The neck is supported and mobilized by muscles that connect the skull, vertebrae, collar bone, and shoulder blades.
Pilates exercise encourages you to create a long neck that is able to support the weight of the head in a completely balanced way. This improves your appearance, reduces strain on the neck muscles and bones (cervical vertebrae), and contributes to the overall alignment of the spine.
The neck muscles
The muscles that are involved in moving the neck are:
• The sternocleidomastoid, which is the prominent muscle that runs from the ear to the front of the base of the neck. This muscle enables you to turn your head and pull it forward.
• The trapezius, which is attached to the top of the spine at one end and to the shoulder blade at the other. This lifts the shoulder.
• The levator scapulae, which is attached to the vertebrae in the neck and to the shoulder blade. This stabilizes the shoulder blade, while the arm moves.
Neck stiffness
Each of the neck muscles easily becomes tense and stiff in people who have stressful, sedentary jobs. Once you are aware of this problem, it is easy to catch yourself bringing your shoulders up toward your ears at times of anxiety or concentration. Neck tension in turn leads to hunching of the shoulders and may be a contributory factor in recurrent headaches and back pain. Mobilizing your neck muscles helps to rid your self of such tension and the problems it causes. Releasing neck tension can help to improve posture and relieve recurrent aches and pains.
Releasing the neck
In order to start using the neck muscles correctly, you first need to release any tension they may be holding, because this may restrict or distort your freedom of movement. This allows you gently to stretch and mobilize the neck muscles in a position where they do not need to support the weight of the head. Make sure that you perform these movements slowly and with concentration, as rapid movement of the head and neck carries the risk of muscle strain and possible stress on the joints and cushioning disks between the neck vertebrae.
Take Care
When you try the neck exercises, if you find that moving your neck causes dizziness, faintness, pain, numbness, or tingling in the arms or hands you should stop the exercise immediately and seek medical advice. The movement may have been compressing a nerve or blood vessel in your neck.
Head and neck rolls
These simple movements are a relaxing preamble to the more challenging exercises. Perform them in the supine position after you have rested in the neutral pelvis position for a few moments. As with many Pilates exercises, you must not be deceived by the apparent simplicity of the movement required. You need to concentrate and engage your powers of body awareness to be sure that your exercise is having the effect that it should. Make sure that you breathe natural!' and easily throughout the exercise.
1 Lying in the neutral position, looking straight ahead, breathe in and out a few times. Focus on relaxing the neck muscles.
2 Now roll your head slowly to one side, allowing the weight of the head to govern the movement. Return your head to the center, pause, and then roll to the other side. Repeat the whole sequence five times.
3 From the starting position, raise your chin to tilt your head backward.
4 Now bring your chin toward your chest so that you feel a gentle stretch in the back of the neck. Slowly repeat steps 3 and 4 five times.
5 Return to the starting position and breathe easily for a few moments.
