Shoulders

Our shoulder blades are complicated bones that can move a lot and have many muscles on them and around them. Much of the discomfort you may feel in your upper back comes from around your shoulder blades.

Shrugs and shoulder rolls are good to loosen building tension, but they’re not enough to help your shoulder blades move well.

When you work on something, tension and discomfort build in you upper back around your shoulder blades. We can increase how much you can move your shoulder blades, and that will reduce your discomfort.

Up downward dog

You can do this one on your own. It is a good warmup and often sufficient. And a good example of thinking about yoga. We take downward dog and rotate it up 45° which isn’t the same but does get many of the benefits.

Stand and tilt your torso forward from your hip joints, extend your arms past your head, and rest your palms on a counter, table, or back of a chair. You can relax your knees to focus on your shoulders and back.

Pull

We sit facing each other on good firm chairs, like dining chairs. I am your support and guide. You hold on to my shoulder with one hand and lean away and let gravity do the work. I stabilize you and guide you in letting your muscles extend and release. This is simple and works well as a good beginning getting at something complicated.