Thanks for the details. Btw when I stretch my neck, I always follow up with a first rib adjustment out of paranoia of raising that rib, since the scalenes are attached to it. I use the method with the sheet/towel/strap looped over it which you can find in these forums or searching the web.

I really like your idea of regular stretch intervals spread throughout the day. I'm going to incorporate that. I've been doing most of my work in one session per day.

So when you lay on the foam roller, does it run vertical with your spine, or horizontal across some part of your back? youtube vid?

Are your pec minor stretches done when you're on the foam roller, or are you doing the "doorway pec stretch"? (or something else?)

Re: pills, I've recently been using "Now Foods True Calm Amino Relaxer". You can read reviews on Amazon. I get a stronger effect than some of the reviewers have mentioned, so I only use it before I go to bed. It really does make me calm. Many of the reviewers mention using it during the day.

Magnesium is also associated with numerous benefits and there are claims that most people don't get enough. I read "The Magnesium Miracle" and started supplementing. Like most supplements, the effects are subtle, so I base my decision on the purported benefits of the studies.

If you're feeling physical tightness in your muscles, I still get tremendous benefits from "muscle relaxation meditation":
-- on inhalation note the place of tension (scm, scalene, shoulder, general neck, etc.)
-- on exhalation, release that tension
-- control the duration of the exhale to match the inhale
-- belly breath
-- don't bother to breathe so deeply that you have to lift your rib cage, clavicle, etc. that's not necessary
-- but if you need a couple of giant breaths at the beginning or the end that expand everything, feel free
-- repeat for several minutes which will give you dozens of repetitions of "inhale and note" then "exhale and release"
-- lately I've been experimenting with saying mentally "soft neck" or "soft eyes" etc. as part of the exhalation, with good results

Stress includes how you think, react and feel though. I really think you should look into something like "The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook" or any other well reviewed book. I had to years ago when I had problems with stress. It's worthwhile to pursue an increase in your understanding and skill re: stress.

There are also guided stress relief audios that I have found helpful. That's where I got the muscle relaxation meditation from.

HTH

Let me know about my questions above.

Chroma,

I've never really done the first rib adjustment. I need to incorporate this. I've read about the towel approach and I've thought of seeking out manual therapy, but have done neither. I think somebody also posted on the board a method where you take a deep breathe, put the hand on the effective side on your head, and then try and turn your head towards the effective head while applying force. Don't really get it.

Foam roller is right along the spine. I've actually done it three times today and feel better. It seems to incorporate many things: Diaphramic breathing, posterior neck muscle strengthening if you do chin tucks, and then scalene inhibition. What I do is 60 seconds of deep breathing, then I do 8 chin tucks, then repeat twice more.

Unfortunately, I've been blowing all the above off for the last month and I think it caught up to me.

Pec minor is a doorway stretch.

KY

I posted on that rib adjustment asking if anyone had used it. I didn't get it either.

Thanks for the details. I found a pic here:

http://activereliefla.com/d-i-y-acti...ul-stretching/

Yup. That's the one.

The one thing I haven't done is try and manually adjust my first rib. I've done all this scalene stretching and it hasn't dawned on me that...duh...the scalenes are attached to the first rib. It would make sense that you have to keep that rib down to really make the most of the scalene stretch.

I tried the towel wrap thing where you pull down on the opposite side...I get nothing from that. Tried something last night...I may be on to something:

* Grabbed a whiffle ball bat and stuck a tennis ball on top of it. I then wedged the bat into the wall and then wedged the other end of the bat with the ball on the end into my first rib while lying down. I then tried moving my arm up and down and then also attempted to stretch my scalenes while on the floor.

Wow. Big time feeling of stretch there with the rib pinned. This may be a keeper.

I also did my normal scalene stretches, but I made a concerted effort to not only put my right arm behind my back, but also grab on the corner of a table while pulling down to keep that first rib down. Definitely feel the scalene stretch more.

I'd be very interested in what others are doing with the first rib.

KY

This is similar to Edgelow's "Ball on a Stick" method of first rib adjustment. I use a Pinky Ball which you can buy at most toy stores, drill a hole in it and stick it on the end of a wooden dowel.

I use a 6" foam roller for pec stretching and rolling side by side with it placed vertically along my spine. I also use a 3" foam roller under my hips for stretching side to side by bending my knees. I then take the 3" horizontally, starting near the lower diaphragm and moving up towards my neck. I relax on it in the various positions. This was to much for me at first and I would flare. My PT had me start with a rolled up towel which was effective and easier to do. I still use a towel if I travel for tools on the road.

its hormones, especially cortisol i believe

my blood sugar is on the fritz right now (i am a twig) and i blame tos pain keeping me tense/mag deficiency

The stress response is designed to prepare you to face danger, either imaginary or real (the body cannot always tell the difference).

I don't think stretching is necessarily the cure-all for tight muscles in the neck (either posterior or lateral neck). Restricting your breathing, IMO, is a bad idea. But doing more diaphragm, abdominal breathing is a very good idea.

BTW, pec minor is NOT a doorway stretch. Pec major attaches to ribs, to the clavicle and to the humerus-- it can bring the arm forward as in a bench press or across the body as in a fly movement or doorway stretch. Pec minor is beneath the pec major; its primary purpose is to depress the arm & shoulder, as in performing a dip with cross-over cables or a dip between two chairs (with the considerable help of triceps brachii. It arises from lower ribs and attaches on the coracoid process of the scapula, so it works to depress the shoulder.

A search for "pec minor stretch" yields lots of hits for the doorway stretch:

http://www.mikereinold.com/2010/02/p...r-stretch.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=pec+m...bm=isch&tab=wi

Especially with the arm in the door raised up, which is one of the positions I've seen, I can see how the pec minors would get a stretch.

Regarding the pec minor "arises from lower ribs"... it arises from the middle ribs, specifically 3 through 5, not the lower.[1][2]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectoralis_minor_muscle

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rib_cage

The doorway stretches never worked very well for me - the arms up ones anyway... stops my blood flow to my arms while they are up like that....

But the ones using gravity or foam roll, inflatable ball, rolled towel work nicely for me.