Massage Monday 8-1-11: Neck Stretch

As I promised last week, I’m going to show you how to stretch someone’s neck in a side laying position. It’s very simple and very effective.

Sit by the receiver laying on a side. Your knees are next to the receiver’s shoulders if you’re sitting Japanese style. Grab the tip of the shoulder. Tell the receiver to take a deep breath and as the receiver exhales, you exhale too and lean backward. As you can see you’re using the weight of the neck to stretch the neck. Don’t just use your arms to pull the shoulder. Keep your arms straight and use your entire upper body. Remove the pillow if the receiver wants more stretch. Do not grab the shoulder muscle, the very muscle you want to stretch. Make sure your holding the tip of the shoulder.

The receiver can also tilt the neck in different angles to target different neck muscles to stretch.

Happy Massaging!