Gentle neck stretches for long days at a screen

The neck is small and does a lot. It holds up the head all day and turns it every time you check a mirror, cross a road or answer someone beside you. When we look down at a phone or lean towards a laptop, the head drifts forward and the muscles at the back of the neck and across the tops of the shoulders work harder to hold it.

This routine is deliberately gentle. It is the kind of slow neck work a teacher might open a class with for people who sit at a screen all day, whether at home or in an office. It takes about five minutes and needs only a chair.

Please read the safety section first. The neck is not the place to push.

When should you see a doctor instead of stretching?

Do not stretch, and see a doctor, if:

• you have numbness, tingling, pins and needles or weakness in the arms or hands;
• pain spreads from the neck into the shoulder blade, arm or hand;
• you feel dizzy, faint, sick or have changes in your vision when you move your head;
• the stiffness followed a fall, a car accident or any blow to the head or neck;
• you have a severe headache with a stiff neck, or a fever with a stiff neck (go to the emergency room);
• the pain is getting worse, wakes you at night or has lasted more than a few weeks.

Nothing on this page is a treatment for a neck condition. If you have arthritis in the neck, a disc problem or have had neck surgery, ask your doctor or physiotherapist which movements are right for you.

How gentle is gentle?

Move at half the speed you think you should and at about half the range you could. Hold each position for three to five slow breaths. You should feel a mild, spreading stretch, never a sharp, pulling or electric feeling. Keep the mouth soft and the jaw unclenched; the jaw and the neck tighten together.

The routine: six gentle neck stretches

Sit on the front edge of a chair, feet flat, spine tall, hands resting on the thighs.

1. Settle the shoulders. Breathe in and lift the shoulders a little; breathe out and let them drop. Three times. A neck stretch with lifted shoulders is half a stretch.
2. Chin tuck. Without tipping the head down, slide the chin straight back, as if making a small double chin. You feel length at the back of the neck. Hold for three breaths, release, repeat five times. This is the gentle opposite of the forward head of screen work.
3. Side bend. Let the right ear fall towards the right shoulder, keeping the left shoulder heavy. For a little more, rest the left fingertips on the seat of the chair. Do not pull the head with the hand. Five breaths, then the other side.
4. Slow turns. Turn the head to look over the right shoulder, only as far as is easy, and breathe. Come back through the centre and turn left. Three times each way, slowly.
5. Diagonal nod. Turn the nose a little towards the right armpit and let the head tip forward gently. You feel this along the back and left side of the neck. Five breaths, then the other side.
6. Half circles. Drop the chin towards the chest, then let it roll slowly towards one shoulder and back across to the other, like a smile. Keep the head from dropping backwards.

Finish lying down if you can: on your back, a folded towel under the head, knees bent, for two minutes. The weight of the head goes into the floor and the neck muscles can switch off. If you prefer, rest forward in Child’s Pose with the forehead on a cushion.

What else helps a stiff neck at work?

Raise the screen so the top of it is at eye level, bring the keyboard close, and get up at least once an hour. If typing leaves the forearms tight as well, a minute of wrist stretches between calls fits the same break. Ten slow rounds of Cat-Cow, the spine’s easiest warm-up, move the whole spine, neck included. For posture, the Mountain Pose cues for stacking the head are worth a minute of standing practice. Slow mobility exercises for the spine and shoulders are another gentle way to break up a long sitting day.

Which stretches pair with this routine?

A tight neck almost always comes with tight shoulders. The eight stretches for laptop shoulders are the natural next step, the gentle neck exercises with light hand presses add some strength, and the morning routine for small spaces begins with the neck before you even leave bed. For a longer practice, the 15-minute stretching routine from head to toe includes both.

How a teacher works with a sore neck

A careful teacher will ask about the neck before starting: where it is stiff, since when, and whether a doctor has seen it. Every neck movement stays small and slow, cushions keep the head supported lying down, and anything that loads the neck, such as Headstand or Shoulderstand, is left out. Before a workout, the neck rolls in the eight warm up exercises follow the same small, slow rule. Slow, supported practices, like restorative yoga for a tired body, suit a tense neck especially well. Slow somatic exercises lying on the floor follow the same unhurried approach.