Monica
Ālaya Yoga
Shoulder Opening Tips to your Practice
Shoulder Opening Tips to your Practice 🙆🏻♀️
Why not add these Shoulder Opening Practices to your daily routine?
Safeguard your Shoulders today to prevent the most common Shoulder injuries. Strengthen & open your Shoulders with some small practices you can try any time of the day.
Why should we even have Open Shoulders?
According to the APA (American Psychological Association), “Ongoing muscle tension in your neck and shoulders can lead to more serious issues like back and shoulder pain, body aches, and migraine and tension headaches.”
Some more:
1. It helps you improve your posture.
2. It helps in multiple muscle movements around your shoulders.
3. Adds extra support to your arms whenever arm strength is required.
4. Reduces neck and shoulder stiffness.
5. It Gives you more flexibility and mobility.
6. Open and strong shoulders help you lift heavy objects and play sports.
7. Psychological effect: Open shoulders make you look more confident.
Ongoing muscle tension in your neck and shoulders can lead to more serious issues like back and shoulder pain, body aches, and migraine and tension headaches
Here you go with the tips for your shoulder:
Gomukhasana (Cow Face):
1. Sit in Vajrasana or Sit with your legs crisscrossed, placing one knee on top of the other.
2. Raise your right arm, fold it at the elbow, take your right palm behind your back, and take your left palm behind the back from down. Now your right elbow is pointing to the ceiling, and your left is pointing to the floor.
3. Try to hold your palms behind your back. If not, you can also use the belt, as shown in the image.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Breath, and hold for five breaths.
Forward fold with Clasp:
1. Stand with feet one foot distance apart or into a wide-legged position. You can also try this by sitting in Vajrasana.
2. Clasp your finger behind your back, inhale deeply, and open your chest.
3. With an exhale, soften your knees and fold forward, letting the head fall toward the ground and gently releasing the neck.
4. Aim your clasp hands to the floor beyond your head. Stay here for five deep breaths.
Ardha Uttanasana with the wall:
1. Stand an arm’s distance away from the wall. Inhale, lengthen your spine up, and raise your arms.
2. With an exhale, extend your spine and fold forward halfway through, making a 90 degree at your pelvic.
3. Place your palms on the wall, fingers pointing to the ceiling, and sink your chest towards the floor. Feel the opening in shoulder joints.
4. Breath. Hold for five breaths and repeat.
Reverse Prayer:
1. Sit in Vajrasana, or you may choose to stand with your feet together, float arms down to either side of your body and, bending elbows, reach arms behind your back.
2. Press palms together in a prayer position on the spine and reach hands as high up as feels good.
3. Stay here for five deep breaths.
In addition to these Practices, you can also explore a Shoulder focused themed session we are running this month every Thursday at 07:15 am with Lalit. You can also explore the Shoulder Focused Sessions in the Library, go to the Video Library, hit the search button.
