The eight small suboccipital muscles are located at the top of the neck just below the skull.   These muscles are the deepest muscles of the upper posterior neck.  The action of these eight small muscles allows you to rock and tilt the head back into extension (so you are looking up) and the rotate your head to the same side (useful when driving).  These muscles can become stiff and sore even from having a cold draft on them or from over working them.

Some of the work I do on the neck is the cranial lift learning from the CranioSacral training.  The CranioSacral lift can release many of the neck muscles including the suboccipitals.

I have some clients who request their hour appointment to just work on the neck and back.   They area happy when they can leave the appointment without any restriction on the range of movement for their head.