Published on July 24, 2026 at 09:06 AM
Yoga magazine archives The series is a curated collection of articles originally published in previous issues beginning in 1975. This article about the cervical spine first appeared in the November 2003 issue of Yoga magazine.
During my 26 years of practice as a physical therapist, I have worked with hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of people with varying degrees of neck pain.
There are many types of neck problems, and there seems to be no end to the creative ways people can injure their necks. There are falls from horses and from the balance beam. There are countless bicycle accidents and car wrecks. Large objects fall off store shelves onto people’s heads. There are inevitable accidents where someone suddenly stands under an open shelf or cabinet door. There are simply the chronic pressures of modern life; Many people with neck pain cannot trace it back to any specific incident.
But if you have neck pain and your doctor sends you for an X-ray, it will likely show a slight loss of the normal anterior arch of the cervical spine. Flat neck syndrome is very common in our society.
An engineering marvel
In a normal neck, the spine is in slight extension, which is the same position the entire spine assumes in gentle backward bend. (Supination is the position in backbends; flexion is the position in forward bends.) This curve in the neck is balanced by the curves of the rest of the spine, which include slight extension in the lower back and slight flexion in the middle of the back, where the ribs attach. These three curves form an engineering marvel:
It supports the weight of the head and upper body, absorbs shock, yet allows movement in all directions. However, the entire spine loses its balance – and a host of problems can arise – when any of the curves become either excessively flat or excessively curved.
The best way to gauge the condition of your spinal curves is to have your health care provider evaluate them (possibly with the help of an Drop and raise your chin until you find a position – usually your chin is level – where your neck is slightly bent forward and the muscles and ligaments feel soft under your fingers. This position indicates a neutral cervical spine.
You may wonder what it is about our lifestyle that has created such an epidemic of flat necks in our society. For one thing, working on tasks that require the head forward and gaze down for long periods of time is very common. As you discovered when you felt the back of your neck, a lowered chin flattens your neck.
Chin drops when working in your kitchen, stirring, chopping or washing dishes. It falls when you look down while walking, or doing manual labor such as beading or sewing. It decreases when you look at a computer keyboard, read, or do paperwork. Our natural tendency is to place our eyes in a plane parallel to the surface we are looking at, so if your papers or book are flat on a surface in front of you, your chin will likely fall.
Car accidents are another common cause of flat neck. When a car hits something, it stops suddenly, and if your seat belt is fastened, so is your body. However, your head is not restricted, and is free to fly forward and back. In those few seconds, the ligaments and muscles in the back of your neck stretch violently. This damage, known as the neck ligament, can contribute to neck pain, spasms and headaches after an accident.
Recreate your curve
When the ligaments and muscles of the back of your neck are stretched, whether suddenly due to a one-time violent event, such as a car accident, or gradually by spending hours each day with your head forward and chin down, the soft tissues at the back of your neck lose their ability to support the natural cervical curve. The neck’s vertebrae and soft tissues are no longer in perfect alignment and can cause chronic pain. In the long term, a flat neck can contribute to pinched, bulging, and even ruptured cervical discs.
Because forward head posture often accompanies a flat neck, there may also be chronic tension in the neck muscles. Visualize your head as a bowling ball sitting on top of your neck, two or three inches in front of the middle of your shoulders; This is almost the situation you are in when you look at the flat papers on your desk. In this position, the muscles at the back of the neck must constantly contract to support the weight of your head against the downward force of gravity.
This sustained isometric contraction restricts blood flow to the muscle so that metabolic waste builds up, irritating the muscle to the point of pain.
In addition, constant tightening of the muscles in their attachments to the base of the skull is a common cause of headaches.
Fortunately, practicing asanas and yoga in everyday life — using the principles of alignment and awareness you gain on the mat elsewhere in your life — can help change all of these problems.
If your neck is flat, your first task is to learn to recreate its natural curve in as many positions as possible: sitting at your desk, standing in line at the grocery store, lying in bed, and — yes — doing yoga.
When you lie on your back, you can support your cervical curve with a rolled towel or a small cylindrical pillow made just for this purpose. Do not place the brace under your head; Instead, place it directly under your neck.
You can also help eliminate habitual flatness by making sure the surfaces you’re looking at are raised: Place your computer screen on the risers; Wean yourself from looking at the keyboard while typing. Instead of laying the book you’re reading flat on the table, place it on a pile of other books. Use a small tilt desk or other inclined surface to do paperwork.
It’s a good idea to check the curve of your neck several times a day, simply using your hand to feel whether your neck is curved or flat. You should also do this while practicing yoga, as a natural cervical curve is desirable in the vast majority of positions.
I’m concerned that I often see yoga students flattening their necks, even in simple upright poses like Tadasana at home (Mountain pose). Perhaps as they learned to lift and open their chest, they simultaneously developed the unnecessary habit of dropping their chin. Although this procedure is required in some meditation and pranayama poses, it is not a good practice in regular sitting and standing poses.
Flat neck examination
To check your regular neck alignment while practicing yoga, sit or stand tall, lift your chest, and then check with your hand to see if you have a nice smooth curve in your neck. Your chin and gaze should be level. You will notice that if you drop your chin, you are looking at the floor. With a natural neck curve, you look straight ahead; If you are at the beach, you will be looking at the line between the water and the sky.
This is the neutral neck alignment you want to take into most of your yoga poses. It is especially important that you recreate this Tadasana alignment in Sirsasana (Handstand), which is the position in which you bear your body weight on your neck. If you have the proper cervical curve in Sirsasana, you will look straight ahead. If your neck is too flat, your weight will shift toward the back of your head and your gaze will be high on the wall in front of you. This position is very stressful for the ligaments, muscles, and discs in your neck and can lead to injury.
Because of this risk, it is a good idea to occasionally have an experienced teacher check your headstand alignment.
If you tend to have a flat neck, Sarvangasana (Shoulder holder) can exacerbate the problem. Because the position drops your chin toward your chest, it makes it very easy to completely flatten your cervical curve or even bend your neck in the wrong direction.
If you have a flat neck that’s not causing you pain, practicing the Iyengar shoulder stand — using a few folded blankets to support your shoulders and arms while your head is on the floor — allows you to do the pose without bending your neck too much. If you have a fairly recent, still painful, and severe neck injury such as one from a car accident, I recommend avoiding the shoulder stand. It recreates the site of the injury, and practicing it early can significantly prolong recovery time.
Besides avoiding alignments and positions that excessively flatten the neck, you should also work on strengthening the muscles that help support the cervical curve. These include several muscles along the back of the neck, but the best known is probably the upper trapezius, which reaches from the base of the skull down to the upper shoulder blades.
Below the trapezius is the levator scapula, which arises from the upper cervical vertebrae and attaches to the upper scapula. When these muscles contract together, they extend (bend it back) the neck. If you have a flat neck, it is likely overstretched, so you need to shorten and strengthen it.
When done correctly, all backbends except Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge position) Engage the neck extensor muscles.
Poses like Salabhasana (Locust situation) and Bhujangasana (Snake pose) – Backbends in which the weight of the head is lifted against gravity – provide the most strengthening benefit to the muscles of the back of the neck. However, while practicing these poses, make sure to pull your shoulder blades away from your ears and not put pressure on the back of your neck. Try to feel as if the cervical curve is evenly distributed over your entire neck and that you are lengthening your neck even as you bend it backwards.
If you work on building strength in the back of your neck and breaking flattening habits, you can usually restore a natural cervical curve, helping to ensure neck health for decades to come.
