Just as postural habits, such as forward head, can contribute to neck and shoulder pain, our psychobiological habits, how we respond emotionally and physically to stress, may also play an important role. For example, when we’re faced with fear, anxiety, or other stressors, one of the most common reactions is to tighten muscles in the upper back, shoulders, and neck—in effect, lifting the shoulders up toward the ears. It’s almost as if we’re trying to protect our heads the way a turtle draws its head and limbs into its shell. Other common reactions to stress that involve the neck and shoulders include teeth grinding, lip pursing, and other facial grimaces, along with finger drumming, thumb twiddling, and various forms of fidgeting.

Over time, these physical responses to stress can become habitual patterns so that we develop a kind of rigid “body armor” of tight, overused muscles in the neck and shoulders. When stress is chronic, these muscles may stay tense and never, or rarely, let go. Often this pattern becomes so ingrained that we don’t even notice we’re holding tension.

This connection between emotional distress and pain in the neck and shoulders is so common that our culture has created the phrase “a pain in the neck” to describe a stressful situation or an unpleasant person. And it’s no surprise that we describe the feeling of being under intense pressure as having “the weight of the world” on our shoulders. Clearly our emotions can have a profound effect on our bodies: how we carry ourselves, where we hold tension, and how we experience pain.

Awareness of this problem is the first step in learning to let it go. One of my yoga students has developed the simple mantra Relax your shoulders, which she frequently recites mentally to herself, for example, if she’s having trouble sleeping or when she’s stuck in traffic or waiting in line. “I never realized how much tension I hold in my shoulders,” she told me. “But whenever I consciously think about it, I realize that my shoulders are up around my ears. When I take a deep breath and invite my shoulders to relax, everything softens and lets go.”

excerpt from Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain: Easy, Effective Practices for Releasing Tension and Relieving Pain by Carol Krucoff E-RYT