Hello everyone! Tutu Mora here with the Y bringing you tools to feel well in your body, mind and
spirit. Today, we are going to be focusing on sort of a part three of our "Get Rid of your Neck Hump"
series. And so many of us for various reasons may have adopted kind of a slouched posture here
maybe even with a little bit of a hump towards the back of the neck or maybe that kind of hump is a
little bit further down in your thoracic spine but this is absolutely something that can be reversed
and there are several different ways that we can work with it and open up those spaces to
restore the posture. So we've done a couple videos on this but this will be the third one
in the series and we're going to be using a foam roller to help us open out those spaces.
So I would invite you to grab a mat to lay down on as well as a foam roller and if your
foam roller is a little bit on the firmer side, I would recommend and perhaps invite you to get a
cushy towel and wrap it around your foam roller so that the texture is a little bit softer and start
there because sometimes a firmer foam roller can be a little bit a little bit more of an aggressive
just feedback for this movement. So take what you need we'll start down on the mat here.
All right so we're going to start with that foam roller down on the mat and we're going
to lean back into it. So letting your knees stay bent and we're going to place that foam roller
right at the bottom of the shoulder blades. So I'll roll down a little bit more so you can see.
Now a couple pointers here I'm going to have you stay in a sort of pelvic curl position as we move
through this sequence here today so feeling first into your pelvis. I want you to just gently tuck
that tailbone as if you're tucking your tailbone between your legs. Now that's going to help us
support the back through this movement and will also help engage those abdominals so that we feel
supported as we move through this sequence. So let's just take that a couple times, feeling into
tucking that pelvis tucking that tailbone so that we've got a little pelvic curl happening.
And so you can take it back and forth a couple times, just to feel do I have that kind of
pelvic curl that little tail tuck? Once you've got it, let's hold on to that.
I'm going to have you bring your hands around to cradle the back of the head,
tucking that chin so you're supported through your neck and we're just going to extend back
to the degree that feels good for you. So you may not be able to take it very far and that's okay.
You may be able to take it so those ribs feel like they're lengthening long and so just
find where you're at today and then we'll bring it back up. Again, keeping that little tail curl.
Now staying in your chin tucked position, we're going to take this from side to side
almost like you're scratching your back against the roller here.
Noticing Do I have the same degree of motion through each side? Does my pelvis want
to move with me as I do this? And so of course we want to keep that pelvis stable. Let's hold
on this side and take a deep breath right through the ribcage on this stretched outside and then
take that same thing to the other side, holding as you take a deep breath right into those ribs
and back to center. Now from here, we're going to keeping that a pelvic curl
we're going to lift that pelvis up and roll up so the roller is towards the tops of your shoulder
blades here so perhaps right beneath the top of your shoulder and we'll set that pelvis down.
Now once you have your spot, let's make sure that chin is tucked, we're going to once again
just gently take it back to the degree that feels good and take it back forward.
Now from here, we're going to just gently pick up that pelvis again support yourself with your
pelvic curl and we're going to gently roll it just back and forth in that one spot, holding yourself
up with your pelvic curl. One more just back and forth and then we'll set that pelvis down and
we'll again take this from side to side. So taking your time here. Really let yourself move from your
sternum instead of just moving your head and neck, so really letting that movement be from the spine.
Now on this next one, we're going to hold and find that breath. Breathing right out
into your rib cage as if you're expanding through that whole space
and on to the other side finding that breath.
Back to center. Now let's pick up that pelvis again, make sure that you've got that pelvic curl.
We're going to roll back until we're right below the bottom of the shoulder blade so you can think
about like the bra strap band and we're going to be right below that spot and we're going to set
that pelvis down. We're going to take that lean back again only to the degree that feels good
and then take it back. Let's lift that pelvis up again and we're going
to take that little rolling motion just nice and focused in that spot we're at
and then you can set your pelvis down and we'll take this from side to side.
Now let's take one more set here from side to side, breathing out the side of that rib cage
and to the other side same thing, finding that breath and back to center.
Now let's take this lifting back up, we're going to take it right to the
mid shoulder blade and we're going to take that little roll back and forth,
resting that pelvis back down and we'll take that again, just from side to side.
This time finding your breath and taking that to the other side again finding your breath.
One more time.
And we'll take that little lean back as well, just to the degree that feels good.
Back up. Now we're going to pick up that pelvis again, make sure you've got your little tuck,
we're going to slide all the way to the top of the shoulder so just right beneath
that top of the shoulder and we're going to roll all the way down to that bra strap band
and then we're going to slide back up and nice and slow once again, roll all the way down.
Two more times, taking it up make sure you keep that pelvic curl and then last one rolling up
and then nice and slow as you take that all the way back down. Set that pelvis down and let's take
that roller back to the bottom of the shoulder blade just where we had it when we first started.
And let's once again just see what it feels like to take that back into our little bend
and notice how it feels different what feels different. Maybe you've got more range of motion.
And then we'll take that side to side movement again, noticing how it feels
different. So maybe you've got increased range of motion, maybe it feels more fluid, maybe you
just feel a little bit lighter through that space. Now you can go ahead and let's remove that roller
and just lay down on your mat, let your legs extend long, let your arms rest on the mat,
noticing how your back feels on the mat. And so you might notice it just feels a little bit
less tense like we rolled out a little bit of frozen stress tension.
And take a deep breath into that feeling. Now from here, let's carefully roll to the side
and come on back up to a standing position.
As you're standing, notice how does it feel? how does your posture feel?
And just noting what feels different. Now I would invite you to return to this on
a regular basis just so that you feel like as much time as you're contributing to your
forward folded posture, you're also spending a good amount of time reversing that and
opening up those places that tend to feel collapsed with that kind of humped posture.
So I hope you found this helpful and that you feel better and enjoy the rest of your
day. I'll see you next time here on the Y's YouTube channel. Take care!