Yin for the shoulders?

This discussion group is for questions about Yin Yoga and other body parts, such as shoulders, feet, wrists, etc.... Also, this is the place to discuss various conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, etc.
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Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Yin for the shoulders?

Post by Bernie »

From time to time, I get asked questions by email. I prefer to have the questions posted here so that others can help me answer the questions, and everyone can share in learning something, hopefully, new and interesting. Here is a recent question I received...maybe you would like to share your thoughts?

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I have just started practising and teaching yin yoga and find it to be the most gorgeous practice and your yinsights book is my bible!! Please can you tell me why we don’t seem to do yin yoga for the shoulders, or do we?

Thank you
Jo Lee
London

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Hi Jo Lee ... thanks for the question. We actually can, and do, do yin work for the shoulders. While most of the Yin Yoga poses are targeting the stiffer areas such as the hips and lower back, there is no reason we can't take a yin approach to every joint and all areas of the body. Recall that yin refers to the way we exercise and our intention of the exercise.

Normally, relative to our hips, the shoulder is already quite a mobile joint. Its range of motion is quite large compared to the hips and lumbar spine. But, of course, the shoulder's ROM may not be the full ROM that could be available to a healthy individual. If the cause of this restriction are the ligaments and deeper connective tissues, then yes - Yin Yoga will help the shoulder.

There are several variations we can use to help this area. I often combine some shoulder work while in standard yin poses like reclining twists or saddle pose. (Check the YinSights section for these postures). In Saddle pose, if you are resting on the floor or on a bolster and your don't need your hands to support your weight, try bringing both arms over your shoulders and either hold your elbows or interlace your fingers, turn your palms away and stretch your arms out. Let your arms or hands rest on something, like the floor or a bolster. Leave your arms there for as long as you are in the pose; you will get a yin stretch to your shoulders. In the reclining twist, just raise one arm (or both if you want) over your head. These options are shown in YinSights.

In any of these variations, if you start to feel tingling in your arms or fingers, its a sign to lower the arms. You may be impinging a nerve (which happens to me frequently) or cutting off blood flow. Neither is good for you, so come out when you feel that happening.

Other yin postures for the shoulders could include:
- lying on your stomach with one arm under you and pointing across your chest at 90 degrees to your torso.
- again lying on your stomach, this time have your arms stretched out to the side like wings. Place one hand on the floor beside that shoulder and then try to roll over until you feel the stretch the straight arm's shoulder. Really flexible students can then take the hand off the floor and make that arm open along side the bottom arm...real flexies can interlock fingers with the back of the hands together!
- wrap your arms around each other, as in Eagle pose (the yang version) and lean your elbows onto a table, chair or floor. Stay and relax.
Don't forget to do both sides!

By adding the last three to the first options, you will have worked your shoulders in most of its possible directions. Remember the key in Yin is time, not intensity. You do want to feel it, but staying longer with less than maximum intensity is the best way to proceed.

cheers
Bernie
Lorien
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:06 am
Location: San Jose, CA

Post by Lorien »

Thank you! I really like the prone shoulder stretches, and bring them into my yang classes as well.
Much appreciated,
Lorien
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