Phase 3 · Functional Capacity

Part of the 9 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Neck and Upper Back Tension

Fifteen Minutes to Keep Your Neck Free

The standing practice for after the program

This is the practice that outlives the nine weeks. Everything that made the difference, in the shortest form it still works in: arms overhead, eagle arms for the shoulder blades, two loaded standing poses, one thoracic opener and a twist. Fifteen minutes once or twice a week is roughly what it takes to hold what two months of work built, and holding a neck is far easier than getting it back.

15 min · Level 2

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Wann hilfreich

A third day in the last three weeks, or your maintenance practice once the program is finished. Fifteen minutes, standing, no props needed.

Physical effect

One pass through each pattern the program built: overhead reach, scapular separation, loaded standing, thoracic extension and rotation.

Function

Short enough to happen on a weekday, which is the only property a maintenance practice really needs.

Mental effect

Having a fifteen minute answer is most of why the tension stops running your week.

Fifteen minutes standing

One pass through everything the nine weeks built, in order.

Tadasana

30 sec

Berghaltung

Feet hip width, five slow breaths, and notice where your head sits over your ribs.

Thirty seconds of checking in tells you which of the poses below needs more care today.

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Urdhva Hastasana

45 sec

Gestrecke Armpose

Arms overhead, ribs down, shoulders away from the ears.

The overhead position is the one a desk takes away first. Keeping it is most of the point of this practice.

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Garudasana

45 sec per side

Der Adler

Arms crossed and wrapped, elbows lifting, hands away from the face.

Eagle arms separate the shoulder blades, the one direction nothing in a normal day provides.

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Virabhadrasana II

45 sec per side

Krieger 2

Arms wide at shoulder height, held for the whole time.

Warrior II is the endurance work. Nothing else in fifteen minutes keeps the arms out that long.

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Utthita Parsvakonasana

45 sec per side

Seitwinkel

Forearm to the thigh, top arm over the ear, chest turning up.

Side Angle adds rotation under load, which is where a stiff upper back gives most.

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Virabhadrasana 1

45 sec per side

Krieger 1

Back heel down, hips square, arms up, head neutral.

Warrior I is the hardest pose here and it comes last, on purpose.

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Adhomukha Shvanasana

45 sec

Herabschauender Hund

Knees bent, press the floor away, head hanging between the arms.

Downward Dog is the transition down, and the only pose where the neck carries nothing.

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Anahatasana

1 min

Herzöffner

Hips over the knees, chest to the floor, arms long.

Heart-Melting Pose is the shortest way to keep the front of the shoulders open.

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Jathara Parivartanasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Die liegende Drehung

Knees to one side, both shoulders staying on the floor.

The supine twist is the counter movement to everything above and the fastest way to leave the practice feeling neutral.

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Savasana

2 min

Totenstellung

Palms up, towel under the head, jaw loose.

Two minutes at the end is what separates a practice from a set of exercises.

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Phase 3 · Weeks 7 to 9

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Functional Capacity, the third phase of the 9 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Neck and Upper Back Tension. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Once or twice a week once the program ends. If the tension flares, this is not the practice for that week. Go back to the gentle seated sequence until it settles, then come back here. Nothing in this program is medical advice.

Der Mensch hinter dieser Sequenz

Manish Rana

Gründer & Autor

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Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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