Transcription
These two muscles block blood supply to the brain. Hello, friends. Today we will work with the cervical spine to improve brain nutrition. It is in the neck that we have the vessels that provide nutrition to the brain and adequate blood outflow from the head. And if these vessels are compressed, then symptoms such as dizziness, headache, floaters, dark spots before the eyes can occur. All these symptoms arise from the tension of just two muscles. And today I will show you how to work with them. So, friends, the first muscle that we need to work with is the sternocleidomastoid muscle, abbreviated SCM. Based on its name, it attaches to the sternum and clavicle, rises obliquely upwards along the neck, and behind the ear attaches to the mastoid process. This muscle is clearly visible if you turn your head to the side and tilt it slightly forward. It literally protrudes. Why is it so important for blood supply? The fact is that the jugular vein passes behind this muscle. This is the main vessel that ensures venous outflow from the head. When the SCM shortens, tenses, it becomes stiff and can compress this vein. Thus, venous outflow from the brain will be impaired. What happens next? Venous blood cannot drain normally from the head. Stagnation occurs. And if venous outflow is impaired, then the inflow of fresh arterial blood, enriched with oxygen, also slows down, because these are two interconnected processes. This leads to the fact that a person experiences drowsiness, heaviness in the head, decreased concentration, headaches, a feeling of a cotton head. But that's not all. When the SCM shortens, the head protrudes forward. A characteristic stooped posture appears. And here is where it gets interesting. When the head protrudes forward, the suboccipital muscles, which are located in the upper part of the neck, are forced to constantly overstrain to keep the head in this position. If they relax, the following will happen. As a result, these muscles become overloaded, go into spasm, and accumulate tension. And among these muscles, there is one small muscle, on which the blood supply to the brain largely depends. This is the inferior oblique muscle of the head. The inferior oblique muscle of the head is a small muscle located deep in the suboccipital region, and next to it, very close, pass the vertebral arteries. These are the main vessels that rise upwards and pass through the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae. And when the inferior oblique muscle of the head is in spasm, it can compress the vertebral arteries, thereby hindering the inflow of fresh arterial blood to the brain. But there is good news. This situation is reversible. And today we will work with both of these muscles. So, the first exercise. You can do it sitting on a chair, you can sit with your legs crossed, like me. The main thing is that your back is comfortable and not tense. Look, we turn our head to the left, then tilt our head forward and start looking for this sternocleidomastoid muscle, the SCM. Press on it with pinches, like this, with your fingers from top to bottom along its entire length and from bottom to top. In this position, you can continue to relax and work it. Or return your head to neutral. And in this position, if you clearly feel this muscle, start squeezing the lower third of this muscle. The main thing is not to squeeze sharply, but to squeeze smoothly, release smoothly. Squeeze smoothly, release smoothly. This way the muscle will relax better. We are looking for trigger points. If there is any kind of hardening and especially a painful area, then squeeze this area to the limit of what is tolerable and hold for one, or better, 3 minutes. Next, we will work on the upper part of this muscle using a tennis ball or a special massage ball, it doesn't matter. Well, a special massage ball is better. We press on the upper part of this muscle and back. Press and back. It will take 1-2 minutes for each area. Lower, middle, and upper part of this muscle. Repeat the same on the other side. Now let's move on to relaxing the inferior oblique muscle of the head. Let's first find and feel it on ourselves. Look, we take our palm, place it on the back of the head, move down, find a dimple. If it's the right hand, then shift to the left. It is in this place that this muscle is located. Gently press on this muscle, moving the elbow to the side. Gently press, moving the elbow to the side. Move to the other side. Exactly the same, gently press, gently release. Gently press, gently release. Note that on one side and the other side, the sensations may be different. We are not just mechanically pressing, we are feeling what is happening there. We are learning to feel our body and establish contact with our body. Next exercise. We will thoroughly relax this muscle using a tennis ball. We place it in the suboccipital region on the left side, in that spot that we found. We fix the ball with our left hand. We tilt our head slightly to the left, in this direction. We place our right palm on our forehead and hold this position for two, or better, 3 minutes. There may be slight soreness, discomfort, sometimes, pain at the limit of tolerance, but this is normal if you breathe and the soreness gradually subsides. To help yourself, we mentally exhale into this spot and help the muscles relax. You can also slightly press on this ball, and lower your chin down a bit so that everything is correct. This will help to reach this deep muscle, the inferior oblique muscle of the head, relax it and improve blood supply to the brain. Mentally exhale there, relax. And be sure to repeat this exercise on the other side. I will show the next exercise. We no longer need the ball. We lie flat. For the suboccipital muscles and SCM not to tense, we need the head to be in the correct position, and the back to be straight. Therefore, we will now activate the deep neck muscles on the throat side. Place your palms on your lower ribs, slide your occiput back, and relax. Slide your occiput back and we relax. Remember this movement. It will be very important and useful for us now. We sit on a chair, we sit and essentially do the same thing. We relaxed, the head is slightly forward, and now we return back, reaching up with the crown of the head, as if the occiput is sliding along the floor, the chin drops down. Keep your palms at the level of your lower ribs so that they do not move forward, so that your back does not tense. We reached up with the crown of the head, just do everything very gently, carefully, without overexertion. It should be easy. The important thing is not the effort, but the clarity of actions, the technique. And we relax. We reach up with the crown of the head. We reach up like this, chin down, look forward and slightly down, so that the suboccipital muscles are relaxed, including the inferior oblique muscle of the head. We relax. We reach up with the crown of the head. We relax. We reach up with the crown of the head. We relax. Do this 10-15 repetitions. Next exercise. Palms on your knees. Reach up with the crown of your head and make turns. Left, right, left, right. You can gradually increase the amplitude and continue to reach up with the crown of your head. Here we also do 10-15 repetitions. The chin is as if on a table. That is, the movements are smooth. We did this for 10-15 repetitions. Grab the chair you are sitting on with your hands and make side bends of your head from side to side. Feel how pleasant it is, feel how the side neck muscles stretch. And at the end, we will do a very important moment. Tilt your head to the right. With the fingers of your right hand, literally with your fingers, help yourself a little bit. Very gently. And look down at your knees. Here we hold for a few breathing cycles, yes, for five to seven breathing cycles. Breathe, feel how the entire posterior lateral surface of the neck stretches, unloads, including the suboccipital area, so that our entire neck is freed. We hold it like this, as I said, for 5-7 breaths, return the head to a neutral position, and very gently return to the center. Tilt your head to the other side. Also gently help yourself. With your right hand, hold the chair you are sitting on, look down. And here we hold, breathe. Slow, calm inhale. Slow, calm exhale. Then look forward and return to a neutral position. Friends, perform this practice one to two times a day for a month for a lasting result. And also, do not forget to work on your posture, yes, do special exercises and monitor your workspace. It is very important that our workspace is comfortable, that everything is correct, so that our posture does not deteriorate because of this, and, consequently, so that the neck is not overloaded. How to organize your workspace, I showed in a special video. You can watch it, I highly recommend it. I gave several life hacks there that I use myself. I am sure they will be useful to you too, friends. And if you like working out with me, then I recommend you go to the description of this video and get three full video lessons for comprehensive work on the cervical-collar zone. I am sure you will like these lessons, and they will perfectly complement what we have already done today. I want your neck to be free, and your head to be clear. Be healthy. Yeah.