In the neck conflicts between the head and the heart are reflected. We can relax it and prevent neck pain with exercises and taking care of emotions.
The neck supports the head and links it to the torso. But this bonding is not just physical. The neck acts as a link between the head and the heart, between logic and emotions.
This is what osteopath Quim Vicent, an expert in post urology and psychoneuroimmunology, maintains. “When we have neck pain, it is convenient to take this link into account. We can relax the shoulders and do exercises to relieve pain by making the neck muscles more flexible, but it is also important to see what else is happening, if behind our pain, the tensions, there is an emotional component, “says the expert.
WHY THE CERVICALS TIGHTEN
“The neck is, in fact, a step: through it pass concepts, desires, ideas and intentions of the brain to be transformed into practical action,” says Quim Vicent. “It’s a bridge: it’s not the action itself yet. Through it also passes everything that gives life: air, water, food, blood and nervous circulation. It is, therefore, an essential part of the body.”
For all this, and because it is a narrow passage, it is easy for energy to be restricted in this area, says the expert. That is why here we focus on this perspective, which considers cervical tensions as an expression of psycho-emotional imbalance.
“When feelings conflict with logic, the result is stress. The difference between what the brain thinks and the heart’s desires can make you feel helpless, stuck, confused, even dizzy, or unbalanced. All this can be reflected in tensions in the neck, “warns Quim Vicent.
“On the other hand, the cervicals have great mobility, they are one of the most flexible parts of the body. And it is curious to see how the pericardium (the membrane that protects the heart) is connected to the back of the neck,” adds Vicent. “Surely you have noticed that, when you repress emotions such as anger or fear, the first thing you do is tense this area.”
Can a neck problem reveal how we lock ourselves into our way of seeing and interpreting a situation, relationship or conflict? “Exactly. It may be expressing our inflexibility and our inability to adopt or contemplate different points of view, for example.”
But we can go into more detail and see what types of emotional conflicts are hidden behind each type of cervical pain, according to the expert. For example:
- Pain in the lower vertebrae. The lower vertebrae, for example C4, C5, C6, can be in relation to the thyroid gland, and through them they can affect language and voice, that is, what I express and what I receive. Tensions in this area may reflect situations where I do not allow myself to express my opinions or where I hear messages that cause me outrage and anger. We have a hard time digesting what we hear…
- Torticollis. Repeated torticollis is a frequent reason for consultation. Torticollis expresses a motor conflict of contrariety in action, situations in which in part we want to turn our heads to see someone, but on the other we forbid it. If the muscle contraction of torticollis prevents us from making the shake of our head, we may want to say no to someone or something, but we don’t let it. On the contrary, if pain prevents us from nodding our heads, the problem may be that we would like to say yes and we don’t allow it either.
In Spain, psychosomatic medicine is not recognized as a medical specialty, but in other European countries it is just another specialty. For Quim Vicent it would be important not to lose sight of the importance of this type of medicine, since it takes into account emotions, considers them and analyzes them from a therapeutic approach.
EXERCISE TO RELAX THE NECK
According to all this, there are plenty of reasons to try to relax neck, neck and shoulders with stretching, meditation and breathing. “Just observing ourselves and putting emotions in front of us will be of great help so that they are transformed into other energies and our neck relaxes,” says the expert in osteopathy and post urology.
This exercise proposed by Quim Vicent is designed to help relax the shoulders and release cervical tension, in addition to promoting self-observation:
- You can stand or sit in a chair or on the floor.
- With your back straight, you look horizontally and separate your arms from your sides, about 30º. The palms face upwards to keep the shoulders in external rotation and open the chest wide.
- Tilt your head to one side and move your arm from the opposite side down.
- Play with your breath: when you inhale maintain the position, when you exhale force the inclination of the neck a little more while you bring the opposite arm further down. Enjoy stretching.
- Repeat to the other side, to do the full exercise.