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Yoga routine to relieve upper back tension

Use this yoga routine to build strength in the neck muscles, upper back muscles, and triceps, in addition to improving flexibility in the hamstrings and overall balance as you stand on your head.

The following yoga routine builds strength in the neck muscles, upper back muscles, and triceps. It also increases flexibility in the hamstrings and requires balance as you stand on your head.

All in all, this yoga routine is very relaxing and revitalizing when performed with proper breathing.

You can find a description of how to perform all of the following yoga exercises in the Yoga Bible.

1. Headstand (Sirsasana)
The headstand is a very relaxing exercise especially if you practise it with good breathing.

However, you must ensure that you have good strength in your shoulders and triceps (back of your arms) before you attempt it, so that those muscles can help support the weight on your head and the pressure on your neck muscles.

You may also feel the muscles in your upper back (especially the trapezius muscles) work hard in your first attempts to master this posture.

2. Upward Staff Posture (Urdhva Dandasana)
The upward staff posture is great to lower yourself into when coming out of the headstand. It requires abdominal strength and flexibility in the hamstrings (back of the legs) to keep your legs straight at a 90 degree angle with the upper body.

3. Extended Child Pose (Utthita Balasana)
The extended child pose gives you a nice stretch in the upper back and shoulders while you are relaxing after you come out of the headstand.

4. Child Pose (Balasana)
The child pose like the extended child pose is very relaxing and also gives you a good stretch in the upper back muscles and neck.

5. Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
You can use the downward facing dog pose to get up out of the child pose in preparation to do the deep forward fold. The downward facing dog pose gives you a good stretch in the hamstrings and shoulders.

6. Deep Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
The deep forward fold stretches the hamstrings and spine, but also expands the shoulder blades and stretches the back of the neck, which really feels good after using those muscles to do the headstand.

7. Neck Releases
As a final exercise you can do some neck releases to the side to completely loosen up and relax the muscles of the neck.