I tried these 5 exercises to relieve tension in my neck – and I felt more relaxed immediately after

ActiveI tried these 5 exercises to relieve tension in my neck – and I felt more relaxed immediately afterAnd they definitely helped reduce some of the pain!When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

And they definitely helped reduce some of the pain!

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Getty)

Woman stretching her neck outside

(Image credit: Getty)

As well as getting unpredictable back pain, the tension in my neck is something I suffer from frequently, especially when I’m stressed — the downfall of being a perfectionist. I try to be as religious as I can when it comes tostretching after exercise, but my neck seems to be a body part that I always overlook, as I’m sure do many. Working from a desk all day doesn’t do it any favours either, so on a mission to relieve my achy neck, I decided to give these five stretches a go to see if it would help ease some of the tightness that I was experiencing.

Just like with back pain, bad posture is a common cause for experiencing pain in our necks, as well as sleeping funny at night (in which case you may need to invest in a pillow specifically for neck pain, such as theGroove Pillow). It can even lead to conditions like forward-head posture where your neck ends up slanting forwards, usually from sitting hunched over, whether that be your desk or phone.

What I like about these moves from personal trainerEmily Mouuis that they’re easy to do from home, and it was nice to do one that I wasn’t familiar with, like the puppy pose. Albeit, one move does require a foam roller. However, if you don’t have one of these, the other four alone offer a great stretch. I did these on my lunch break, and I found they really helped me to just slow down and reset before jumping back into work for the afternoon — something I think more and more of us are struggling with these days. Grab an exercise mat; here’s what you need to do:

I found doing each of these moves for 30 seconds each was plenty of time to get a decent enough stretch and easily slot them into my day. There’s no reason why you couldn’t even do the second, third and fourth stretch in the office if it’s big enough. Sure, you may get a few odd looks, but hey, at least you’ll be neck pain-free!

If back pain is also a common companion with your neck tension, then I definitely recommend giving these twobodyweight back exercises a go that can relieve pain in two minutes. Alternatively, this gentle10-minute full-body stretchis ideal if you need something to help you feel relaxed and revitalised to start your day the right way.

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