Dr. Kye Peven, ND, DSOM

Meditation can be extremely useful, but there are known effects which may be experienced as negative. It very much depends on a person's history, background, and what they are looking to achieve with a given meditation technique. Unwanted effects can range from some minor physical pain all the way to psychosis or depersonalization; these more serious effects are often linked to previous trauma. This doesn't mean people with a history of trauma should not practice meditation, just that they need to find the right approach and have the proper support in place to help them move through these difficulties. For more detail than you probably need or want check out https://www.cheetahhouse.org/, a website to help meditators experiencing distressing symptoms of all kinds.

I will assume that the voices this person hears are causing them suffering and interfering with their ability to live the life they want, since I don't immediately assume that hearing voices is 'bad'. The question of whether I could help this person is a pretty solid maybe. It would depend a lot on if they were already taking pharmaceutical medications, what kind of support system they had in place in their life, and whether they had access to such things as stable housing, healthy food, etc. Each person is so individual it's difficult to give a complete answer. However, Chinese Medicine and Naturopathy can absolutely help to balance a person's mental/emotional experience, including dealing with voices or other types of hallucinations.

Since there have already been some excellent answers on specific techniques, I want to ask what that tension is all about? Our bodies always do things for a reason. Why has yours decided to hold tension in that area? What is the tension a response to? Without knowing this deeper piece most physical techniques, though they may help temporarily, will probably not help your neck and shoulders relax more permanently.