Felt truly relaxed stress just melted away I went from a size 18 to a size 8 I stopped getting sick pain disappeared yoga for real people with real problems hello I’m Deborah Devine and welcome to healing problems. So that was my story you just heard in the opening I had real problems. But they were solved when I found gentle yoga after years of long stressful hours hunched over a desk my head had come out of alignment causing chronic pain in my shoulders as we age gravity and old injuries can cause the same thing for Zoomers.
So I’ve put together a simple yoga series that releases tension in the shoulders. And you don’t have to be flexible to benefit all of the poses have been modified to help people with chronic pain or injuries we start with an easy warm-up that opens up the shoulder tissue. And then we bring our shoulders down away from the ears next we massage the specific problem spots. And then we open up the chest these are super easy poses. But they can have a lasting effect follow along at home for the whole series or, if you’re busy just do one or two poses and you’ll notice an immediate difference maybe you’ll be able to reach up into the top part of your cupboard and pull something down let’s start the healing joining me today ah who’s been dealing with some shoulder injuries chronic shoulder injuries and Dianna who’s had a recent gardening related shoulder injury. So we’re gonna begin with a wonderful warm-up shoulder cycles will come to the mat and stand in Tad Asana we’re gonna inhale the arms out and up. And then exhale hands to heart now, if that’s painful for you be easy be very gentle on yourself we don’t want to be moving into the pain zone we’d like to stay in that boundary between comfort and discomfort so anytime you feel pain do less we’re gonna inhale the arms out and up one more time exhaling hands to heart. And then we’re going to take the right arm up and over we’re going to let the head rest over on to the right side. And then we’ll just press the hand into the head. And the head into the hand very gently opening up the neck opening up the shoulders now let the left arm come up just a few degrees rotate the upper arm bone externally let the palm face the sky a couple of breaths here reaching out with the arm very gently.
Yoga for Shoulders Photo Gallery
And then we’ll take the arm back down. And we’ll begin to bring the forearm behind the back a couple of breaths here then we’ll release that left arm release the right arm come back to Center circling the shoulders circling the shoulders. And then the left arm is going to come up. And the head is tilting over right arm comes out a couple of breaths here reaching out feeling the left hand press against the head very gently. And the head is resisting against the hand spreading the fingers nice and wide on that right arm. And then rotating the upper arm externally palm faces the sky long slow smooth and complete in and out breasts come back on the heels let the arm come down. And then the forearm will begin to come up behind maybe you can reach up a little bit more bring the head of the arm bone back. And then we’ll release the head release the other arm and circle the shoulders a few times this is already starting to open up some connective tissue and release some tension that we find in the muscles we’ll go the opposite way a few times and please continue to do these shoulder cycles there might be one particular move that you really enjoyed please continue to do that for just the next few moments. And we’ll be right back to go deeper into our shoulders healing yoga yoga for real people with real problems for more yoga go to one TV dot see a slash healing yoga healing problems hi my name is Al and I suffer from chronic shoulder problems and neck problems and.
Because of my shoulder conditions I’ve had Kenya’s trouble that have worked with pain my outdoor activities have suffered my golf and I also have trouble driving long distances or even 10 or 15 miles welcome back we’ve been working with our shoulders with this gentle practice to get in to the deep tissues and release lots of built-up tension and strengthening some of the weaker areas al how are you enjoying the practice so far terrific fantastic we’re gonna get you on the Golf Course in no time. So we’re gonna be moving a little bit deeper into the shoulder girl we’ve got this belt which is a fantastic way to access some of the connective tissue and muscles that we don’t have on the surface. So you could use a bathrobe tie or your husband’s old tie that might be lying around we’d like to measure it. So that it’s about shoulder width apart. And then we raise the arms up boat shoulder height we’re externally rotating the upper arms and we’re gonna just thread the belt here throw the arms through the belt here making sure that the buckle is not making contact with the skin now you can straighten up the arms come into your Tad Asana stance the upper arm bones are continuing to rotate externally and we’re just going to make some space in the shoulders we’re gonna make some space in the shoulder sockets making some space around the shoulder shelf lean back into the back plane of the body and let the shoulder blades come together and move down the back couple of breaths here grounding through the heels let the sit bones. And the tailbone come down. And then the arms rise up just a few degrees. And then we’re gonna break the belt here breaking the belt. And the action is happening here in the shoulder girdle we’re actually moving the heads of the arm bones wide. And then whenever you get tired you just bring your arms down and rest and recover. And then undoing the belt.
And then circling the shoulders out circling the shoulders out now we’re gonna take the right arm and lift it up and over. So that’s resting on the left shoulder. And then we’re gonna lift this left shoulder up and we’re gonna press down with that right hand now the opposite shoulder it can let go. And it can come down and we’re gonna just take a moment and maybe the head will just lean over into this left side. So the hand is pressing down into the shoulder the shoulder is pressing up into the hand we have this isometric movement we’re gonna take the breath deep into all of the tissues in the top of the shoulder into the neck letting the out breast be complete feeling the belly come to the front spine we are wringing out all kinds of muscle and connective tissue that has been holding on to tension for a long time we bear the weight of the world on our shoulders. And this action is actually wringing out energy its wringing out all tension. And then we come back releasing the arms now one of your shoulders is feeling a little bit higher than the other one circle them around a couple times one way a couple times the opposite way. And then the left hand comes up and over to the right right arm comes up left hand presses down the right shoulder comes up. And the left hand comes down drop the head over into that shoulder that’s coming up drop the left shoulder squeezing breathing we’re getting access to all kinds of lymphatic tissue here in the neck we’re wringing out old toxins moving out old lymphatic fluid making room for a fresh lymph to come in and you’ll feel a lot lighter now releasing the shoulder releasing the arms coming back now the shoulders feel a little bit more balanced circling things out wonderful now we’re going to be using these very simple balls to go a little bit deeper into the area around the shoulder blade. So let’s come down to the ground we’ll lie on our back. And the knees can be bent or they can be long. And then we’ll just take this ball and find a way to get underneath the shoulder blade. So you can lift your arm up bend the elbow and begin to make some big circles with your shoulder and you’ll probably find a couple of spots that are really holding on to a lot of tension use your breath breathe light and spaciousness deep into those muscle tissues exhale tension exhale gripping so using the balls here a really wonderful way to release some specific spots that you might be experiencing some pain in please continue to enjoy this work that we’re doing with the balls switch over to the opposite side and go deep underneath all of those nooks and crannies of the muscles in the back underneath the shoulder blades. And we’ll be back in a moment to work more deeply with the shoulders healing yoga yoga for real people with real problems for more yoga go to one TV dot see a slash healing yoga healing yoga yoga for real people with real problems about 15 months ago I started a yoga practice and I have started at the age of 70.
So I just shows you you’re never it’s never too late to start and as a result of the practice everything has improved I’m more flexible I’ve suffered less pain and Milou blick also has improved. Because yoga also deals with your general outlook towards life and and how you handle stress situations. So It’s been a great benefit to me welcome back we’ve been working with the shoulder-blades we’ve been working with the shoulder shelf we’ve been moving some synovial fluid into the joints. And this is hopefully making your arms feel a lot lighter improving your range of motion your ease of movement. And now we’re gonna be going even deeper into the shoulder blades. So we’re going to come into Tad Asana heels out toes in lean back onto the heels feel the quadriceps activate let the sit bones and tailbone drop feel yourself rising on the in-breath on the front line of the body now we’re gonna take the shoulders up on the next in-breath squeezing. And then bring the tops of the shoulder blades together and exhale down. And then we’re gonna inhale shoulders come up. And then we’re gonna squeeze the middle part of the shoulder blades together moving them down on the out-breath. And then we’ll take another in-breath squeezing at the top.
And we’ll go to the bottom of the shoulder blades put them together knit them together. And then draw them down on the out-breath. And then we’ll just circle the shoulders around a little bit wonderful just shaking the shoulders out now we’re gonna get deeper into the shoulder joint from the armpits now there are a number of different ways that we could be engaging the armpits to create more space I’m gonna be doing prayer pose Alice gonna be going into downward facing dog and diana is listening to her body those poses do not help her with the injury that she has right so she’ll be doing cat and that will be more comfortable for her. So we come down on to hands and knees and for prayer pose we’re going to keep the sit bones high reach the arms out and place the forehead on the floor now bringing awareness into the upper arm where it moves into the shoulder socket and starting to create this idea of an external rotation the palms are pressing down the base of the index finger is making a lot of contact with the ground and we’re starting to see the crease of the elbow just rise up a little bit that tiny movement is helping create more alignment with the shoulders onto the back long slow smooth in-breath long slow smooth and complete out-breath now Al’s in downward facing dog here. And it’s a wonderful way to release the shoulders from underneath when we’re in downward facing dog come on down now come on to your knees and coming into cat pose is also really wonderful. Because you can be broadening through the collarbones and opening up space breathing light and spaciousness into the armpits broadening the whole shoulder shelf wonderful now come back to neutral spine. And then we’ll come to standing.
And we’ll work with cow face pose and get a little bit more isolation with the shoulder blades. So we’ll come to standing and we’ve got the belt in the right hand we’re going to unravel the belt belt is in the right hand we lift the belt up and over. And then the left arm is going to come out rotate the upper arm bone externally. And then drop the hand back come on over here out we’ll turn you around wonderful now we don’t have to be in the advanced part of the pose in order to achieve the benefits we can take the belt lots of room here and as long as we’re aiming to get the shoulder blades to come down. And together opening up the collar bones this right elbow is rising up this left elbow is moving down and maybe it doesn’t look that, if you’re looking at yourself. But you’re feeling that way. And then you can begin to break the belt we’re breaking the belt taking a couple of long slow smooth and complete in-and-out breaths. And then you can just stop and recover you can keep the belt. And you can let go of that just relax relax be here for a few moments.
And then again engage some muscle strength. So we’re starting to strengthen the areas that might be a little bit weaker. And then we’ll release. And we’ll switch sides switching over to the opposite left arm comes up and over. And enjoy this opposite side for the next few moments. And we’ll be back right after the break for a cool-down Healing Yoga Yoga for real people with real problems for more yoga go to one TV dot see a slash healing yoga taking a break every half hour to stretch your shoulders while working at a desk is a good way to stay loose while stretching focus on dropping your shoulder blades to the waist and opening your chest welcome back we’ve been working a lot with all of the tissues that support the shoulders the shoulder blades the shoulder shelf. And the arms how are you feeling Diana right now great I can feel it all the muscles relaxing fantastic. And now we’re going to be cooling down with a wonderful pose that’s going to open up the front part of the chest and give the front part of the shoulders a little bit more of a gentle and passive stretch. So we’re gonna elevate our spine we’ve got a bolster here. But you could also be using a blanket just folding up a blanket a few times. And we’ll bring the sit bones. And the pine quarters right up to the shortage of the bolster using the arms to help you down protecting your back. And then maybe a little bit of support for the back of the neck the back of the head great.
So we are surrendering on to this support here with the bolster one leg can come long see how that feels maybe the other leg comes along to see how that feels, if there’s any pinch eNOS in the low back simply bend your knees press your feet into the floor and move your hips away from the bottom of the ribs. And then let your legs come long again to see how that goes then we’ll go to the shoulder blades bringing awareness to the shoulder blades we’re gonna bring them down the back and in behind the heart. So It creates a little platform for the heart to rest on the upper arm bones are rotating externally the palms are facing the sky the fingers are unfurling like the petals of a lotus we’re gonna take a few moments here. And just allow ourselves to ground, if you’re wearing glasses you can just remove them put them aside and that will let the brain settle a bit more it’s a wonderful pose to open up all of the muscles on the front of the chest the pecs the collarbones when our shoulders are compromised when we’re you know working at desk on our computers and our devices there’s a sense of collapsing through the front part of the body so here we are passively opening let the in-breath go deep into the shoulders deep into the shoulder blades breathing in light and spaciousness exhaling tension exhaling holding dropping all of that tension down into the ground go to the base of the throat breathing in light breathing in spaciousness exhaling tension exhaling holding that is a really tense area as well we hold a lot of tension where the neck meets the shoulders we’re starting to allow the shoulders to drop down the shoulders are starting to come towards the floor the collar bones are starting to separate now you may not be enjoying a backbend in Al’s case he’s dealing with stenosis and with that condition back bends are contraindicated. So In Al’s case we’ve taken two bolsters and we’ve elevated the legs fast keeping the spine in its neutral position. But we’re still using the same imagery we’re bringing the shoulder blades down the back in behind the heart creating a wonderful platform for the heart to rest on and there’s this wonderful passive opening in front the pecs are starting to release the connective tissue that surrounds all the pectoral muscles are starting to release the upper arm bones are starting to broaden and widen now you can enjoy this pose as your shav Asana tranquility pose too close to your practice or you can just roll over remove all of the bolsters the blankets. And then come back on to your back and lie down and ground will take a long slow smooth in-breath into the base of the throat the back of the neck the shoulders the arms the hands breathing in light and spaciousness exhaling tension exhaling holding please continue to enjoy your shav Asana for at least 15 more minutes we’ll see you again next time on healing yoga namaste you.
