Nerve Tension Release
Lie on your back and grasp behind the knee. You may support your head with a pillow, if this makes you more comfortable. Start with your knee bent and slowly straighten the leg, letting your leg down as soon as you feel a stretch. Keep your toes pulled back toward your shin, don't point your toes upward. You should feel tension in the back of your thigh or behind your knee. You should not feel sharp shooting pains in the let or back. you can increase the tension by bringing the thigh across toward the opposite thigh, holding it there with your arms while you straighten your leg. Repeat slowly 10-20 times, 1-3 times per day.
Variation 1 – You may be shown how to do this with a tennis ball behind your low back on one side or the other.
Variation 2 – You may be shown how to do this with one hand holding behind your neck.
Do not hold this stretch at the end point, just gently go up and down!!
What does this exercise do? You can have an unnecessary pull or tension in your main nerve trunks and the lining of your whole nervous system (the dura). This tension can be most easily accessed in the neck, and the low back. when you straighten your bent leg you help release the whole nerve trunk. You may be instructed to hold, or stabilize, the other end at the back or neck, as in variations 1 and 2.
Do not overdo this exercise. Be gentle, especially the first few times.
Variation 3 – Instead of straightening the leg, just pull the thigh toward your chest wit your arms. You can vary how much your knee is bent to stretch different parts of the muscle. You can also actively pull your thigh down toward the floor with you hamstrings, hold for 5 seconds, and then relax your thigh and pull further up toward your chest. Hold for 30-90 seconds, repeat 2-3 times, 1-2 times per day.
For versions 1 & 2 – Do not hold this stretch at the end point, just gently go up and down.
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