The Best Yoga for the Sternocleidomastoid

The sternocleidomastoid is a muscle that extends from the back of the skull around the ear lobes down to the collar bone. The sternocleidomastoid engages every time you turn your head to the side, bend your head laterally down to the shoulder and nod your head forward or backward. Several yoga poses contract, stretch and lengthen the sternocleidomastoid muscle, optimizing flexibility and strength in the neck.

Side-to-Side Lengthening

• During Bharadvaja's Twist and the Half Lord of the Fishes pose practitioners turn their necks right or left to follow the the twist of the torso. As the thoracic and lumbar spine twists and lengthens, so does the cervical spine, the portion that runs along the back of the neck. Bharadvaja's Twist is contraindicated for people who have insomnia, blood pressure ailments, diarrhea or headaches. Half Lord of the Fishes pose is unsafe for those who have injuries to the spine or back.

Side-to-Side Contracting

• The Extended Triangle pose contracts and strengthens the sternocleidomastoid muscle as opposed to lengthening it. To do this pose, one leg is extended away from the body at a 90-degree angle. The torso also bends to a 90-degree angle to hover over the extended leg while the opposing arm reaches up toward the ceiling. The neck turns the head to face the fingers reaching upward, forcing the cervical spine to oppose the rest of the spine. The Extended Triangle pose contracts and strengthens the sternocleidomastoid. Do not attempt it if you have low blood pressure, neck problems, diarrhea or headaches.

Backward Arching and Stretching

• Several advanced poses isolate the sternocleidomastoid muscle by arching the spine backward and allowing the neck to drop the head back into a stretching and relaxing position. These include the Fish pose, King Pigeon pose, Upward Facing Two-Foot Staff pose and Camel pose. Fish, Camel and King Pigeon pose are contraindicated for people who suffer with blood pressure problems, insomnia, migraines, and injuries to the neck and/or lower back. Upward Facing Two-Foot Staff pose places the weight of the body on the wrists, shoulders, neck and lower back and is dangerous for anyone with injuries to these areas.

Neutral Head-Position Strengthening

• Some postures force the head to be held in a neutral position thereby contracting and strengthening the sternocleidomastoid muscle without turning or nodding the head at all. The Bow pose, Cow pose and Sphinx pose require the eyes to face forward while the remainder of the body extends backward. This positioning engages the sternocleidomastoid to prevent the head from nodding backward or forward. Dolphin Plank pose and Locust Pose requires practitioners to lift the base of the skull up from the back of the neck to force the head into a neutral position while looking down at the floor. These also actively strengthen the sternocleidomastoid. All of these poses are unsafe if you have neck or back injuries.