Tight, Achy Neck? Melt Away the Discomfort With These 5 Yoga Poses

If you feel sore after staring down at screens all day (let’s be real, who doesn’t?), take note.

There’s a reason an especially annoying situation (or person) is called a “pain in the neck.” Neck pain, while common and usually not a cause for concern, can really ruin your day.

It’s impossible to ignore; every nod, turn, and head shake offers an instantaneous reminder. Rest doesn’t always help (if you’ve ever woken up from a nap with even worse neck pain, you get it), and movement can feel risky.

Yoga, while not a cure-all for underlying injuries or medical conditions, may help provide relief for people with occasional neck pain. To better understand how to safely use yoga to loosen up tight neck muscles, we chatted with two certified yoga teachers.

Read on for their advice on using yoga to alleviate neck pain, and keep these five gentle poses in mind for the next time you wake up with a crick in your neck.

Is it safe to do yoga with neck pain?

Doing yoga with neck pain can be safe, but you need to be careful.

“The neck can be precarious,” says Rachel Hirsch, RYT-500, yoga teacher and founder of Empowered Yoga  “I like to be extra safe with the neck because it’s a vulnerable area of the body that holds important parts, like arteries that supply the brain with blood.”

If you’ve sustained an injury to your neck or are experiencing intense pain, skip the asanas and see a medical professional immediately.

Otherwise, yoga can be effective and safe as long you pay attention to your body’s cues. The primary one is pain.

“If you are experiencing, at any point, additional pain, back away,” Hirsch says. “Pain is a great indicator for us that we’re doing something wrong.”

Sometimes, a yoga pose that doesn’t target the neck specifically may trigger neck pain because your body is so interconnected, according to Frances Naude, RYT-200, yoga teacher, Reiki master healer, and tarot card reader.

“For example, turning your head so that your eyes may gaze over your front fingers in warrior II pose may put too much pressure on your neck while i