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I wrote to Kit not long ago asking for advice for a problem and it was suggested that I post here. For over two years now, I have been dealing with headaches / neck / jaw pain. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where I am feeling it, as the jaw, front of the neck and suboccipital muscles all feel afflicted. Muscles in the shoulder and middle/ upper back will tighten as well, on one side. The pain will be experienced almost always upon waking, though it will usually alleviate somewhat once I get up and move around a little bit. I cannot lie around in bed at all once I wake up. At seemingly random points throughout the day, the pain will return. It will also wake me up in the night. The randomness of the pain returning is the most maddening part, as I do not feel as though I am stressed sometimes, yet the pain will still come. Perhaps my awareness is so limited, that I simply cannot let myself relax. I have been made aware of the idea that most are aware of the concept of relaxation, but cannot actually invoke the experience. Perhaps I fall into this basket. Kit recommended that I try the hip flexor and neck stretches, and in particular the latest ones from the YouTube channel. I did so (my hip flexors are incredibly tight, especially on one side, from skateboarding - I assume) Kit also recommended that I try cultivate a daily relaxation practice. In response, I began to do the lying relaxation scripts. There is absolutely no doubt that these are effective - both in inducing a state of deep relaxation in the moment (which I honestly believe I had NEVER been able to do before) and in increasing bodily awareness throughout the next day. In the following three days, I experienced complete, sustained relief from the pain, for literally the first time in years. This was incredible - I was ecstatic. Life was beautiful once again. On the third day, I began to stress about one thing or another - the pain returned. I am now feeling as though I am “chasing the dragon” in trying to recreate the relief. I am trying to do the same stretching exercises, though I feel as though I may be stretching far too frequently and not giving the muscles enough time to recover. When the pain comes, however, it is hard to restrain myself from the utopia that stretching provided in the recent past. The pain is also now returning whilst I am trying to do the lying relaxations. I don’t know whether this is because I am missing a muscle group that needs to be stretched, or whether my muscles have been overworked, or whether I am simply stressed and unable to relax. I have just tried one of the seated mediation audios which was better and relatively pain free - I will continue with these. It’s worth noting here that I am currently about 2 weeks out from my final law exams. Undoubtedly stress levels are higher than usual and this must be playing a significant role in this affliction. However I have been experiencing this pain at relatively consistent levels throughout the past 2 years, whether on holidays or during the uni semester. I have only sought to properly resolve the pain and enhance my relaxation in the last few weeks, whereas in the past I was merely putting up with it. I do not know whether it is the stress that is causing the pain, or whether it is the pain that is causing the stress. When the pain occurs, I side with the latter. I find it hard to be relaxed when in pain, and as mentioned, it is severely disrupting my sleep, which only contributes to the stress experienced the next day. I’m sorry for the length of this post and the lack of cohesion. I realise I am probably rambling and I have no specific question. Any thoughts would be deeply appreciated.

Hi everyone, 

I wonder if any of you have had experience with bilateral ulnar nerve entrapment (not related to any structural problems)? I’m really struggling with this and have been seeing an OT and physio for over 6 months but no real improvement. I’ve had MRI and x-ray showing my neck is in good shape, no nerve impingement there. I’ve been told it’s most likely caused by muscle tension, but not sure which muscles or where along the nerve pathway the impingement is. I wondered if any of you might have some ideas? 

 Further info: The pain I feel is an intensely cold sensation starting at little finger joints and as it gets worse it travels through wrist up to the elbow. Both left and right arm but usually worse on the right (I’m right handed). The nerve pain is worse with computer work (sitting or standing), particularly mouse work (most problematic, my work is > 80% computer based). I have typical forward head posture and rounded shoulders, prone to regular tight and painful neck and upper back muscles. Mid and lower back tightness from time to time. Symptoms are also brought on by driving, four point kneeling position, plank and shoulder rolls (eg. beginning of ABSS-Prog-4: Shoulders and neck). Treatment so far has included: immobilising fingers in a splint, massage, mobilising neck facet joints, dry needling upper traps, rotator cuff and forearms I’ve also been doing daily nerve glide and a range of exercises for posture correction

 I have Kit’s ONBP book and a few of the video series. I've tried many of the stretches, but I'm just not sure where to start with targeting my nerve pain and neck/back pain.

 And the people I've been to see seem to be a bit stumped as to the root cause. If any of you have thoughts or advice I’d be very grateful to hear it!

 Many, many thanks! Kelly

Hi. New here. Exchanged a few e-mails with Kit over the past few days and thought to share the same here to benefit others with similar issues. Will visit the forum regularly to update the progress. Anyone facing similar issues, please feel free to chime in and share your thoughts and any tips from your experience. Kit's Reply: There is not much I can do via email than recommending that you commence stretching exercises as soon as you can. Please go to my YouTube channel and there you will find 100 clips, some quite long, that work most parts of the body. Clearly you are tense: this is what needs addressing. Tension does not appear in any diagnostic test; yet is the #1 health complaint today. Find a local teacher and learn a practise called “yoga nidra”: learning and embodying this will have immense practical benefits for your life. It needs to be practised every day to become embodied. Finally, we have a jaw and neck exercise sequence on the same YT channel that should be helpful too. Good luck Kit Question: Dear Kit I wanted to seek advice on my medical history and problems being faced by me. I am having an episode of my tri-weekly headaches (mentioned below) as i write this so kindly excuse if i am using redundant and vague language and not able to elucidate properly. Maybe if this interests you we can find a better day to communicate. During one of my strength training sessions almost a year back, i did some damage to the AC joint during some bench press exercise. It pained to even do pushups at that point. For a few weeks it was even sensitive to touch. it got better after taking a break from weight training. and doesn't bother too much, although i do feel weakness and lack of strength in certain rotational exercises. I then moved on to calisthenics work and combining it with sports in a circuit type training and this helped keep fat off and improved some strength but i couldn't program it well enough for consistency and progressive results (Muscle and fat loss). Endurance also did not increase as expected. I had a baby girl about 2.5 mnths back so its been little difficult to make time for any workout. I have started climbing 7 flights of stairs to my office floor and stretching between breaks and sitting on the floor to eat was something i used to do even earlier. I have a history of headaches occurring ever 2 days lasting for 8-10 hours. These start from the neck and shoulder region and slowly creep over to the head sometimes accompanied with nausea and vomiting. This spoils entire days and is a problem to my normal life. I also feel generally tired most of the time. This was undiagnosed for about 3 years after which one natureopathy specialist and massage therapist diagnosed it as cervical spondylosis. Additionally, I suffer from bruxism that is now threatening to disturb my teeth integrity. I am at a loss of solutions here. I am 28 years old with a wife and a 2 month old daughter and my health has finally started to scare me. I would like to cure this problem and lead a normal active lifestyle with my family and do all the things i love to do. If this case interests you, please contact me and I can share all details about my medical history, fitness history, nutrition philosophy, lifestyle, movement and career etc. I hope there is a cure or at least a diagnosis since all tests(blood etc.) and scans(X-ray, CAT) that have been recommended to me have turned out negative. Karan