Perhaps it's holiday stress. A large number of family members in a small space, such as Massachusetts, can bring out the worst in all of us. For whatever reason, a painful knot of tension in the upper back is causing driving Geezer some distress. Actually, the knot is in the upper back of Geezer's lovely wife, who requires Geezer to massage it when he would rather be doing other things, like re-reading the op-eds in yesterday's paper because today's paper has mysteriously disappeared. Again. At times like these, it's comforting to know that he may be excused from massage duty if he can direct his lovely wife to a some handy neck and back stress relief exercises, such as these, provided by L.A. Times yoga queen Karen Voight.
Step 1 Sit upright on the floor with your left leg crossed in
front. Bring your right arm in front of your face. Wrap your left arm
under the right, and bring the palms of your hands as close together as
possible. Inhale and look up while raising your elbows and arching your
upper spine. Pause for a moment.
Step 2 On an exhale, draw your navel to the spine, curl forward
to round your back and bring your elbows down toward your waist. Tuck
your chin in slightly and pause for a moment. Continue to repeat the
movement until you have done it three times in each direction. Release
your arms and repeat with the opposite leg crossed in front and the
opposite arm on top.
For visual aids to the above exercises, click here.
