One of the simplest ways to alleviate neck stiffness or discomfort is to stretch intuitively<\/a> and mindfully, or practice yoga.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cYoga helps strengthen and stretch the neck muscles, which can alleviate tension and stiffness,\u201d says yoga teacher Danielle Zuccarelli<\/a> from Move Studios<\/a>. \u201cYoga also supports better flexibility and balance so that you can move with more ease.\u201d<\/p>\n We also tend to hold stress and emotions in the shoulders and neck\u2014think clenched jaws and hunched shoulders\u2014which shows up when we might be feeling stressed or anxious.<\/p>\n As well as the physical benefits of yoga, Zuccarelli explains how this ancient mind-body practice can also help with balancing your mind and emotions, which may contribute to those aches.<\/p>\n \u201cYoga cultivates mindfulness through conscious movement and breath awareness,\u201d she says. \u201cMindfulness helps release mental and physical stress, and relaxes the body.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMental stress can tighten neck muscles, causing pain and stiffness. Oftentimes, we don\u2019t even realize this is happening until the neck starts hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n Below, Zuccarelli shares three gentle yoga poses to stretch and lengthen the neck muscles, release tension and encourage deeper relaxation. Practiced with mindful breathing, it can help you feel physically and mentally lighter, and more at ease.<\/p>\n 1. Lateral neck stretch <\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Time: 5-10 breaths each side<\/p>\n Sit in a comfortable position on the floor, with your spine upright, resting your fingertips on the floor just behind you.Inhale as you squeeze your shoulder blades, lifting your chest and chin.Exhale as you lower your right ear toward your right shoulder.Take a few slow breaths, then gently return to center.Shrug your shoulders to shake off the movement, then repeat on the other side.2. Seated forward fold <\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Time: 1-2min<\/p>\n Sit on the floor with your legs crossed and spine straight.Interlace your fingers behind your head.Inhale as you lift your chest, drawing your shoulder blades back and keeping your elbows wide to the sides.Exhale as you lower your chin toward your chest, drawing your elbows in toward each other, allowing gravity to pull your elbows down.Hold and breathe deeply.3. Seated side stretch<\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Image credit: Danielle Zuccarelli<\/p>\n Time: 5-10 breaths each side<\/p>\n Sit upright in a comfortable position on the floor, with your fingertips on the floor by your sides.Inhale, then as you exhale, gently drop your left ear toward your left shoulder, raising your right hand to waist height.Inhale as you flex your right wrist to raise your fingertips.Deepen the stretch by holding the right side of your head with your left hand.Return to the start and repeat on the other side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you spend a lot of time working at a computer or scrolling on your phone, you\u2019ve probably…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-308485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/fG9YJVR5TDxVWrh5PPh87E-1080-80.jpg\")
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