Today we introduce another neck stretch. This stretch will help us loosen the tissues from the skull down to the shoulder. Why the big words today? What is lateral flexion? For one, "bending the head to the side and holding it for a while" doesn't make for a good title, and two, learning new terminology is good for us. Lateral flexion simply means flexing the neck to the side, or bending the ear toward the shoulder.
The more loose we can keep the muscles of the neck the less discomfort we experience throughout the day. Integrate this stretch with our previous ones. Perform a few of these stretches every couple of hours if you can. Otherwise perform 2 sets of 10 in the morning and evening.
To perform this: Sit in a comfortable position with the eyes level. Slowly tilt the head to the side by approximating the ear to the shoulder. Go to your comfort level and don't stress yourself too much. Place a hand on the side of the head and push your head slightly more into the stretch.
*The goal here is to stretch the muscle, not to cause pain. If you have pain while doing this modify it (don't go as far) to be pain free or skip it.
