Part 9: Neck
21 Yoga Practices For Body Flexibility
Neck connects the head and the torso. It provides mobility to the head. All communication from the brain reach other parts of the body via the nerves that pass through the neck. The neck contains the cervical part of the spinal cord, upper parts of the respiratory and digestive tracts, endocrine glands, nerves, arteries, and veins.
One may experience pain or stiffness in the neck region due to an inflammation, injury or an abnormality. Poor posture and overuse can lead to neck pain. Emotional stress may also cause neck pain in the form of stiffness. Frequent adornment of heavy ornaments around the neck can also cause pain. Pinched nerve in the cervical region of the spine could also be a probable reason.
Usually, we tend to address the part of the body that shows symptoms of pain. Rather, we must look for the cause of pain before making any attempt to relieve it.
For example, wearing slippers with high heels might cause neck pain due to improper alignment of the body posture. In this case, without fixing the pattern of footwear, the neck pain cannot be fixed. Moreover, for any upper body pain relief or workout, one should give attention to the foundation of the body, the legs. Legs should be strong enough to carryout any practice to alleviate the pain in neck or in any part of the upper body.
By doing a simple practice involving the spine, along with breath, one can experience relief from neck pain.
Jaimala is a wedding ritual in India, where the bride and groom exchange fresh flower garlands before becoming husband and wife.
In ancient times, exchanging of garlands by a man and woman signified their acceptance and willingness to become a married couple. Swayamwar is an arrangement where a woman can choose her prospective husband among the invitees by putting a garland around his neck.
In the Indian epic Ramayana, Sita married Rama by putting a garland around his neck after he broke the Shivadhanush as part of the contest during the swayamwar. In Mahabharatha, Draupathi chose Arjuna and garlanded him upon his winning the archery test.
This practice was developed in accordance with Yoga Therapy, a branch of yoga that requires the ailing person to perform a set of asanas to cure prevailing health issues. Read more about Yoga Therapy here.
Read the previous title in this article series. Part 8: Chest
Read the next title in this article series. Part 10: Arms
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