I used to practice ashtanga vinyasa yoga on a daily basis and always jumped into caturanga dandasana. After 9 months daily self practice I found myself with neck pain. So I went to an osteopath in Munich, Germany. He found out my first vertebra, the atlas wasn’t aligned but had moved to the right. Then he told me that 90% of his patients coming with neck issues are yoga practitioners. I was shocked. This is when I got interested in individual alignment. I attended a training in Iyengar yoga in Munich that lasted 3-4 years. During this training I was fortunate to learn under very skillful teachers. It was Lois Steinberg who hung me into headstand in the ropes. She made me lift my head and look towards the wall and at the same time lift the trapez muscles up, away from my ears. This moved my cervical spine into its natural lordosis. At the same time she told me to move the elbows toward one another. Then she told me to drop my head, but still actively keep lifting the shoulders. Gravity had my neck go into a mild traction. After I returned back to Bodrum I got wall ropes in our studio. I hung in this pose daily ( see below). The result was amazing. When I got checked by the osteopath some time later he said the atlas had moved back.
