Strategic stretches for full-body relief.
(Photo: Michael Burke | Design in Canva by Laura Harold)
Published October 15, 2026 11:19AM
Yoga for neck discomfort can be a helpful tool to relieve stiff muscles and move with greater ease. That’s why longtime yoga teacher Amber Burke created this sequence. For several years, Burke led a yoga teacher training at the University of New Mexico-Taos. Her approach to teaching is to support students in creating a sustainable practice.
Is there anyone out there whose neck feels totally great right now? At this point in modern life, it’s more of a surprise when someone doesn’t experience at least a little neck discomfort. Yet neck tension doesn’t always happen in isolation. What’s happening throughout your entire body can affect how the neck feels.
Sometimes finding a little more ease of movement in other tight-feeling areas can help translate to greater freedom in the neck. The following sequence of familiar yoga poses aims to give the neck some TLC and help you feel less tense from head to toe. In the long run, some strategic stretching can help ensure tension doesn’t pile up in the neck or any single place.
15-Minute Yoga Sequence to Ease Neck Discomfort
This practice fits perfectly into a laptop break or an end-of-day reset. As you move through it, pay attention to the sensations in your neck. Honor your limits and don’t force the stretch. You might want to keep a strap handy for some less-intense pose variations, as well as a folded blanket, block, or pillow for some padding for your head.
1. Windshield Wiper Variation
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the mat about hip-distance apart. Reach your arms straight out to your sides. Slowly sway your knees toward one side as far as feels good, and turn your head a comfortable amount in the opposite direction. Then switch sides. As you move your legs and head from side to side, think about gently pressing the back of your head into the mat.
Continue Windshield Wipers at your own pace for several rounds.
2. Cat-Cow Variation
Come to your hands and knees. Inhale as you arch your back, lift your chin as much as is comfortable, and lower your belly in Cow Pose. Exhale as you round your spine and tuck your chin in Cat Pose. Notice the sensations along the front of your neck as you inhale and the back of your neck as you exhale. Repeat as many times as you like.
3. Standing Forward Fold Variation
From your hands and knees, lift your hips into Downward-Facing Dog. Walk your feet toward the front of the mat. Bend your knees as much as is comfortable in Standing Forward Bend. Interlace your fingers and gently rest them behind your head where your neck meets your skull. Avoid pulling or pressing your head. Stay here or slowly nod your head “yes” and shake your head “no” to help release neck tension. Take several breaths here, then walk your hands up your legs as you slowly roll up to standing.
4. Warrior 2 Variation
Stand to face the left long side of the mat and step your feet wider than hip-width apart. Turn your right foot out to face the front short side of the mat and your left foot slightly in. Bend your right knee. Interlace your hands behind your back or grab a strap behind your hips. Draw both hands toward your left hip. Lower your left ear toward your left shoulder to find a stretch along the right side of your neck in Warrior 2 variation. Stay here or keep your head tilted toward the left as you turn your gaze toward the ceiling. Pause for a few breaths.
Release your arms, step your feet together, and repeat on the opposite side.
5. Eagle Pose Variation
Stand on the mat with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Cross your left leg over your right and plant your left toes on the mat outside your right foot or hook your left foot behind your right ankle. For more intensity, bend your knees more and lower your hips. Cross your right arm underneath your left and give yourself a hug in Eagle Pose variation. Stay here or draw the backs of your forearms and hands toward each other and lift your elbows slightly and reach them forward in Eagle Arms. Pause here for a few breaths.
To come out of it, press into your right foot as you step your left foot to the mat and return to standing. Repeat on the opposite side.
6. Bharadvaja’s Twist Variation
Kneel with the tops of your feet against the mat, and sit on your heels. Slowly slide your hips off your heels toward the right and onto the mat. Keep your feet close together, touching the top of your left foot against the arch of your right foot if it’s comfortable. Place your left hand on your right knee and rest your right hand or fingertips on the mat a few inches behind your right hip. Twist toward the right and gaze over your right shoulder in a variation of Bharadvaja’s Twist. If this is enough of a stretch, stay here for a few breaths.
For more of a neck stretch, lower your right ear toward your right shoulder, then slowly turn your head to look down at your right hand. Stay here for several breaths, then repeat on the opposite side.
7. Locust Pose Variation
Lie on your belly. Straighten your arms alongside you with your palms facing down. Press into the tops of your thighs and your feet as you inhale and lift your head, shoulders, and arms off the mat as far as feels good in Locust Pose. Don’t force your chin forward—keep the back of your neck long and comfortable by gazing slightly downward and about 12 inches in front of you.
Slowly flap your arms up and down several times, focusing on creating a crease between your shoulder blades each time you lift your arms. After several repetitions, pause with your hands off the mat for a few breaths. When you’re ready, lower your arms, shoulders, and forehead back down to the mat.
8. Child’s Pose
From lying on your belly on the mat, place your hands on either side of your chest and press up to your hands and knees. Bring your big toes together and sink your hips toward your heels as far back as feels good. Straighten your arms in front of you with your palms resting on the mat. If the top of your forehead does not rest on the mat comfortably, place a folded blanket or another support underneath it in Child’s Pose. Imagine any remaining neck tension draining from you. Stay here for several breaths.
9. Savasana
Lie on your back, resting your body against the support of the floor beneath you. Rest in Savasana for several minutes. When you’re done, notice any if there’s a new sense of ease in your neck—and throughout your entire body.
