Most of us are guilty of bad posture and sometimes we get aches and pains starting with our neck and working down through the shoulders, upper back, lower back and legs.

The following easy neck stretching exercises will help sort out many of the niggly pains we often get.

Neck Rotation Exercise

* Look straight ahead and keeping your head straight turn your head slowly round to one side as far as it will comfortably go.
* Hold for 5 seconds and come back to the middle.
* Then repeat on the other side.

Each time you repeat this movement your neck will be able to go that little bit further with ease.

Neck Flexion Exercises

No 1.

* Look straight ahead and slowly let your head drop until your chin touches your chest.
* Bring your head up and repeat 5 times.
* If you prefer you can let the head go back slightly in between movements.

No 2.

* Look straight ahead and bring your ear down to touch your shoulder or as near as you can without letting your head turn to the side.
* Repeat on the other side.
* Repeat five times.

Neck Extension Exercise

* Look ahead and then allow your head to fall backwards until you can look at the ceiling
* Hold the position for a few seconds before raising your head to normal position.
* Repeat exercise 5 times.

Neck Retraction Exercise

* Look ahead and then pull your head as far back as possible
* Push your chin down slightly into your body and hold position for a few seconds.
* Repeat 5 times.

When you do these exercises you will feel the stretch in your neck reaching down to your shoulders.

These neck stretching exercises, if done correctly, will help you to relax your neck and will be beneficial to aches and general pain in the shoulder and upper back region.

All the exercises must be performed slowly and gently with no jerking or sudden movements. Remember your neck is fragile and needs to be treated with care.

Author's Bio: 

Jaks Lloyd writes extensively about beauty, health and fitness, including some simple stretching exercises to help relieve pain.

Simple Shoulder Stretching Exercises
Easy Stretching Exercises to Relieve Back Pain