Tension Headache Elbows In Pocket
Elbows in the Back Pocket
Benefits• Stretches and relaxes the upper body, shoulder muscles and neck muscles, therefore, preventing any kind of tightness that can refer to tension headaches
• Relieves tension in the shoulder area which allows blood vessels to dilate better and reduce restriction of blood flow into the head
• Great for people who use upper body in one position a lot, such as those at computers,
Cautions
• If there is any pain, please see your doctor and get it checked out.
• If you have untreated high blood pressure, lifting your arms over the shoulder height will add blood pressure to the heart. Be careful and modify to not lift arms up as high
Key Points
• Maintain a neutral posture (straight back)
• When lifting arms up, lift them forward on a slight angle as though you are reaching for a shelf in a cupboard (as opposed to straight up over head)
• Let the elbows draw back which draws the shoulder blades together
• Draw elbows down towards the waist
• Inhale arms up, exhale them down
Instructions:
• From a sitting or standing position (it does not matter), bring arms straight out in front of you and raise the arms to just above the height of the head (height is dependant on you)
• As you exhale, draw the elbows back and concentrate on the shoulder blades moving towards each other
• Once the elbows are at about the level of the sides of the body, drop them down towards the waist as though you are tucking them into the back pockets of your pants
• Hold for 2-3 seconds while you continue to breathe deeply
• Begin the next repeat on an inhale as you bring your arms out in front and begin again.
• Repeat 2-3 times or more and as often as possible throughout the day. If you do a job or are in a task that uses a lot of upper body strain (such as typing), make sure you do this often for a 'quick' reliever of stress build up. Great advantage is that it feels awesome.