Reduce Chronic Neck and Shoulder Pain in 15-Min (Perfect for Ages 60+)

Hey there, April of Yes Necks here with my mom Aiko. Hi. You ever have a stiff neck or tightness in your shoulders? Well in this session we're going to focus on 10 exercises to increase mobility in your neck and shoulders and alleviate discomfort and pain in those areas. Now this session can also be done just to release tension during your day. That's good. What do you think about that mom? Sounds good. I'm sitting at the computer all day, my neck starts to feel stiff in my shoulders, in my back, so I think this will be very helpful. Yeah, I experience the same thing when I'm sitting at a computer. Now remember to check with your doctor before starting, especially if you have any existing conditions or recent injuries. Now my mom is going to be doing this one seated, I'll be doing it standing, so no other equipment needed. And this session can be done two or three times a week or every day if you just want to release some tension. Alright, so how does that sound mom? Sounds good, let's get started. We got some aches to get rid of. Alright, we'll take a pause here and get moving. So mom, you want to have a seat? Sure, thank you. Alright, let's get this session going. Alright, so we're just going to start with some open-close with the arms. So we have our arms out, we're going to bring them back, shoulder blades together, and then close. Let's do 10 of those. So open, and close. Hug yourself. That's right. This is six. This is seven. Nice. Eight. Good. This is nine. That's right. And one more. Love yourself. Very important to love yourself. That's right. And relax. That's really great to reduce posture problems, which can lead to neck and shoulder discomfort. So that's number one. So our next one is that ear to shoulder move. So we're sitting tall, standing tall, good posture, and we're just bringing that ear to our shoulder. To your right, hold, and center, and then to your left, hold, and center. Now, if you wanted to just give yourself a little bit more stretch, you can bring your hand, right hand to your head, and just get a nice little stretch, and hold. Not to pain, just so you feel the stretch. Breathe. Good, and center, and to the other side, ear to shoulder. Breathe, and release. Okay, let's just... It's like a warm-up, actually, right? It is, it is, yes. We're warming up. Yeah, that's right. And let's do it one more time, okay? To your right, okay, hold, and center, and to your left. Oh, that feels really good. And center. It really is a really nice warm-up, and even relaxing in the evening is really nice, too. Okay, so now we're going to go into those head turns. Again, working on neck mobility. Go to your right, hold. A little nice stretch. Neck muscles, hold. Breathe, take a breath. Good, and bring it to center. Let's go to our side. Oh, yes, really nice. And center. Great, and two more. Two more sets. To your right, breathe. Oh, yes. Loosen up those neck muscles. Center, to your left. Hold. Feel it in your neck. Oh, yes. Feels good? Oh, yeah. Say, hold on, and center. One more time each way, okay? Okay, so to your right. Feels good now. Oh, good. This is good for rubber necking. Uh-oh. We don't want to be doing that on the road. Well, I mean, there'd be nothing to do, you know. If you're a passenger in the car, it's okay, right? That's right. Okay. Hey, nice job on those head turns. You know, that, again, both of those moves, you know, work on just increasing that mobility in your neck, just releasing tension. That's great for after the computer, right? All right, okay. We're going on to shoulder shrugs, so we're standing tall. We're engaged, right? Bring our shoulders up to our ears. Hold. Take a breath, and release. Okay, nice. Really loosening up those shoulders up and those trapezius muscles, and down trapezius right here, okay? Now, that's two. That feels good, actually. Yes. Yeah, you're really working. Ah, that's three. I'm going to go to ten on these, okay? I know you can. Bring it up for four. Breathe. Nice. This is five. Good. And six. Relax. This is seven. Relax. This is an I don't know move. That's right. That's a good one. I don't know. That's eight. Two more. That's automatic. See, yeah, you're shrugging your shoulders. You're working on increasing neck and shoulder mobility. And last, I don't know. And down. Relax. Shake it out. Shake it out. Shake it out. Nice work. Take a breath. Okay. Now, natural next move is to do the shoulder roll. This is feel really good, okay? Yeah. So, anyway, you're bringing those shoulders up, but you're rolling them back, right? Ah, that should feel really good. Working on shoulder mobility, everybody. Bring them back. This is three. I want you to give me two more. This is four. Yes. And five. Now, we're going to reverse it forward, okay? Okay. Reverse it forward. One. Oh, yes. Two. Work the shoulders. Three. Breathe. Four. Five. And rest. You did an extra one. I saw that. Extra credit for you. Extra credit for you if you did another one. All right. Nice job. All right. Wow. Really, really loosening up those shoulders, increasing blood flow in that area, right? And just releasing tension in that upper back, which can release shoulder tension, too. Shoulder and neck tension, okay? All right. Next one is a bit of a challenge, I know. Okay. This is we're going into the chin tucks to work these cervical muscles here. And, again, it's a very small move, okay? So, we're sitting, standing tall. And what we're going to do is we're going to make a double chin, everyone. So, double chin. Double chin it, as I say it, okay? And release. So, you see, it's a very small move, okay? But you're just basically bringing that head back and releasing. Bring it back and releasing. I see it. It's very small, but you're working these tiny muscles back here that are important to keep your head up so you don't have your head like this, right? Okay. I think I'm doing it. Let me look at you while I do it. Chin back, everyone. Double chin it. And release. I want you to give me three more. Double chin it. And release. Two more. Double chin. And release. I know it's not attractive, but it works. Double chin. And release. And rest. Now, again, those are working your cervical muscles here. Cervical spine alignment is very important. Reducing neck tension and also helping to improve posture, okay? All right. Nice work. Check in with your body. See how you're feeling, okay? Everybody feeling good? Really good. Ready to move on. Okay. This is kind of a fun one. Okay. So, we have our palms up. You can make a slight fist. And our arms are at 90 degrees, everybody. Take a breath. Okay. All we're doing is pulling our elbows back, shoulder blades together. And release forward, okay? You really feel your scapula or shoulder blades coming together. Working the upper back, which improves posture, can also help alleviate neck and shoulder tension, okay? This is three. And release. Good. This is four. I'm going to ten. Release. Breathe. This is five. Good. Bringing those shoulder blades together. Good. Release. This is six. Shoulder blades. Yes. Release. And seven. Don't forget to breathe. Good. And release. Eight. Hold and release. This is nine. And release. And give me one more. And ten. And release. And rest. Okay. Nice job. Okay. Take a little break here. Now, you notice that we're wearing our yes to next gear. So, hey, mine says live your yes to next. Let us know how you are living your yes to next in the comments. You know what? We're so proud of you. Keep it going. All right? And you can find these, our gear on our website if you're interested. All right. So, next exercise is arm circles. So, I want you to have your arms in a T, okay? Tiny, tiny arm circles forward. So, make circles toward us. This is three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Rest. We're going to go back up, okay? We've got to go back the other way. Back up. To the back. One, two. Good. Three, four. Breathe. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. And rest. I know those are challenging. But those are just like a gentle way to strengthen the shoulders. All right? So, nice, nice, nice work. And if you can't make it to ten, don't worry. Just do as many as you can and build up, you know, over time. As you keep doing it, you're going to get stronger, okay? So, stay with it. All right. So, next one is just a back arch, okay? It's like a thoracic extension. So, you're seated or standing, okay? I just want you to sit tall and I want you to arch your back, look up. Yeah, those shoulder blades do go back again, just like the shoulder, you know, the row that we did. Hold and release. Okay? So, slight arch in that back, right? Really working that upper back, opening it up, and release. Very nice. Breathe. Let's do it again. Up and release. Strengthen these upper back. This is four. And release. Very nice. This is five. I'm going to count to ten because it feels so good. Release. Okay. Keep it going. Six. Yeah, you notice those shoulder blades coming together, arching the back? And back down. This is seven. Good. You need to keep those shoulders relaxed, okay? Eight. Okay, good. Nine. Oh, yes. And down. Give me one more. And a big ten. And release. Oh, very nice, everybody. That is increasing mobility in our upper back, which, again, helps to improve posture, which can definitely help to alleviate neck and neck pain, okay? Sounds good. All right. This would be good for sleeping, too, I bet. Yes, very relaxing. Okay, so our last move is just that arm across the chest. So, straight arm right across the chest, and with the other hand, just kind of like gently, gently tug on your upper arm here. You really want to feel the stretch in your shoulder and upper back, okay? Take a breath here. Breathe. And breathe. One more breath. And release. Good. Let's do the other side. Okay, good. Straight arm. Hold. Feel that nice stretch in that shoulder, upper arm, back. Good. And release. And I want you to give me another set here. Across the chest. Breathe. Good. And release. And one more on the other side. Oh, yes. That feels so good. How are you feeling? Uh-oh. I don't see your face. Uh-oh. And release. Very nice. Okay, shake it out, everybody. All right, let's close this out with three inhale exhales, and you can go up or you can do it forward, okay? And this is good for your shoulders and back, too. So, inhale. And exhale. Good. Inhale. And exhale. Good. Oh, hello. And inhale. And exhale. Good job. Wonderful. Great job on doing these 10 exercises to alleviate neck and shoulder issues. All right, so, again, you can do these two to three times a week or every day if you feel up for it. And if you like this video, please give it a like, share it, comment, let us know what you thought, and subscribe to our channel. It's always wonderful to help you get stronger and get more flexible. All right, so we look forward to seeing you real soon, and in the meantime, keep moving and stretching. See you soon. See you soon.