Sun Vally Wellness Festival: Yoga For 'Text Neck' With Stephanie Snyder!

By Julie Fustanio Kling

I was taking notes on my iPhone in Stephanie Snyder’s Vinyasa class at the Sun Valley Wellness Conference when I realized I’m the perpetrator of “Text Neck,” a stiffening of our neck muscles that comes from texting too much.

“People’s bodies have physically changed because of technology, and I’ve seen it,” Snyder told a group of mostly middle-aged women attending the longest-running Wellness Festival in the country. As founder of Love Story Yoga (a studio in San Francisco), Snyder has been teaching heartfelt flow for 20 years.

“Don’t get grippy,” she told us. “Soften the sides of the neck, and remember your earthiness.” She suggested using the earth to help us unravel old patterns. She asked us to point our chin down and engage Jalandhara Bandha (the throat lock). This action tones the neck muscles. When talking about the neck, she says that “it’s like a knot.” “If you push both ends toward the knot, it starts to loosen. If you tug on the knot, it gets tighter.” 

Snyder had so many nuggets of wisdom throughout the entire class, so in addition to teaching us about text neck health, she also inspired us to use our intentions as a drishti or focal point for our life in order to help us navigate problems.

One of my favorite parts of the class was Snyder’s playlist.  I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with the SF Yoga readers! See screenshots below.

To learn more about Stephanie Snyder visit: stephaniesnyder.com, and to learn more about the Sun Valley Wellness Conference visit: sunvalleywellness.org.