Ugh, my neck is tired.

I know you’ve been there - we all have.

You’re setting up for The Hundred - and all you can think about is how heavy your head is, and how fatigued this feels in your neck and shoulders - not your abs.

If you’ve come to the conclusion, “Well, I must just not be strong enough / my posture is bad / I’m doing something wrong…” those are all reasonable conclusions.

BUT let’s unpack this, because there might be more to the picture.

1.) Your body is smart, and nothing works in isolation.

Remember what we say in the studio - “This is all core work, simply masquerading as arm/leg/back work.”

It’s all core work, and that’s what we want you to remember - but let’s focus on arm work for this post.

2.) Your arms are loaded - with springs, or even just bodyweight - and your body has to figure out where to draw effort from, how it will distribute that effort.

Ideally, your ribs and torso support your arm movement and you’re cruising along with your session - your breathing is controlled and efficient, your shoulders get to do their work, and the neck is left alone.

But, Pilates is hard (OMG THE HUNDRED) - so you forget, and start to WORK, and then your breath becomes shallow or (gasp) held.

It becomes effortful to BREATHE, and you HAVE to breathe - so your body begins to distribute effort and recruit help from the closest thing it can - and that is often times, your neck.

The neck, after all, is primarily responsible for head and eye control, posture, and other fine movements. The neck is NOT responsible for moving your arms, so when it is asked to do this in conjunction with it’s usual duties, it’s like, give me a break, I’m already doing EVERYTHING.

3.) ARE YOU BREATHING?

Have I ever bellowed this (or maybe whispered) to you in a class and, holding your breath, you nodded yes, to keep moving through the exercise? lolololol

Friends ohhhhhh friends - we are paying attention to this in the studio because we know that “Relax your shoulders” ain’t going to get us where we want to go - which is connected to our centers, and without sassy shoulders and cranky necks. We know your neck is trying to help because SOMETHING ELSE isn’t working.

And that usually leads us back to your breath and your nervous system.

4.) So, what helps?

Not more neck stretching. Sorry.

If we want less neck pain, and more centering, we gotta get back to the root of core work - that’s your torso, and your diaphragm.

Of course, we can always modify - change the spring tension, slow the movement down, alter the arm position in relationship to the torso.

These modifications are WONDERFUL and we use them often, as they can make a huge difference.

But we gotta MOVE YOUR RIBS so that you have SPACE to breathe for long-lasting change.

Breath work is core work. Core work is centering. Breath work will center you. Breath work will take the work out of your neck, and put it back in your core.

5.) Do these daily, and focus on the space it creates - not the shape it makes.

We have to start paying attention to how effort is being distributed - not just that effort is being made.

You know that in Pilates we are concerned with the “age of your spine.” Can you flex forward, extend back, bend side to side, and rotate well?

These actions are all centered around spinal and thoracic mobility - and you need that for good breathing, and happier necks and shoulders.

Do these daily to help!

—> Door openers. Cat cow. Baby swan. Spine Stretch Forward. Mermaid. L-stretches at the kitchen counter. Tractioning with a hand towel. Scapular glides against the wall.

5 minutes of deep, focused breathing.

These physical and mental exercises will help you to feel connected and grounded - so that when you do begin to load the arms and progress your daily exercises, you can notice when things get wacky - and you can start to take control.

You aren’t fragile. You are strong, and your body is smart.

So, next time you’re in the midst of something that is making you feel fatigued and full of tension - take a beat to acknowledge before trying to change something.

It’s a clue that we need to pay attention so that we can be better organised.

Ask “Am I breathing, well?” and see if you can tell if that small change might make the big difference you’re looking for.

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Got neck pain?

Come on in, we are always working on this in the studio in 5millionzillion ways because you deserve feel good in your body and in your exercise habits!

The Work Works If You Work It, and we’ll help you Work It! High-five!