Here’s a list of imbalances that commonly happen with chronic tensing of the neck while in a common sitting induced posture. What I like most about this list is that all of these imbalances derive at the head and neck region. A person could have one or many of these issues. Focusing on them locally where it hurts may not help until the head and neck are addressed and mapped back into balance.

The eyes accommodate the chronic backward drag of the head by shifting in the orbit, becoming chronically partially closed.
The jaw loses mobility and juts forward, opening.
The tongue bunches and the throat tightens.
The vertebrae of the neck are jammed together, putting pressure on nerves and blood vessels, creating a susceptibility to tension headaches.
Breathing is impaired, vital lung capacity is decreased, rib mobility decreases and the movement of breathing becomes disorganized.
The spine loses range as well as its ability to lengthen and sequence in movement.
Pressure is put on the internal organs.
The arm structure is distorted.
The shoulder blades are pulled together as the back narrows. There is also a caving-in of the chest, dragging the collarbones down and in.
The upper arm is torqued outward, rotation is compromised at the elbow, there is retraction across the wrist and the hands tense.
The lumbar area is shortened and forced forward, or back. The gluteals shorten, forcing the hip joints forward in space.
The pelvic floor is tightened uncomfortably upward.
The thighs torque outward, putting pressure on the knees and causing the lower leg muscles to tighten, hardening the area between the tibia and fibula.
The lower leg is pulled off the perpendicular at the arch, forcing weight onto the heel, or worse, onto the ball of the foot.
The foot torques the heel, pulling it to the inside as the front of the foot twists outward, often sufficiently so that the reflexes that give us a sense of a spring in the step are lost.
The toes lose mobility.
Most of the bullets in this list are from the book, “How to learn the Alexander Technique” by Barbara Conable. She developed bodymapping and introduced it to me in 2001. I am forever grateful for the time I was able to learn from her.

Next we’ll revisit the head and neck with an image I’ve found very helpful over the years. I hope you will too.