"Unplug and Recharge" is a new Living series which aims to give you, our dear readers, a quick break from your day -- whether you have as much time as ten minutes or as little as two. Following the success of our Oasis at the DNC, we're hoping to give you a little cyber-oasis -- a place to escape -- where you can take a moment to unplug, relax, and recharge.
Commonly referred to as tight shoulders, the area most people are talking about is technically the upper trapezius muscle group. An effective but simple way to relieve the stress so rampant in this area -- sometimes even leading to my-neck-is-disappearing-itis -- is the simple squeeze. Use your right hand to grab your left "shoulder" (upper trapezius), find the thick, rope-like top of the muscle group and squeeze, release, squeeze, release, just like washing a rag. The effect is similar: just like you might squeeze dirt out of a rag, you are squeezing old, adrenaline rich blood out of your muscles, allowing them to reabsorb clean, oxygen rich blood, rejuvinating and relaxing the area.
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One of the common mistakes people make when they're tight is to force a stretch. If the muscle is short it will just fight you and put too much stress on the attachments. Go the other way and make the muscle small and hold the pressure for about 3-5(breathing) minutes and allow the muscle memory to reset. This is called zero'ing out the mm.
A real easy one is a doorway strecth. Especially if your a heavy computer user. The anterior delt and pec get short especially on the mouse side.
Stand in a doorway, place hands about chest level and lean into the frame. ONLY using your body weight. Again holding for about 3-5 minutes. This will open up your whole chest area and push your shoulders back into place releasing the upper traps and rhomboids. That area is not designed to handle that load. That is why everybody gets stress in their upper back/neck area. Because we all roll our shoulders.
Always allow the biody to unwind with gentle pressure. NEVER force a movement. This is a practice of patience and breath.