Thinking about getting creative with your strap?

Here are some ideas for your upper body.

HEAD  Suffer from pounding headaches? While this is not what you’d call an evidence-based holistic health tip, it sure helps me:  Tie a yoga strap around your head, putting light pressure (not too much, eh?) on your temples or eyes, whatever parts are pulsating. You may not like the way you look, but you’ll probably feel some relief. If the headache’s really bad, lie down and try to sleep it off, wearing your new head gear. (If your partner obliges, you can also try this.) 

NECK  Are you losing the ability to rotate your neck right and left, which can happen as you glow older? That movement is really important for driving, says physiotherapist Shelley Alper.  If you sleep on your stomach with your neck turned to one side, you’re likely to get tight on the opposite one, she explains.

Here’s an exercise she can vouch for:

With the upper portion of the strap in your left hand, twist your head and neck to the left, pulling down on the strap in your right hand. 

Repeat on the other side. If you feel pain or dizziness, stop immediately.  (Shelley’s got more neck tips here.)

SHOULDERS  Our shoulder joints also stiffen with age. Shelley suggests this strap trick for stretching the shoulders:

Exercise A: Hold the top of the strap with your right hand and the bottom of the strap with your left hand.  (You’ll have to bend your elbows. ) Pull up with your top hand, letting the movement also pull your bottom hand up your back a bit. Then, pull down with your bottom hand, and let the movement pull your top hand down as well.   

Exercise B:  Repeat the above but switch hands, holding the top of the strap with the left hand and the bottom with the right.

For more holistic health tips, come back every Friday.