Have you ever gone to bed feeling reasonably good, only to wake up with a stiff neck, tight shoulders, or tension between your shoulder blades? Your sleeping position may be part of the problem. More specifically, your pillow height may be putting your neck and upper back in a poor position for several hours at a time. There is no single “perfect” pillow for everyone. Your body size, shoulder width, sleeping position, mattress firmness, and even the way you naturally position yourself during...

Strengthening the muscles between and below your shoulder blades is an important step toward standing taller and reducing the tension that builds through the middle back, shoulders, and neck. But strengthening alone is not enough. You may exercise with excellent form for several minutes each day, but your body still has to contend with hours spent sitting at a desk, driving, looking down at a phone, or sleeping in a poorly supported position. Your everyday environment can either reinforce the...

If your head tends to drift forward while you work, drive, read, or look at your phone, your neck muscles may be working harder than they should. One simple exercise that can help is the standing neck retraction, sometimes called the double-chin exercise. Despite the name, this is not about appearance. The purpose is to strengthen the deeper muscles in the front of the neck and help bring your head back into better alignment over your shoulders. Watch the Standing Neck Retraction Video What...