And Why You Would Want to Be One!
I am reasonably intuitive, and I am guessing that you have never been sitting at your desk and thought, “Sure wish I could be a mango-head!” Am I right? Hah! Thought so!
Now, for those of you who do not live in a tropical paradise (I live in southeast Florida…….), a mango is a tropical fruit, luscious and juicy, high in vitamins C and A. It happens to be the beginning of mango season here in Florida, and you see them hanging from trees in many places.
OK, so back to why you would want to be a mango-head….. Mangoes have a way of growing that is very similar to how our head hangs from between our shoulder blades when we are fully bent over. Who cares? If you have any stress in your shoulders, upper back or neck, then you do!
Here is an easy-to-do, passive, way of relaxing the upper back, shoulders and neck letting gravity do all the work for you:
Stand with your back up against a wall and lean into it with your rear end. Move your feet a foot or more away from the wall so that you are solidly leaning into the wall. Move your feet apart a bit farther than shoulder width apart, but not so much you feel an inner thigh stretch or any hip discomfort. Now bend your knees – you should feel like your derriere is comfortably ‘hanging out’ on the wall.
Stand up really tall and then bend forward from your hips and gradually round your back until your upper body hangs loosely from your lower body (breath out while bending forward.) Clasp your elbows so that your hands do not drag on the floor. Let your back relax with every exhalation; let your clasped arms hang loosely from your shoulders; let your head hang as if from a long stem that begins between your shoulder blades – Like a mango! (Bet you thought I forgot, didn’t you?)
When you are ready to come up, bend your knees a little bit more and gently raise your upper body back to a standing position – there should be no strain on your lower back, and if you feel any, use your hands on your knees too ‘help’ push yourself up.
Have fun and play with this – using this a few times throughout the day, or at the end of the day, will help you reduce any tension you may be feeling from sitting at a computer, talking on the phone, texting, playing games on your tablet, etc.
Alison Sue Adams
Sue is a Master Life Coach specializing in working with groups to release past trauma and move them forward in life. Sue has nearly 30 years of experience as a bodyworker working with mind-body connections, including visualization and dialogue along with hands-on bodywork, to release emotional trauma in the body and mind. She has worked with infants, children, adults and families in individual and group settings. Sue is known locally as, “the therapist’s therapist.” Her first book is titled, "Muscle Energy Technique Made Easy for Healthcare Professionals".