Yes, I'm still here too. I'm not sure which day of the week it is anymore and maybe you're not either. One thing is for sure though, I need a reminder to make me get up, move and to keep myself active during all of this. It is important that we try to keep moving to make sure that our soft tissues do not get to overworked while we are at home.
If you have been working at home in an uncomfortable position or from a laptop, you have probably noticed some neck discomfort over the last week. Maybe even some increase in headaches or an increase in some pain in your hands. Don't panic, this is most likely due to posture and different stresses and strains you are placing on your body from what it is used to.
Any time you start something new there is usually some kind of adapting curve. What this means is, if you're used to sitting in a particular chair at a particular desk all day every day at work, and now you are working at the kitchen table, you have probably noticed some discomfort. What you have done is broken a postural habit. To help get over this we need to create a new habit with new healthy supporting sub-habits.
Today we introduce the chin tuck stretch/posture exercise. This one serves two purposes.
- To flex the muscles on the front of the neck, while stretching the muscles on the back of the neck and head.
- To help us to restore a closer to normal neck posture.
The stronger the muscles of the neck are and the better your posture is, the easier it is for us to maintain the correct working postures for the day. The hardest part about this is starting and remembering to perform this throughout the day.
To perform this: Sit or stand in a comfortable position with the eyes level. Slowly bring the chin back (like the down stroke of the "yes" head motion). You should feel a stretch in the muscles of back of the neck and head.
