RE: Yoga 2.0 - How Can I Help You?
Hi there, @britt.the.ish! Yes, I definitely recommend stretching out every day that you work at a computer--"tech neck" is a real thing that strains the body quite a lot! But, it's quite easy to stretch out and get some relief to stop those headaches for good!
So one thing to do is neck rolls: drop your chin to your chest, then roll the head clockwise for several breaths, then counterclockwise for several breaths.
Then you can bring your ear towards your right shoulder. Gently grab the top of your head with your right hand to pull a little farther--just enough for a tasty stretch, not enough for real pain. I think it helps to extend through the left arm while you're doing that. Then you can switch sides: left ear to left shoulder, and help the stretch with your left hand while you extend through the right side.
I love to clasp my hands behind my back and see how far I can pull them up towards the sky. This helps roll the shoulders open. This one is nice to do while standing, and add in a bend from the waist while you're at it to bring the head towards the ground if you like.
There's one called eagle arms that also feels great for shoulders: extend both arms straight out. Bend elbows, hands up towards the sky. Bring your right arm towards the left, and left arm towards the right--upper arms cross here (right over left or left over right doesn't matter, because you will do one side and then switch to do the other side). Slightly draw your elbows together towards the body's midline, and wrap the hand of your bottom arm around the forearm of your upper arm--you want your palms to meet. Now you can continue to squeeze your arms together towards the midline if that feels good, and/or you can keep the arms together and lift the arms straight up from the shoulders, so your fingers are stretching up to the sky. That feels really great, so breathe into it for a moment or two.
One more for now, I'll share a link that's a really fantastic stretch for the back:
https://steemit.com/health/@saramiller/how-to-yoga-cobra
I hope that helps you a lot!
I do these things too! I've had pretty bad tech neck (great name for it too, btw) for a couple years, all because my first job had me working on a laptop for just a few months. Crazy what impact months can have on years.
But one other thing I HIGHLY recommend is getting a standing desk. That's brought my body much relief. I have a chair that I can switch to if my feet get sore, but I'll switch back to standing after not too long.
That is a great recommendation, @ytho! It definitely helps to be able to go from sitting to standing. The human body just wasn't designed to be all crunched down over a computer all day.