Ah friends, welcome back to work! Back to the cold and dark weather of January where unless your employer celebrates MLK Day, you don’t get a paid holiday for five whole months. Yah! Happiness all around.
Or, er… something like that.
I can’t bring you fruity cocktails (or hot toddies if you’re in the Milwaukee area today -BRR!!) to your desk, so today let me just suggest some techniques to relieve tension headaches commonly experienced at work.
1. Close Your Eyes
Yep, our first remedy is that simple. The fluorescent light bulbs of the office environment are anything but good for our eyeballs. Close the eyes and give them a little reprieve. (While they are closed, picture the aforementioned fruity cocktail. Ah…feel your shoulders relax without trying.)
2. The Eyebrow Massage
If just closing the eyes doesn’t work, keep them closed while bringing the middle finger and thumb of your right hand together at the space between your eyebrows. Using as much pressure as is comfortable for you, trace your eyebrows from inside to out. Repeat as necessary, maybe adding more “massage” down the face, through the temples and into the cheeks and/or jaw.
3. Back Stretches
Before we come back to the neck, let’s first make sure your spine is squared off as it should be. Move to the edge of your seat, so both feet are firming planted on the floor with knees as close to a 90 degree angle as possible. Check in with your tailbone, the bottom part of your spine right before the tush get really cushy… Are you sitting on your tailbone or are you stacking your spine right from the bottom? Think about lifting your shoulders as far away from your hips as you can. Did that change the position of your tailbone? If so, let’s keep this new, tall position. (Engage your abs as necessary. Feel all the muscles around the waist pull into the spine…)
From this tall position, let’s work into our shoulders. Starting first with just the left shoulder, roll it up towards your left ear, open behind you, down your back and squeeze it towards the front. Repeat as necessary and as slowly as feels good on the shoulder. Try this same move with the right shoulder. Then repeat with both shoulders together. Are they moving an equal distance or do you need to add more stretches to one side?
(For me, it’s my right side. I carry my purse on my right shoulder and typically sleep on that side, too. I’m going to be the first partial hunchback…)
End these shoulder rolls with both shoulders rolled as far down away from your ears as they can go. Feel the stretch across your chest as well.
4. Neck Stretches
If you’re still not feeling any relief, spend a little time working out the kinks in your neck. Keeping your spine nice and tall, stick out your nose and chin “chicken-style” and bring it back in like you’re trying to squeeze your chin into your neck. Repeat back and forth, taking the move smaller and smaller until you feel your head in perfect alignment with your spine.
From this position, turn the head from side-to-side, changing nothing about the rest of this position. Shoulders stay in place. Nose stays parallel with the floor (or your desk if that’s easier to gauge.) Move with your breath (inhale to side, exhale back to center…) or hold the stretch if one side is really tight.
Change this stretch slightly by lowering the chin down to your chest and tracing a half-circle from shoulder to shoulder. If you keep your shoulders down and back tall, you should feel a great release.
5. Last Resort – Go For A Walk
If you’re still not feeling any relief, I’m afraid it’s time to take a real break. Step away from the desk for just a few minutes. Go outside if you can stand it. Or just find a window to look out if it’s too cold.
A little movement is always a good option, so a lap around the cube farm may be just what the doctor order.
And if all else fails… try chocolate. Or create a countdown until the fruity cocktail at 5:15…
Namaste, friends!
