriorly. This creates a cycle of forward positioning that herniates discs and makes sore aching muscles, and the tightness and habits that keep you tilting forward. The result is that the average person has upper body pain from the poor positioning and at the same time, the chronic poor positioning makes them too tight to stand up straight. A yoga programme can help you with whiplash.
Glen Wood - The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back, Neck and Shoulder Pain.
