all right nice so you made it this far you're doing great now we're going to finish off with the neck stretches all right so first when we get ready to start the neck sequence we're going to start with some traction all right when it comes to the neck really think about this as a central hub for the central nervous system so we have to make sure we're being very particular we're being very smooth our grips are really comfortable everything along those lines are moving in a nice uh very just really smooth fashion is what you want to think about Okay so first we're going to drop the half foam roller onto the ground depending on your height it's going to determine on how far away the foam roller is from the table all right so like I told you earlier for me someone 6'5 we're going to have to I'm just kidding I'm 5'9 but let me get away with that one so we're going to be just about 12 in away for someone around 5'9 or so so if you're a little bit shorter than 59 you'll be closer if you're taller you'll be further away all right so we're going to have it nice and Stout right there on the ground okay both knees will make contact all right and then while we're doing the traction it's okay to bring one knee up all right if you don't have the hip mobility here to open up sideways you can come over to the lateral side of the table just a little bit okay but if not you can align perfectly then that's ideal so what we're going to do gently we're going to lift the head okay they have long hair such as natally we're just going to try to get that out of the way a little bit to make sure that we never uh create any uncomfortability and you can see she has a little bit of a necklace we want to remove the hair from the necklace too as well something you should keep a lookout for all right and then as we are creating traction what we want to think about for the posture side of the body okay we want to reach down just below the neckline and remember we're on the posterior side it's okay to go below the leg line the neckline on the anterior side of the body we would not travel below the the neckl line all right so as we're traveling here making contact flush with my entire finger and palm okay so this one's going down right here thumb on the left side of your neck three fingers on the right side and this entire hand is making flush contact as I'm creating the traction here nice and smooth okay so as I lift up reaching down below creating the traction her head's going to be slightly lifted and that gives room for our hand to come underneath nice and smoothly okay and there is no disjointed or discombobulated sort of movement all right so my thumb is always making contact especially on the posterior side of the neck just below the oxital ridge want to make some contact there too as well okay just creating Traction in the cervical spine before we go into the actual stretches there all right and then now let's talk about forward flexion which we can transition right into and imagine you're only going to do the traction there for 10 15 seconds that's all you need before moving into the forward flexion and then the the rest of the next sequence so what we want to think about is I'll end up just about this my thumbs together this is the base of the sko I can hook it so I can come up and then through just like so all right so when I lift the head nice and gently and then I want to bring my hands to that grip just like so so take a deep breath in coming up first and then around and then then what we want to do two ways are going to make this as easy as possible for yourself either bring your hips forward so that your elbows can rest against your core so that we do not have to carry the full weight of the head okay what you can also think about is your elbows pressing into the tables when they're pressing to the tables you're going to have to get them pretty close to her traps to ensure that we do not lose tension okay once that happens we can also sit back onto the heels once again if we lose tension such as the elbows come too far back we will have to readjust so something to keep in mind can keep those elbows high enough towards the traps okay or elbows in front drive your hips when you drive your hips forward it'll naturally create that upward trajectory okay and then what we're going to think about now too as well will be the PNF so for the PNF what she will do is we're going to C Natalie to go ahead and drive her head back down towards the table okay let's go ahead Natalie for four three two and one and then she will relax okay as we come down it's very rare that a client is coming in to see us for the first time haven't received a oneon-one stretch before they may not have their neck worked on previously so what you can also do is drop it on the table your hands are in between the table and the client's head just give them a little bit of balance or Rock back and forth very slight just to ensure that they are not Contracting and holding their neck in a tension position okay and that is is the traction and forward neck flexion all right so we've created traction we've done that forward flexion now we're going to get some lateral flexion of the neck okay so we're going to be able to lengthen the traps even more so as we end towards this finishing of the sequence so what we're going to start with is bring our hands just below the base of the skull as before okay you can do just some very quick tractions as you are bringing the head over okay before I get into it what you can also think about is to make sure the client is not already shrugging their neck just like so that'll make you have to travel deeper into the stretch and also will not feel as much length there so you could use your palms to just press away just like so if they're feel a little stuck in the table you can lift the arms and pull them away okay so as we get ready to go into lateral neck flexion okay let's say if I'm stretching the left side of her neck I'm going into to the underhand grip and pressing from the left side of the head okay so going directly underneath my thumb is just behind her ear lobe right here okay so the base of my palm is underneath the head here the thumb is here that's going to help me create energy through the base of my palm just like so so I'm not going to press with the thumb it's just really a guiding point there okay so rather than pressing here and then taking your into the stretch we're going to make it a little bit easier on us and on them so we're going to slide over until we see that shoulder rise about 2 in you want to see it actually come up boom boom boom like that okay that means that we have enough length here where we should be able to get to a stretch nice and easy as we press away okay so I'm in a kneel position here one knee up but what I'm going to do now is go to double kneel position okay so my knees are on the half foam roller my feet are behind me I'm going to come back into a seated position okay palms and fingers up to the sky making contact just outside the base of her neck okay so try not to come on the Bony stru of the shoulder we shouldn't be over things like the acromial head and such okay just be right outside the base of the neck okay when I create pressure there to drive a stretch the natural inclination is her head is going to want to come back okay so with this hand I have to be very Stout and conscious to make sure that as I press I'm thinking about oppositional force with this arm okay so deep breath in stack bones travel and press okay so if I can get there with my feet behind me my KNE both of my knees on the half bam roller that looks great okay and real life you likely are going to be able to get that opposite hand onto the table excuse me your opposite elbow supported on the table okay so if it feels a little tough when it's back bring your shoulder forward right there and our arms are supporting each other okay if you want to be able to create more strength here what you can do is come up tall everything stays the same you're just going to Pivot with your hand elbow here and then hips will come forward and will relax against the table nice and Tall okay that's going to create a lot more strength in the stretch so you have to make sure we're very aware of that and then they're not already at the threshold of intensity before we go into this variation here okay so once you do it you're think about my right elbows against my core here creating a nice energy transfer my left elbow is not only on the table but it's against my body also against my core okay so I'm in a really Stout Compact and Powerful position and I'm actually just leaning up against the table nice and Tall okay and that's how we can create a nice strong stretch so let's say if I do the PF from here she will go ahead and press her head towards her left side against my forearm here here let's go ahead and 5 4 3 2 1 and then relax okay and then to take it deeper I'm not actually going to laterally flex her head even more I'm just going to press a little bit more strongly into the opposing trap okay and when I press into this opposing trap I'm not thinking about just pressing here I'm thinking about pressing down and away okay CU remember oppositional force is really important for us to keep in mind during the stretches so want to make it feel like it's going in opposite directions whenever I am driving any sort of stretch especially as we go into lateral neck flexion here all right so now let's go ahead and move on to the next all right now that we've done traction forward flexion lateral flexion now we're going to do lateral neck rotation stretch okay so this allows us to Target different areas of the neck of that upper region so when we get ready to go into the movement okay what we want to think about is once again we'll just move the hair out the way if they have nice long hair okay out from underneath the lower the excuse me the upper back too as well so it does not get pinned all right and then we're going to go ahead and stretch the left side here okay so it's going to make us travel towards the right okay so when we do that my hand which is my right hand is going to travel over to the left side okay around the left side don't even making contact with their face okay just right around just like so all right it's okay if the ear is making just a little bit of contact all right and then from there your knee will come up okay in front of your hip just like that okay and then now with our palms facing up to the sky we're going to make contact with the Trap just like that okay and now what I'm going to do is lift my forearm okay so I'm not actually going to pull with this arm I'm going to use my forearm here to lift and then create strength okay to create the stretch just like so okay then what I'm going to do is also keep an eye on my foot all right it's behind me so I can create nice leverage just like so and I'm also using my right quad the one that's up on the table in the kneel position to support their head to as well okay if the size of your hand makes it a little bit tough to go Palms up then you can flip to Palm out there too as well and you want to always think about your forearm I'll just do this you can kind of see coming towards the front side of your knuckles and not the back side okay if you're on the front side it helps drive it up and away if you're on the back side it's tough to create that angle okay that trajectory that we want in the stretch okay so boom it just like so and then we're thinking about her nose driving towards the elbow that's a good Landmark for us to use okay and then now for the PNF she's essentially going to take her head back towards that starting position okay so Natalie let's go ahead bring it right back to neutral okay to zero five 4 3 2 1 and relax and then now to take it even deeper take a deep breath okay and then now I'm just going to push a little bit more with my forearm while leaning back just a little bit and if you have to adjust your feet then do so you're bring it behind you okay to pull your weight weight back in this direction which will help you create that lateral rotation of the stretch okay and then that will be the lateral neck rotation stretch all right so we made it to the end of the stretch sequence doing a great job hope this all been very valuable for you remember even though we got the last stretch you always want to go back review to retain the information as well as possible to make sure you have the best information for you and for the clients okay so this is a great way to get you started but always come back to this Baseline information it's always going to be really helpful for us as flexologist okay trust me so now to finish what we're going to do is go into a forward fold stretch okay so when we think about the forward fold if she's already laid like this how we can help them up is go ahead and handshake grip behind the scapula go Ahad just lift them up into position just like that okay not everyone's going to have a six-pack like our Natalie right here okay so give them a little bit of assistance just like that want to make sure that their feet and the heels are planted on the table okay so if their heels are off of the table they a little bit taller just go and slide them back a little bit make sure they have that nice uh that nice base there okay so because Nat I know is also has good Mobility she just adjusted herself to as well cuz she knows that she'll need just a little bit more room for her hands also so what I'm going to do is come on the table double kneel position okay cuz her hair is nice and long I'm just going to move this out the way to ensure that when I create sort of angular trajectory here I'm not pulling on the hair at all okay so how I'm going to start is my thumbs on the medial side of her scapula okay just like so she'll take a deep breath in and then I'm thinking up and over for my pressure okay so I'm not pressing directly down okay I want length to happen in the back okay we want those Erectors to lengthen okay we want her to feel like her stomach and the core is not compressed either too as well okay so when we create traction that will help with all that okay my hands are nice and stacked here okay if you need more leverage your knees can come behind you just a little bit so you can really fall into it okay so if you need more power knees come behind you less power they'll come directly underneath you okay so as you're doing that you can also travel down the back just a little bit okay to create just a little bit more of that effect down to the thoracic spine and through the lumbar spine okay and you can travel right back up that's a great way to create length my fingers are on the lateral side of her body okay but they're not gripping whatsoever the base my Palms doing all the work okay so an important thing to think about with this stretch is to confirm if you start to see them whittling their toes and things like that uh is that uh the static nerve is not being tensioned too strongly okay so if you do see that then what you can do is ensure that they're not pulling their toes back into a dorsal Flex position while also dropping their head okay because we have five points of tension on the static nerve we have our spine our hip our knee ankle and then our foot is the fifth okay so if you do see that they're having some nerve tension on this which essentially would be rather than a pull it'd be closer to numb tingling uh really sharp Sensations okay some you can keep an eye out for in this stretch because some of our clients don't have the mobility where they might try to pull their feet back okay and then as a professional you will know what to look out for there okay and then if we want to go Ahad head and have her PNF what we'll do is using her upper back she'll go ahead and just try to return to her seated position the upright position okay go ahead for five 4 3 2 one and relax okay so when she does so I'm not going to press to resist against her I'm just falling into her just a little bit more so I can keep a really Stout position while she uh creates a resistance against me for the PNF all right all right nice and then as we get ready to come out you can go ahead wrap WRA around just where the lats are help her come back to that neutral position right there 90° okay you give them just a little bit of tissue manipulation right there make sure that we're finishing off nice cherry on the top of the sequence and then that is the forward fold stretch which completes our stretch sequence all right so thank you so much for being here with our new flexologist we wish you all the best remember you can always reach out to us always take a look at my stretch Works review the videos this is going to be information that's going to help you throughout your entire time here at stretch lab all right thank you so much for being here with us we look forward to seeing you soon out there in the studio