Tight shoulder and neck muscles deserve a massage. For many people, one of the neck muscles that can become the most tense and painful is the trapezius muscle. Here is a technique for massaging your own "trap" muscle. Try it right now, and feel the tension in your neck and shoulder muscles melt away.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 or more minutes
Here's How:
- Locate your trapezius muscle. Although it is a big muscle spanning from your neck, across the shoulders and almost all the way down your back, you need only locate the upper portion (at the top of the shoulder) for this technique.
- Cross one arm in front of your body so that you can place the palm of your hand on top of the other shoulder.
- Beginning at the base of the neck, knead the muscles in a rhythmic action, moving out toward the arm in increments. Use a pressure that is deep enough to make a difference, but still feels good. In the field of massage therapy, we call this "the good hurt."
- Relax and enjoy!
- Repeat on the other side.
- To see this technique in action, watch this video: Neck and Shoulder Tension-Massage Techniques.
