Your Neck Has Been Looking at a Screen All Day

Try this right now. Without moving anything else, notice where your head is. Chances are it’s drifted forward, toward the screen, like it’s trying to read a little faster. Your shoulders have crept up toward your ears to keep it company.

Every inch your head moves forward makes your neck and upper back work harder to hold it up. Over a workday, that adds up to the stiff, achy feeling that greets you at 4 PM.

Here are five stretches from yoga that you can do in your chair, in work clothes, in about five minutes. Nobody in the next cubicle needs to know.

A note first: go gently. A stretch should feel like a stretch, never like pain. If you have a neck injury, numbness or tingling in your arms, or pain that won’t go away, see a doctor or physical therapist before trying these.

1. Chin tuck

Sit tall. Without tipping your head down, slide your chin straight back, as if you’re making a small double chin. You’ll feel the back of your neck lengthen.

Hold for five seconds, release. Do it five times.

It looks silly. It’s the most useful one on this list.

2. Shoulder rolls

Lift your shoulders up toward your ears, roll them back, then let them drop down. Slowly, five times. Then reverse the direction for five more.

On the last one, let your shoulders stay down. Notice how far they had climbed.

3. Seated cat and cow

Sit near the front of your chair with your hands on your knees. Breathing in, lift your chest and let your back arch gently, looking slightly up. That’s cow. Breathing out, round your back, tuck your chin and draw your belly in. That’s cat.

Move slowly with your breath, five rounds. This one wakes up the whole spine, not just the neck.

4. Ear to shoulder

Sit tall and let your right ear drop toward your right shoulder. Don’t lift the shoulder to meet it. For a little more, rest your right hand lightly on the left side of your head, without pulling. Breathe there for five breaths. Switch sides.

5. Eagle arms (or the easy version)

Reach your arms forward, cross your right elbow over your left, and bend both elbows so your forearms point up. If your palms meet, great. If they don’t, hold opposite shoulders in a hug instead. Lift your elbows slightly and breathe into the space between your shoulder blades for five breaths. Switch arms.

This is garudasana’s upper half, named for Garuda, the eagle who carries Vishnu. Few eagles have worked a nine-to-five, but the stretch helps anyway.

Making it stick

The stretches matter less than the habit. A few ideas:

• Pair it with something. Every time you refill your water, do one round of chin tucks.
• Raise the screen. If the top of your monitor is below eye level, a stack of books under it will save you more neck pain than any stretch.
• Look far away. Every so often, look out a window at something distant for a few breaths. Your eyes and your neck both get a break.

You don’t need a mat or a class to start doing yoga. You need a chair and five minutes, and you have both right now.

And if a coworker asks why you’re making a double chin at your desk, tell them it’s an ancient practice. It is, more or less.

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