Rather read the transcript?

Here it is…

Hi guys and welcome to blossoming me.

Today is a beautiful sunny day, not. Okay so in that light you woke up this morning and your neck was on fire. You just move your head and it absolutely excruciating pain.

Oh my goodness what are you going to do for your day?

Everything is in question and after a couple of hours of work you’re completely exhausted as well!

Can you relate?

Well at blossoming me this is something that we see quite often, so in this video I’d really like to share some ideas with things that you can do at home to help you through those real tough times. So we’re wanting to reduce the impact on your energy. We want to reduce that pain itself so that you can actually get through your day, because it can be tough. Making things like even getting dressed a challenge. Getting to work in your car a challenge. Imagine reversing the car. You can’t turn your neck. You can’t turn your head, you can’t see.  So how are you going to cope?

It’s amazing what happens with our neck. How much we take it for granted until we actually get to these points in time. And so today I wanted to discuss with you, things that you can do to really help you get through a tough time like that.

Neck pain can vary in intensity it can be fairly mild and just restricted in movement, all the way through to that excruciating, on fire sensation. 

So what we want to do is firstly take a breath. Calm yourself. That will help your body to cope. That will help bring you back into your body and that’s pretty crucial. When it comes to dealing with pain it’s a scary place to be, when your body is feeling on fire. So we want to take it slow. Maybe to be gentle with ourselves and that’s really important.

But things that you can do …

Now if you’ve seen as a blossoming me, you know heat is your friend. I talk to clients all the time about heat being your best friend.

Unless there is actually swelling going on, one of the best things you can do when you’re in this predicament, whether it’s just a little bit of movement that you’re having trouble with or real pain. Heat is your very best friend. 

Hot showers, let that hot water really sink into those muscles. All the way from your occiput, in the top of your neck, all the way down your back. It’s all of those muscles not just the actual neck, from our chin to our shoulders that we’re worried about. All of the back and up, into the bottom of the head is going to be related to what’s going on in your neck. Especially if there’s a lot of pain. So let that hot water really soak in, gently but definitely over a few minutes, let it just pound. 

So, hot showers, an nice warm baths. Doesn’t have to be excruciatingly hot, but an Epsom salt bath can do more than just reduce the pain in your nerves and muscles if you’re having a bad day. It’s such a powerful thing Epsom salts. What we’re wanting to do here though, is let it settle the nerves, reduce the tension in the muscles. And so if you can manage a whole bath, that can relax, not just your lower back, but right up, into your ribs, right into your mid back, upper back, and into the shoulders where you’re going to start getting that maximum effect into the neck. 

So again nice, warm baths with epsom salts. Heat packs are another heat treat. Nurturing and nourishing your body. Make sure when you’re using heat packs that they go across both shoulders otherwise you end up lifting the one shoulder, in order to balance the heat pack, which is defeating the whole purpose of trying to relax your shoulders, so that your neck can also become much easier. So, along with the Epsom salts, the heat pack and the bath really, really, really powerful stuff, heat! 

Then we jump into other things that you can do for yourself. Being a massage therapist, I tend to go for the self-massage. So gently but deeply, squeezing between your thumb and your fingers squeezing along this bone here which is the clavicle or the collarbone. It’s right in the middle of your shoulder, as in, between the front and the back. And it goes along from your neck out to your shoulder. These can be really, really tight when your neck is in agony, so just be gentle.

It’s likely going to hurt. It can be a real problem area. So you want to go slow. You’ll find that less pressure done more often, repeated more times, will be better for you, rather than really getting in deep the first go. Just take it easy. So gentle pressure all the way along. Finger to thumb, from your neck out to the edge of your shoulder.

Also, circles. Grab your two middle fingers. Work gently down the side of your neck. You can go anywhere along your neck, that your body can handle. Remember, you want to stay in your comfort zone, so work your way gently down the neck, and around the neck. Going in lines down the neck, and that will help to ease those muscles. So self-massage can be a really powerful thing to do. 

It can also lift your energy. So as we find with neck pain, it can really be dropping that head and neck and shoulders, which can compromise your breathing and that can also compromise your attitude. When you’re starting to look down, your mood can drop as well. And so by easing the pain, you’ll find that your body will lift, and that will lift your mood.

You may start to really feel the sense that you can actually do something. That you’re having an effect. And that can be a really powerful sense, as well as help you really believe that you can make a difference for yourself. Which of course you can. Self-healing is all healing. So you healing yourself is one of the best things that you can do, between sessions if you’re seeing a therapist, like a chiropractor, osteopath, massage therapist, or physio. If you’re seeing anybody like that, this can help in between sessions or possibly before you get to a professional.

Okay, my last tip and trick, is one of my favourites. This is going to sound really bizarre, but in Shiatsu, we look at the neck, which moves your head in all directions, as being just like your wrists and your ankles.

So, with your wrist, moving your hand in a figure of eight, so in all directions. Holding firmly at the wrist end of your forearm, and moving your hand into a figure of eight, that will release and relax those muscles. And that can have an effect on your neck. It sounds bizarre, but in Shiatsu, that’s how it works. So if your neck is too sore to touch, you might like to play with your wrists and your ankles. When you’re doing that, you may very well find that one side is more creaky and crunchy, or more painful in the wrist or ankle than the other side. Chances are, your neck is going to mirror that. 

Also, you’ll find very often our body is a mirror for what’s going on in our mind. For example, if you’re having trouble with your neck, a stiff neck, as it’s often called, you may also be having trouble looking at different issues in your life, from more than one perspective. If you’re wanting to be able to empower your mind to look at these things from different perspectives, try resolving any neck issues. Amazing as it sounds, our body mirrors our mind, our mind mirrors our body. They are strongly connected. So have a play with that and see if it loosens up your mind, as well.

So thank you for being here with us today. I hope one of these three things, the self-massage, the heat, or the Shiatsu technique of rotating the wrists and the ankles has helped you today, to loosen your neck pain, and to ease it, with any luck. I hope you’re feeling better quickly.

I Really hope that this was helpful. And if you liked the video,  please “like it”. And if you think that someone could benefit from this information, please share it for us… and for them. And if you have any questions please ask them, as well. We’d love to help you out, personally.

Thank you for watching today and we look forward to seeing you next time.

Final Thoughts:

Neck pain can be excruciating, but there are things that you can do to help relieve it, potentially even before you get to professional care, that don’t include painkillers. I hope you have found these three tips for reducing your neck pain helpful. Please remember that it is always best for neck pain to be properly assessed by a health professional, to ensure that there is no serious cause that needs to be addressed.

If you have neck pain that you want to be cleared out of your life… Book today and we can do a full assessment, and treatment plan, and help you back to enjoying your life to the full.

Hungry for more?

You might also find it interesting to learn a bit more about how your neck pain can impact your mood. If so, check out this blog “Your Teacher was Right”.

Rather read the transcript?

Here it is…

So today I want to give you three techniques for headaches, while you’re in pain. So in Chinese medicine, body balance is achieved by activating energy points associated with different channels of energy flow. If energy, blood or fluid is blocked, then disease, stagnation, or pain can occur.

So in one part of your body, you might get stagnation and pressure. And in another area, you’ll get a lack of energy, fluid and blood. So in any of those areas, whether there’s too much or too little, you could get dysfunction, disease and pain. So three meridians that are useful when you have headache are the liver, gallbladder and large intestine.

Next time you have a headache, maybe you want to try these three points. And also you could take notice.

Overcome headaches caused by frustration and resentment

If you’re feeling frustrated or resentment, you can focus first on the liver three point.

Supporting yourself through grief and sadness

If you’re noticing you have grief or sadness, or you’re fighting a bug, then you could try the large intestine point.

How to clear your mind and tackle decision-making challenges

And if you feel like you’re having trouble making decisions or clearing your mind, then you could start with the gallbladder point. So just a note that with gallbladder 41, you want to not use it during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, because it could potentially induce labour.

Apply these techniques for headaches

Okay, so all these techniques are about finding the point and then adding a little bit of gentle firm pressure. And holding that for somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.

You want to notice what you’re feeling. Sometimes there’ll be pain. Sometimes odd sensations. And sometimes you don’t notice anything. But if you’re feeling pain or an odd sensation, wait until that sensation starts to subside before you stop.

So the first one is liver three. This one is between the big toe and the second toe on the metatarsal, just sort of almost in the middle of the foot.

Gallbladder forty… forty-one is on the outside of the foot, but very similar. So between the fifth and the fourth metatarsals, just before the middle of the foot.

And the large intestine is on the back of the hand between the thumb and the first finger, in that webbing.

And all of them, you might feel a tender spot or a nodule. On those spots, you just want to hold pressure or gently rub it. Take some deep breaths to help relax through the process, and when you’re done, have a large glass of water to help flush your system.

I really hope this was helpful? If you have any questions, please leave those in the comments below.

If you give it a try, also let us know how it goes. And if you think someone could benefit from this information, please share it for us… Share it for them.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to any feedback.

Final Thoughts:

Headaches can be debilitating but, there are things that you can do to help relieve the pain that don’t include pain killers. I hope you have found these three techniques for reducing pain during a headache, useful. Please remember that all headaches should be properly assessed and diagnosed by a health professional, to ensure that there is no serious cause that needs to be addressed. 

If you have headaches that you want out of your life… Book today and we can do a full assessment, treatment plan and help you enjoy your life, pain-free.   

Hungry for more?

You might also find it interesting to learn about how your feet can contribute to your headaches. If so, here is the video-blog where I discuss the foot headache connection.

Author: Alexis Weidland

About Blossoming Me

BlossomingMe offers a fully integrated approach to your wellbeing. Located on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Sarah is our Cranio-sacral and Remedial Massage Therapist and health and lifestyle coach. She can help relieve those problematic knots, tightness and other specific ailments to promote a healthy recovery. These complementary massage therapies can be combined to suit your needs, and include: craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure, reiki, remedial, swedish, and body-mind-massage. 

Our qualified Osteopath, Alexis, offers a drug free, minimally invasive, “hands on” treatment focusing on the musculoskeletal system with its associated muscles, tendons, ligaments, membranes, bones and joints. Alexis takes a functional approach. This means that she focuses on the way a component (body part, tissue or group of tissues) performs its role, as well as the way the body works, performs and integrates as a whole. Our team can support you to improve your posture and therefore your overall health.

**Disclaimer** The information provided by BlossomingMe, on our website, in our courses, and in our blogs and posts, is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided on this site and social outlets is not, nor intended to be, a substitute for profess

ional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health professional before you make any changes to your health regime, before dealing with new symptoms, and, if something you have read here has raised any questions or concerns regarding your situation.