Exercises of the Week - Relax and Stretch Your Shoulders

If you had to choose one area of your body that held the most tension, what would it be? For most of us, it would be the shoulders. So many movements we do each day, like driving or working at a computer, force the shoulders into hunched and crunched positions, leaving us with painful knots, headaches and a general feeling of crankiness.

While it helps to have good posture (did you just sit up straight when you read that? I did!), you can also do simple exercises throughout the day to stretch and relax your shoulders. I've chosen three of my favorites - try doing them several times today to see if they make a difference.

Shoulder Rolls: Roll the shoulders in small circles forward and then backward, doing 10 circles in each direction.

Dynamic Neck Stretch: Reach the left arm down and away from the body as you drop the head to the right, stretching the neck. Place the right hand on the head and gently press your head into the hand, then release and stretch. Continue to contract the neck and press the head into the head, then stretch for 10 reps before switching sides.

Twisted Shoulder Stretch: Take the hands straight out in front of you and rotate the arms so that the palms face away from each other. Cross the arms so that the palms are pressed together and round the back, reaching the arms away from you as you relax the head. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds. If you have shoulder problems or have trouble with this move, lace the fingers together and stretch the arms away from you.

More stretches for the neck, shoulders and back.

Do you have a favorite way to relax your shoulders? Leave a comment and tell us about it.