I've found myself jutting my chin forward and downward, which causes pain in my upper back from this constant forward position. When I bring my awareness to this terrible position, I perform this easy exercise to straighten my neck and help rid my upper back and shoulders of the pain. Fellow (serious) slouchers, try the exercise below!
Chin Tuck, Neck Extension Exercise:
This exercise is simple and effective. Perform the following steps anytime you feel yourself slumping forward or just needing an easy neck stretch.
1) Roll the shoulders backward and downward. Draw your chin inward to give yourself a slight double chin.
It helps to do this against a wall or a chair to get the feel for pulling the chin inward. At this point, I feel a really nice stretch through my shoulder blade area, especially on the tight right side.
2) To increase the stretch, keeping the chin tuck position from step 1, SLIGHTLY raise the chin to extend the neck. Don't make the movement too big - think somewhere around 1-2 cm upward at the most. You don't want to overextend the neck and possibly cause injury. Try and make your jaw parallel with the ground while keeping the chin tucked.
I like to add this second part to the chin tuck exercise because I feel like it allows me to straighten my neck more than pretty much any other neck stretch I've tried. Also, I think because of my long history of slouching and subsequent back misalignment, when I just do the chin tuck alone I find myself still with a slightly rounded upper back. It also gives me a good stretch along my right shoulder blade.
Hold the position for about 15 seconds at a time giving yourself the ability to enjoy the stretch and allow your body to learn the feeling of having an elongated neck. Repeat as often as necessary. I like to do this at work or while driving. It's easy and effective.
Here's to neck pain relief!
