[Ashtanga Yoga] Re: tight shoulders

05-03-2004, 12:45 PM

That first exercise you describe is excellent for keeping at bay
those "knots" you get at the interior side of the shoulderblade.
Those are so very common and rolling it out with a tennis ball with
the back against the wall as so many of us do only helps me
temporarily. On the advice of an acquaintance who swore this worked,
I do that strap exercise 8 times almost every morning and my
shoulderblade issues are essentially gone (unless I spend too much
time with my shoulderblade lifted while writing on a desk that is too
high, or anything like that). I know this is not on topic for the
original post, but I just want to spread the joy of the strap over
the head exercise

--- In ashtangayoga (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "Linda Munro"
wrote:
> One of the best exercises that I've found for opening the shoulders
was
> given to me by a physical therapist when I had broken my shoulder
blade in a
> car accident. After several weeks of having my arm bound to my
torso my
> shoulders were practically frozen in place. The exercise was quite
painful,
> at the time, however now it feels great. Just take a strap, towel,
belt of
> some sort and hold it at either end with each hand. Then try to
lift the
> arms over the head and behind you without bending the arms. Then
back over
> the head and in front of you. Going back and forth as often as you
feel.
> As the shoulders open you slowly work the hands towards each other
so that
> the strap is shorter and shorter.
> Another thing I've found helpful is lying on my bed with my head
and
> shoulders over the side of the bed, arms hanging over the head.
Just
> staying there and breathing deeply for as long as I can.
> And the arm position of "eagle" posture opens the shoulders. YOu
can lift
> the arms higher and lower to get the stretch in the exact place you
need it.
> Or interlocking the fingers behind the back (as in Prasarita
Padungustasana)
> and standing with the arms over the head (maybe getting a friend to
push the
> hands slightly towards the floor>
> Lastly, sitting in any position on the floor and then bringing the
palms on
> the floor behind you as far as you can (fingertips towards you),
bending the
> elbows, then trying to work the shoulder blades towards each other
as you
> slowly sink closer and closer towards the floor.
>
> Hope my descriptions make sense and that they help you. I find
that the all
> work slightly different parts of the shoulders.
> Namaste,
> Linda
>
>
>
> Linda Munro
> Ashtanga Paris
> www.ashtangaparis.com
>
>
>
>
>
> From: "trulyscrumshess"
> Reply-To: ashtangayoga (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com
> To: ashtangayoga (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com
> Subject: [Ashtanga Yoga] Re: tight shoulders
> Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 02:26:39 -0000
>
> --- In ashtangayoga (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "dmtaviv" wrote:
> > I have very tight shoulders to the point where downward facing
dog
> > puts an incredible strain on my triceps and delts. What is the
best
> > stretch or exercise to loosen them? Thanks
>
> I had that so badly that I could not do downward dog without lots of
> pinching pain in the shoulder. I released this with constant
shoulder
> and pec stretches and after one particularly good release in a
> restorative class I was finally able to begin doing downward dog
> without incredible pain. The pose that released it was a lying twist
> using sandbags to hold the shoulder down on the ground. I also did
> side-lying shoulder clocks daily. Once I got the release from the
> restorative pose that day the shoulder clocks became less painful.
> Then I was able to start back to yoga. I didn't have frozen
> shoulders, per se, but they were pretty tight. If yours are not that
> tight then yoga might be all you need. I just needed a little (OK a
> lot) of remedial stretching.
>
> __________________________________________________ _______________
> Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online
> http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy...n.asp?cid=3963