September 6, 2023 • 67 mins
You might think you know the intricacies of your shoulder anatomy, but this practice will take you to a depth of understanding that you've never reached before. We're not just talking about the surface-level stuff; we're diving right into the complex details of your shoulder anatomy. We're also discussing how increased blood flow, nervous system benefits, and a temporary effect of increased muscle extensibility are the real benefits of the techniques we explore in this pod practice. In essence, we're debunking some myofascial release myths while embracing the REAL benefits of these practices.
We're breaking down the anatomy of the shoulder, using traditional Yin Yoga postures, self myofascial release techniques and breathing exercises, all designed to help you release tension gently through embodied awareness. For the the Yin Yoga teachers out there, this practice will amplify your knowledge of the shoulder anatomy in ways that reading a text book never could.
So join me for this pod practice and allow me to guide you on this intriguing exploration of your body's shoulder anatomy through the lens of Yin Yoga and self-myofascial release techniques.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, andtoday I am offering you a pod
practice which I am particularlyexcited about.
This is a practice which willblend some self-myofascial
release techniques with yourtraditional Yin Yoga postures.
(00:23):
But what I think is going to bethe most edifying for you in
this practice is that I reallywanted to introduce you to the
anatomy of the shoulderexperientially.
Anyone who has tried to learnabout anatomy knows that it's
90% vocabulary, right.
So while that is veryinteresting and useful,
(00:45):
especially for those of us whoteach yoga, to me the best way
to learn anatomy is throughexperiencing, and so that
experiencing here is going to besome of the ways that we will
employ these myofascial releasetechniques, and then the, of
course, delicious marinating inthe postures.
(01:05):
And before we start yourpractice, I just wanted to
insert a little note about thisterm myofascial release.
Based on my extensive review ofthe evidence, I do not think it
is possible to quote releasemyofascia.
So we're all familiar withusing these you know, foam
(01:28):
rollers and the cross balls tosupposedly make a permanent
change, histological change, toour connective tissues.
That is just not possible.
We cannot make permanent changeto these tissues, thank
goodness, because otherwise we'dbe awfully delicate, right.
But these techniques have beenshown to have other important
(01:49):
benefits, maybe better thanactually changing the tissues.
So we can see increased bloodflow and overall hydration to
tissues.
We see important nervous systembenefits, which can help to
reduce sensitivity in thetissues which are being quote
released, and, finally, we alsosee that there is a temporary
(02:11):
effect of increase, ofincreasing muscle extensibility
after engaging in thesetechniques.
So, yes, they're veryproductive.
No, they are not releasingfascia, and I just could not
have continued this episodewithout making that little note.
And someday in the future we'lldo a whole episode on
(02:31):
myofascial release.
If that's something that youwould be interested, definitely
reach out to me on social mediaand let me know.
If a lot of people cometogether, then I'll go ahead and
put that together for you.
I wanted to mention one otherthing that I already have coming
up, which is a specialmasterclass webinar that I will
be doing on September 11th inthe afternoon here in the US.
(02:55):
We're going to be talking aboutcreating Yin sequencing poetry,
really finding that Yinsequencing magic that seems to
be so difficult to grasp.
So I'm going to give you somereally quick tips on how you can
really make your next sequenceyour best sequence.
(03:17):
If you would like to registerfor that webinar, whether you
can make it live on September11th or whether that date has
already passed and you'relistening far into the future
I'm going to leave a link in theshow notes.
Just go ahead and click that toeither get access to the live
masterclass or to be delivered arecording.
(03:37):
Thank you so much and I'mreally excited for you to check
this practice out.
If you have any thoughts on it,please do let me know on social
media or you might have noticedthat in Spotify, if you scroll
to the bottom of the show notes,you can actually leave a
comment right there, and I justlove to hear from you guys.
Let me have you take yourfolded blanket and place that at
(04:05):
the front of your yoga mat.
Place that at the front of youryoga mat and then it should
still be on the mat, though Makesure it's on the mat with you
and then you're going to laydown on your back with your head
on that blanket, so your head'sgoing to be up at the top.
Yes.
(04:31):
And as you come to lay down,you're just going to check a
couple of things.
I'm going to be a littlepersnickety.
If your chin seems to be higherthan your forehead, I'd like
for you to make your blanket alittle thicker.
And if your chin issignificantly lower than your
(04:52):
forehead, your blanket needs tobe a little thinner.
Okay, we just want to have thatperfect head neck position for
what we're working with today,and it's okay to have your legs
long or your feet flat that'syour choice.
(05:15):
And as you're getting settled,start to observe the current
environment, all the stuffthat's going on around you
outside of your skin, everythingfrom the temperature to the
(05:39):
sounds, any textures of yourclothing, even the subtle energy
of the people around you.
And then, just like that, drawthat observing inward to the
(06:16):
internal environment, noticingany movements, any sensations.
And then let's concentrate thatawareness even a little bit
(06:43):
more into your right shoulder.
Draw your awareness into yourright shoulder.
Any movements there, anysensations.
(07:17):
Do you have any feelings aboutyour right shoulder?
What is the energy currently ofthe right shoulder Like?
(07:44):
Is it sleepy energy?
Is it anxious energy?
Is it balanced, perfect, softenergy?
And how do you know?
What caused you to designatethe energy the way that you did.
(08:11):
Yeah.
And I'll have you bring yourfeet now flat onto your mat so
that they are standing as wideas your yoga mat, as wide as
(08:35):
your yoga mat If you have verylong legs, they might even stand
slightly outside of your matand bring your right arm
straight out to the right, soit's no higher than your
shoulder, it's no lower thanyour shoulder, straight out to
the right, with the palm of thehand face up and the crease of
the elbow face up, crease of theelbow face up.
(08:56):
And I'd like for you to imaginethat this elbow, in this
position on the floor and atthis rotation, is being warmly
held in this position, notrestricted, but warmly held as
(09:17):
it is right to the floor.
Okay, and then gently tilt yourknees to the left without
allowing your elbow to move.
Let your hips tilt to the leftwindshield wiper, you know.
And then back to the middle,and let's do that several more
(09:42):
times.
So you're going to windshieldwiper your two knees to the left
.
The hips are tilting as well asthe knees right, which means
probably your left thigh willmove toward the floor just
outside of your mat right, andyour right knee is going to kind
of come down and pivot towardthe mat as well, and the whole
time your right elbow is heldwarmly in this position, and as
(10:10):
you breathe and you move and youexperience, I'd like for you to
just briefly define in your ownmind what is a shoulder, and
we'll just go purely anatomicalnow.
What part of the bodyencompasses your perception of
(10:33):
your shoulder?
So this time, is your hips?
Tilt to the left, allow yourhips to pull your sternum to the
left a little bit.
So your sternum is red, centerbone, down the middle of your
chest, and it's going to tilt alittle bit and it's also going
to kind of roll to the left andthen back to the center.
(10:55):
It's going to come back to aneutralish position, okay, and
we'll do that a few times.
So a little bit more attentionto the movement of the sternum,
with the right elbow remainingin that warmly held position,
yeah, and then the next timeyour knees are in the middle,
(11:19):
you're just going to come backand stay and we're going to
change the position of yourelbow.
So I'd like for you now to turnthe palm of your right hand
down, as well as the crease ofthe elbow, to the extent that
you are able.
It's not going to come all theway down I promise it's going to
be a little bit more toward theback of the room and then
(11:41):
continue this windshield wiper,sternum, tilt and roll activity
with the elbow held warmly tothe floor and in this rotation.
So everybody has their ownperception of what a shoulder is
(12:02):
, but I will let you in on myperception.
It includes the chest, the ribs, the pectoral muscles, that's
the muscle on the front of yourchest.
There's two of them.
And so as you roll the sternum,you are tensioning the lateral
(12:29):
head of your pec major, whichattaches to your upper arm bone.
So by pulling the sternum awayfrom your upper arm bone, you
get a little traction for thatportion of pec major.
And then the next time you'rein the center, you're going to
(12:50):
hold and you're going to turnthe palm back to the starting
position, the crease of theelbow as well, and then we're
actually going to over rotatenow.
So you're going to continue toroll, so that the pinky finger
is now up, the thumb is down,the crease of the elbow is
pointing toward the front of theroom.
Yes, as best as you can.
We all have our own uniquerange of motion here.
(13:12):
And then windshield wiper, andthe whole idea behind this
windshield wiper is simply todraw the sternum away from the
upper arm bone.
Yes, away from the upper armbone, that's all.
(13:32):
Draw the sternum away from theupper arm bone.
So pec major begins in thecenter of the chest.
It spreads out over the ribsconnecting to them, and it
connects way out to the upperarm bone, also connects to your
(13:54):
clavicle, your collar bone.
So you might feel that movingtoo the right side collar bone,
let's just do one more.
And when your knees get over tothe left, you're going to keep
them there and then you're justgoing to let the arm rest in the
(14:15):
position that you like the best.
So, is it the position with thepalm back?
Is it the position with thepalm down or up?
It's your choice.
And just remain in yourwindshield wiper position and
now use your breath, your breathalone, to explore the right
side of the chest as it becomesyour right shoulder.
(14:39):
Is it okay to have this comedown or no?
Yeah, okay, sure, just use yourbreath.
(15:00):
You have so many options withyour breath now to explore this
chest shoulder complex Could bethe inhale, could be the exhale,
could be holding the breath.
Now here's the final breath andyou'll bring your right arm
(15:35):
right beside you, right besideyour waist, and then keep it
with you as you roll all the wayonto your left side so that
your right thigh is stacked ontoyour left thigh.
You're on your side.
Your head will be a little bitfalling toward the blanket.
Don't take too many measures tocorrect it because of where
we're about to go.
(15:58):
Your right hand reach straightup to the ceiling, straight up
to the ceiling, and then turnthe palm back as if someone is
behind you and you want to tellthem to talk to the hand, and
then bend the elbow and bringthe back of your hand to your
lower back or waist.
It could go lower to the sacrumif this position is already a
(16:21):
little harrowing, or you couldslide the hand even up between
the shoulder blades.
So those are the options.
And then take your time.
Oh so gently rolling to yourback with your palm pinned to
the floor by your back, andagain, too much, you would put
(16:41):
the hand behind the sacrum.
If you want more, you'll takethe hand up between the two
shoulder blades.
Yeah, and your legs.
I think long To me legs, longis a little milder, which is
what I'm going for, okay, but ifyou need to make an adjustment,
(17:04):
maybe you just want the rightfoot flat so you can push into
it a little bit, right, so it'sless on the shoulder you could
do that.
It's totally customizable, 100%, all for you.
And just so gently now, soslowly, turn your head side to
(17:25):
side and as you turn, you maynotice that you get a little
more stretch.
If you turn in one direction,I'm going to have you lift your
head for me, dear.
Good, let's try this, thank you, yeah, and I want to talk to
(17:49):
you about this stretch thing.
Okay, so today is not aboutstretching.
It's about experiencing.
Experiencing themulti-dimensional shoulder,
perhaps expanding our concept ofour shoulder.
(18:11):
The head is turning side toside only so that you can feel
this multi-dimensional sensationand you could add your breath
as well, okay, and then justrest with your head in your
(18:42):
favorite position just for acouple of breaths.
Okay.
So your right arm is going to beas passive as possible.
(19:08):
I want you to use it not at all.
Bring the sole of your rightfoot to the mat.
Use the right foot to help youroll back onto your left side.
Keep your right arm as it is.
Use it not at all.
It's just going to hang therebehind you.
Yeah, you could bend that leftknee too if you need to, and
(19:31):
then, so slow, just so lazy, letthat right arm just come up
onto your right side, your waist, and then let it fall down in
front of you, so it's across thefront of you, and keep it
really close to you and use yourleft hand to hold your right
arm.
Use your left hand to hold yourright arm somewhere along the
(19:53):
wrist, forearm, and we're goingto take really good care of this
right arm and shoulder here.
Yeah, because we have to right,not because we've compromised
it, but because we can, as youroll back onto your back, use
your left hand to keep yourright arm across you.
(20:14):
Nice and calm, just really softagainst your body, yes, and
then, once you're on your back,maybe your feet flatten.
Use your left hand to gentlyposition your right arm either
to the floor or on you in acomfortable, neutral position.
Use your left hand right, we'retaking care of it now.
(20:36):
Now, because we have to wedidn't do anything wrong to it
but because we can, yeah, andjust rest on your back here for
a moment and notice the energyof the right shoulder.
Right shoulder complex, yeah,and now bring your awareness to
(21:05):
the left side shoulder.
Let's leave the right onebehind.
Maybe that left arm now needsto be in a more neutral position
so you can fully observe it.
So, the left side shoulder anymovement sensation, any thoughts
(21:33):
or feelings about the shoulder?
What is the energy of the leftshoulder?
How do you know?
(21:55):
How do you know with theenergies?
Now, the two feet are flat, onceagain, as wide as your mat,
(22:16):
standing as wide as your mat,all the way to the edges.
We'll need that left footespecially for leverage here to
for my official release on theleft side, you know, and your
left arm is straight out to theleft, with the wrist no higher
than the shoulder, no lower thanthe shoulder, the left elbow
held in this position, with thepalm face up, softly held softly
(22:41):
as you windshield wiper,tilting hips and knees to the
right.
Keep your elbow in place.
It should not be the hugeststretch in the world, because we
didn't come here to stretch, wecame here to experience.
Back to the center and over tothe right.
We're going to do this manytimes and see if you can get a
(23:03):
sense of the dimension of thatmuscle that crosses over your
chest, from your sternum out toyour upper arm bone, up to your
clavicle.
Take your time and then let'sget another view of the shoulder
(23:38):
.
Next time the knees are center,you're going to take the palm,
the left palm, to face down andturn the crease of the elbow to
face down as much as possible.
Don't force it.
No forcing necessary windshieldwiper to the right, and
remember it's essential that thehip draws the sternum with it,
so your sternum is tilting androlling slightly to the right.
(24:01):
That's what we're looking for.
Take your time.
Maybe you need a little extrapush from the left foot to get
your sternum to tilt and roll.
Maybe you can feel also now,because of the way we position
(24:26):
the arm, your collarbone gettingtugged, not just your sternum.
(24:51):
Next time you're center, you'restaying.
We'll turn the palm back to thestarting position, crease of
the elbow, and then overdo it,roll a little bit more until
your thumb is down, your pinky'sup this one's the hardest for
sure right.
And then windshield wiper, pullthe sternum.
Use that left hip to pull thesternum to the right, roll it
(25:17):
under.
That's a good one.
There's lots there.
This is really hitting thathumeral head of the lat.
And, yes, there is a stretch,but there's also learning.
There's a conscious learningand there's a subconscious
(25:42):
learning.
Okay, next time your knees areover to the right, you'll keep
them.
Keep them to the right and thenyou'll turn your arm to the
position that you like best andyou'll hold.
(26:14):
That is a stretch.
Really.
It's mechanical tension of amotor unit right, a muscle fiber
plus its nerve, or many, manymuscle fibers plus its nerve,
(26:38):
and the tension is great enoughthat a signal and action
potential is sent via the spinalcord to the brain and the brain
goes oh, there's mechanicaltension here.
And then the brain has todecide is this good, is it bad?
Have we done this before?
Did I get hurt before doingthis?
(26:59):
How do I feel about thisshoulder doing this?
Do I feel a little vulnerable?
So the mechanical tension isthe dumb part of it.
It's what happens in your brain.
It's the experience that I'minterested in.
(27:29):
Okay, so you bring your left armright up beside you, right
beside your waist, and then youbring it with you as you roll
onto your right side, stack yourknees I know your head is
probably a little bit too low atthe moment, but we'll move
(27:49):
pretty soon, so hopefully youcan manage it.
The left arm, reach up to thesky the palm, turn backward,
talk to the hand right and thentake the back of the bend the
elbow and take the back of thehand to your low waist or behind
your butt or between yourshoulder blades or anywhere
along that spectrum, and rollback onto your back and pin that
(28:13):
hand gently.
Once you're on your back, youhave many options.
I find that having the legslong is a nice mild position,
but sometimes, if the left footneeds to be flat on the floor,
that'll give us like a littlebit more control.
You know you'll feel like youcan kind of modulate.
(28:36):
This internal rotation of thearm and shoulder is a movement
that we don't do a lot right, soit's a lot.
Ever so slightly.
(28:58):
Turn your head side to side,not to increase the stretch Now
to experience that.
Dimensions of the chest, of theshoulder, this relationship
(29:26):
Really good?
Yeah, really good, really good.
(29:55):
Okay, so you'll allow the headjust to rest in the position you
like best, just for a breath.
And remember, as we're comingout of this, we're just going to
give this left arm shoulder atthe nicest, most comforting
(30:20):
experience that we can provide,not because we have to, because
we can.
So bring your left foot flat Ifit's not already, you could
bring your right foot flat tooand then push into that foot to
roll you back onto your rightside.
(30:41):
Keep that left arm just hangingthere behind you.
Roll to your right side yourright knee, if you'd like and
then the left arm lazily comesup onto your side and then drops
down in front of your body andyou'll take your right hand and
hold that left arm close to youand as you roll to the back, the
(31:04):
right hand is just going tokeep that left arm hugged close
to you, and then you'll use theright hand to help you to
position the left arm in a nice,comfortable, neutral position
where you can observe for a fewbreaths yes, that's perfect.
Yes, notice the energy of theleft shoulder.
(31:31):
So your two feet flat and onceagain as wide as your mat
(31:54):
standing on the edges.
So we worked with the front ofthe shoulder and, of course, the
chest.
Here I'd like to move ourtension to the tops of the
shoulders and then we'll move tothe backs of the shoulders.
So take both arms and reachthem up to the ceiling and then
(32:15):
you're going to make an X withyour arm, with your right arm on
top, and make that X as low toyour chest as you can, so you're
crossing at your upper arms,and then take your fingers onto
the tops of your shoulders, soyour X is not at your forearms,
my friends, it's as high as youcan, it's high, high, high, up
(32:35):
at your upper arms, high andtight.
And then use your fingers justto hold onto the tops of your
shoulders.
Yes, the higher we go, thebetter, perfect.
And then you're going to useyour arms to push down into your
chest and as you do that, youcould use your hands to pull
your shoulders out.
They're not going to go far,obviously, if anywhere, and then
(32:58):
let your elbows start to comeup.
The arms are still together.
Your elbows are going to comeup and keep going until you're
kind of smooshing your face,yeah, and then you're going to
bring the arms back down, smooshinto your chest, and then
you're going to use your handsto pull your shoulders out a
little.
Yeah, okay, do that a few moretimes and you'll also feel your
(33:25):
shoulder blades moving aroundtoo.
We'll give those more attentionshortly.
So when you considered yourconcept of your shoulder, did it
include these muscles on thetop, where it's basically your
shoulder becomes your neck?
Use this movement to explorethat dimension and also for some
(33:53):
nice sensations.
It's hard to stretch your uppertrap, so this can kind of help
you get that upper trap a littlebit.
Also, levator scap, primarily.
If you're feeling a stretch asyour elbows come down, it's
probably going to be levatorscapula and upper trapezius.
All right, next time your elbowspush down, your elbows push
(34:21):
down, you're going to keep thearms in that position, but let
your arms rest so they're notpushing down.
And then you may need to takeyour fingers so they're not at
all behind your shoulders ifthey are, because otherwise
you'll smoosh them and your feetare still very wide.
(34:44):
Feel the left shoulder bladecurrently no, excuse me, it's
the right.
Feel the right shoulder bladeand its position on the mat, and
if you're not sure, it's okay,you'll know more in a second,
yes.
And then try to bring thatright shoulder blade wider, kind
of like you're shrugging yourright shoulder forward, yeah.
And then use your left foot andyour right foot to help you
(35:10):
tilt like a barrel your wholetorso just a couple of degrees
to the right.
You're not going far becauseyou're going to bump into the
inner border of your shoulderblade.
So find the inner border of theshoulder blade.
It'll be very sensitive, okay.
And then use your feet to helpyou roll yourself like a barrel
back to the middle just to themiddle, so we're not going to go
far at all.
Come back to the center.
(35:30):
So think about a windshieldwiper.
100% would be knees all the wayover torso turned completely.
This is like 20%.
Use the feet to help you tiltto the right.
Find the inner border of yourshoulder blade against the mat
it should be a little sensitive.
And then come right back to themiddle.
Okay, now, this time try toavoid going as far as the inner
(35:51):
border of the shoulder blade, soyou can just kind of like, roll
on that meat between yourshoulder blade and your spine.
Roll on that meat, cause itfeels really freaking good,
Right.
Just a couple of times, just soyou know how to avoid your
shoulder blade.
Okay, and then the next timeyou're tilting to the right, I
(36:15):
want you to find the innerborder of the shoulder blade
against the mat.
And this is very technical.
Follow along, push a littlewith your right foot so you'll
feel almost as if you're pullingthe right shoulder blade out
even wider.
So we're going to tractionmiddle trap and come back to the
middle.
Come back to the middle andthere'll be a little bit of a
(36:36):
fancy footwork going on.
You'll have to figure it out.
But what I do is I push with myright foot so you turn you like
a barrel, you catch the innerborder of the shoulder blade
against the mat and then yougive a little push with your
right foot and that will widenand traction the middle trap and
back to the middle.
And if you're like Mandy, whatcall me over?
I'm here for you, I will helpyou, okay?
(37:03):
So, yes, it's a deliciousstretch, absolutely sublime,
right, but it's also anexperience of the anatomy of
your shoulder.
Come over here a little bitthere Now, see how you've caught
it.
Now push with that right foot,not this way.
Push towards your left footthere, don't let it move.
(37:26):
Good, come back to the middle.
Bring your feet wide, please,dear.
Okay, let's go and roll, catchit.
Push with the right foot just alittle, not so much toward me,
just to the left foot, and stay,stay.
Good, that's it, you did it.
Can I help you one more time?
Okay, the shoulder blade, niceand wide.
Nice and wide.
Okay, come on over.
Push a little extra, not towardme, just to the left foot.
(37:50):
Yeah, there, it is so many waysto push with that foot right.
Yes, Okay.
Sorry that's so confusing guys,I know, but once you get it, boy
, oh, that's a life skill, allright.
(38:12):
So the next time you come backup to the center, I'd like for
you to stay and then roll overonto your left side, make your
(38:34):
blanket thick enough that yourhead isn't falling down, but
that your jaw, your mandible,your cheekbone, your temple are
all like on one plane.
Yeah, okay, reach the left armout in front of you so it's
basically on the same plane asyour shoulder.
Here, for the moment, yourknees are bent yeah, knees are
(38:56):
bent maybe drawn up forstability, and then, instead of
having that wrist on the sameplane as the shoulder, slide the
hand up a little bit so it'smore on the same plane as the
crown of your head.
So it's going to be up a littlehigher.
Got it?
Even a little bit higher.
Let's get rid of this.
Bring your bottom arm, this armdear, this arm, this one, bring
(39:20):
it up a little bit more.
Whole thing, whole thing.
There we go.
Yes.
Yeah, we got it.
So that arm is straight on thesame plane as the crown of your
head.
This is going to be weird, butthis hand, this left hand, is
going to act as an anchor foryour myofascial release.
Okay, so your right hand isgoing to come over to meet your
(39:41):
left hand.
Use your left hand to circleyour right wrist.
Left hand hold right wrist.
Maybe your hand is away fromthe floor.
Now, this right wrist must notmove from this position as you
stand your right foot in thecenter of your yoga mat.
(40:01):
Stand your right foot in thecenter of your yoga mat and let
that knee come up, maybe evenovershoot a little bit more to
the right.
Do not allow your right wristto move and then bring your
right knee back down.
Yes, I got you.
So the leg action is going tobe like this yeah, it's going to
(40:22):
open and it's going to close,and it's so nice if someone will
hold this wrist for you, right?
So now that you know it, bringthat right knee up.
Yes, good, bring it down.
Now bring it up.
But in the absence of thatindividual, you can sort of do
it kind of by yourself.
(40:42):
So this is a really beautifulstretch for the upper lat teres,
major teres, minor,subscopularis, and when you
considered your concept of yourshoulder, were these muscles
included?
Was this region included?
(41:03):
Just a couple more Nice andsoft, I'll take it there.
Good one, okay, very well done.
Everyone.
Now just rest, relax thoseelbows, those arms, just briefly
.
And then I'm going to have youcontinue to roll your arms.
(41:30):
Okay, good, good, good, good,good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good,good, good, good, good, good,
good.
You continue to roll all theway on to your belly, your
blanket.
You'll have to push to the side, roll to your belly and shimmy
(41:51):
yourself on to your mat andreach both of your arms out in
front of you, so they're goingto come way out in front of you.
Make sure your blanket isn't inthe way or anything like that.
Blankets off to the side, we'rejust blanket.
You're dead to me.
I don't want you anywhere nearme.
(42:12):
Okay, and then bring the palm ofyour left hand flat to your mat
beside your chest.
Bring your right arm and smushit all the way up against the
right side of your head with thearms still extended forward,
(42:35):
and then push with your lefthand to roll your temple up onto
your arm, keep your left hipheavy, like there's a hand
gently pushing that hip down,and then roll your forehead back
to the mat, creep your righthand forward one millimeter and
do it again.
(42:55):
Let's do that a few more timesand each time you could creep
your hand forward a millimeter,but you don't have to.
So you roll your head up ontoyour arm.
Your hip stays low to theground.
Yeah, so in this case we'rekind of pushing away and we've
(43:22):
created an interestingopportunity for traction for
infraspinatus, for, once again,tears minor and see if you can
incorporate this part of yourbody into your concept of your
(43:48):
shoulder Pushing with that hand.
Let me help.
Come back, bring this elbow upGood, and push with this hand.
(44:11):
Roll your head onto your arm.
There we go, is that okay?
Okay, just do a couple more.
Yeah, wow, good job, everybody.
Next time your forehead comesdown, just slide your left palm
(44:34):
forward a few inches, push intoit, lift head and shoulders and
thread your right arm under yourleft, so your right hand is
reaching out to the right.
There is a cookie over there.
Just get a little bit further,right, yes?
And then turn your chest andyour forehead down so that you
(44:57):
can lay down on that right armand, if you need to, you can use
your fist for your forehead, oryou can use your blanket, or
you can use your block.
That's why I had you grab ablock today, in case your
forehead needs something.
So that right arm is fullyunder you.
What do you think, suzanne?
Can we try it?
I'm going to have you bringthis hand back here, push into
(45:19):
the hand, lift your head andshoulders.
Now bring this arm yes, andit's above the girls and under
the chin right and then I'mgoing to give you this for your
forehead.
Let me see, is that the rightamount?
Not quite.
Let me do a little bit higherfor you.
Try this.
Yeah, that's better.
Okay, good, thank you.
Yeah, use your breath toexplore the back and top of your
(45:52):
right shoulder, okay, Great.
(46:33):
Here's our final breath.
So once again you will plantthe palm of the left hand, use
that hand to help you roll ontoyour right side and take very
loving care of this rightshoulder as you get yourself
(46:54):
onto your back.
Show me to the middle of yourmat, onto your back, in the
middle of your mat.
If you need legs long for alittle bit, go ahead, otherwise
feet are going to be flat and aswide as your mat arm.
Right arm in a neutral positionso that you can observe the
(47:20):
energy of whatever feels likethe shoulder to you.
And then two arms reach up tothe sky, up to the ceiling.
(47:41):
Left arm cross, make an X overthe right arm, remember, really
close to your chest, and thentake your fingers For now they
could be a little bit more tothe back of the shoulders, if
you like that.
I like to kind of go back andmy fingers on top and then your
arms push down into your chestand then your arms lift up and
(48:03):
smush your face so you can do alittle miss piggy impression,
just briefly.
And then they come back down toyour chest and, if you want,
you can pull your shoulders outas your arms push down.
Little stretch for a levator,scalp and middle trap, all that
good stuff, all the places wewish we could stretch, so hard
(48:24):
to stretch.
So if a stretch were justmechanical tension of a motor
unit, right then.
Why would we have this deepneed and preference for it?
Right, it's because thisstretch is also your concept of
(48:47):
it, it's your memories, it'syour feelings and thoughts, it's
your predictions.
(49:08):
Okay, next time the arms aredown, smushing into your chest,
hold and then maintain theposition of the arms, but
without the pushing down.
Make sure your fingers aren'tin the way that your feet are as
wide as your mat and use yourright foot.
(49:28):
Your feet are flat on the floor.
Please Use your right foot topush like a barrel your hips and
your torso to the left, just alittle bit, 20% of your
windshield wiper.
This time your torso rolls withyour hips, though it doesn't
stay, yeah, and then you comeback to the middle.
Okay, so let's see if we canfind gently the border of the
(49:49):
shoulder blade this time.
So you're going to feel it bumplike a wedge, like a speed bump
, right.
And then you're going to comeright back to the center, and
that inner shoulder blade borderis sensitive, yes.
So then a few times, let'savoid bumping into it and just
(50:09):
kind of roll around on the meatthere between your shoulder
blade and your spine on the left.
Remember, you're rolling yourtorso like a barrel.
That's really essential thatyour weight gets transferred.
Yeah, use your foot to pushhere.
So you're going to stay prettystiff in your waist for this to
happen.
Stiff in your waist, so youroll your torso onto its side
(50:30):
like a barrel.
You know you're going to rollonto your side, your barrel side
, mm-hmm, yes, that's essential.
Okay, and then let's see, nowthat you're familiar with the
position of your shoulder blade,I'd like for you and you've got
(50:50):
that roll down I'd like for youto bring your left shoulder
blade a little bit wider andthen take that barrel roll until
you get to the border of theshoulder blade.
You're going to feel it go bumpand then don't roll anymore,
but push a little bit towardsyour right foot with your left
foot, like an attraction alittle bit that shoulder blade
(51:12):
into a protraction feels reallygood back to the middle and do
it again.
And if you don't know what theheck you're supposed to be doing
, let me know I can help.
Yeah, pushing a little bit withthat left foot towards your
right foot, just attraction.
The left shoulder blade andthat inner shoulder blade border
(51:33):
very sensitive, for a goodreason.
That saying you don't need tosmush into me, leave me alone.
That's what that's saying.
Do a few more and again, now isyour chance to ask me questions
(51:59):
If you're not sure.
Cause this is a life skill.
This little drill, this issomething you want to bring home
.
Okay, and then the next time youroll to your back, you will
(52:21):
stay Beautiful.
So roll to your right side.
Make sure your blanket is thickenough so that your head isn't
falling down.
Roll to your right side.
Knees stack for stability.
Right arm reach out in front ofyou, yes, and then that arm
(52:47):
stays straight and we just bringthe wrist so that it's about as
high as the crown of the head,with that right arm Right, so
it's a little higher still,straight.
And remember, this arm has tobe pretty strong because you're
going to bring your left armaround and use your right hand
to grasp your left wrist, pullit a little bit, hold it in that
(53:09):
position, find the center ofyour mat with the sole of your
left foot and then open up theknee and hip.
So when the hip opens, wetraction Terry's minor, terry's
major subscopulars.
Take care of that.
(53:38):
Best of luck, you're welcome.
(53:59):
I'll hold this time.
So go ahead and close.
Good, okay, open, bring thesole of that foot on.
There we go.
Good, go ahead and close.
(54:19):
Two more.
There's two more guys, good.
And then rest for a moment.
(54:41):
Rest for a moment On your sidearms just rest, bent elbows, and
then you're going to roll toyour belly.
Find the center of your mat,get your blanket out of your way
.
If you're going to needsomething for your forehead
(55:04):
though, make sure it's closeenough you could grab it if you
need it.
A block is also very nice.
Reach two arms forward all theway out in front of you, and
then you're going to bring theright palm of your hand flat to
the mat beside your chest withthe elbow point up like you're
about to do a push-up.
Could you think about how youwould push up, do a one-arm
(55:26):
push-up with that right elbow?
Would it be down on the flooror would it be up?
Yes, and then smush your leftarm all the way up against your
head.
So when you push with yourright hand, you're going to roll
your head up onto your arm, butyour right hip stay heavy.
Right hip stay heavy.
Yeah, we got it.
We got it Good.
And then come down and maybejust a little millimeter forward
(55:48):
with that hand, so you get alittle more traction each time
on that outer armpit and yes,it's a stretch, but it's also an
opportunity for learning, forreally grasping all of the
(56:12):
dimensions of the shoulder.
Yes, and the learning isn'tjust conscious.
Right, we'll do some consciouslearning, yes, but most of it is
subconscious.
It's somewhere deep inside ofyou, understanding the
dimensions of the shoulder, thecapacities of the shoulder.
(56:47):
Let's just do one more.
And next time your forehead isdown, slide your right palm
forward Several inches, pushdown into that palm Left, both
the head and the shouldersThread your left arm under your
right and then, with that lefthand, reach for that cookie it's
(57:07):
just another inch away and thenturn your chest, your face,
your forehead down so thatyou're laying over the left arm.
The left arm is above yourboobs and below your chin, got
it?
And you might need somethingunder your forehead.
It could be your right arm,your right fist, it could be
your block, it could be yourblanket.
Yeah, breathe into the back ofthe right shoulder, left
(58:01):
shoulder, excuse me, breatheinto the back of the left
shoulder.
You could do the right one too,not just to stretch it more,
but to experience it.
Facilitating mechanical tensionof dumb protein, not that
(58:28):
exciting or beneficial, butexperiencing the dimensions of
this really amazing joint.
That's phenomenal, I mean trulya feat of evolution.
(58:49):
Final breath.
(59:18):
Okay, so the right palm flat tothe mat again, like you're going
to push up and instead you'regoing to roll onto your side and
then shimmy onto your mat.
Make sure you have your blanket.
It's going to go behind yourhead.
There it is, I got it, yeah.
(59:42):
And position the arms in aneutral position.
Your feet could be flat, legslong.
It's up to you right now.
And notice the energy of theright and the left shoulder, the
(01:00:07):
energy of your expanded conceptof your shoulder, which has
been informed by your movement,by your breath.
Okay, and then, if you'd liketo use your bolster under your
(01:01:05):
thighs for your shavasana, or ifyou need any other prop to be
comfortable for your final pose,please find that now the legs
will be long.
If it's okay for you, the legswill be long.
The heels is wide as your mat,and now is no longer the time
(01:01:37):
for thinking.
That's no longer the time fordoing.
We now acknowledge that what wehave done is enough, that the
learning has occurred for yourshavasana.
Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay,
(01:03:27):
okay, okay, okay, okay Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
Okay, it's time to deepen the breath, time to
restore movement to the body,small movements at first, and
when you're ready, you'll findyour way onto the side of your
(01:04:30):
choice and rest and roll intoyour hands, rise up to your seat
(01:04:55):
, press palms together in frontof your heart, bow your head and
(01:05:18):
take a nice soft breath intoyour shoulders, whatever those
are, and a comprehensive exhale,just letting go One more nice
soft breath into your shoulders,comprehensive out.
(01:05:44):
Thank you everyone forpracticing today.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, andtoday I am offering you a pod
practice which I am particularlyexcited about.
This is a practice which willblend some self-myofascial
release techniques with yourtraditional Yin Yoga postures.
(00:23):
But what I think is going to bethe most edifying for you in
this practice is that I reallywanted to introduce you to the
anatomy of the shoulderexperientially.
Anyone who has tried to learnabout anatomy knows that it's
90% vocabulary, right.
So while that is veryinteresting and useful,
(00:45):
especially for those of us whoteach yoga, to me the best way
to learn anatomy is throughexperiencing, and so that
experiencing here is going to besome of the ways that we will
employ these myofascial releasetechniques, and then the, of
course, delicious marinating inthe postures.
(01:05):
And before we start yourpractice, I just wanted to
insert a little note about thisterm myofascial release.
Based on my extensive review ofthe evidence, I do not think it
is possible to quote releasemyofascia.
So we're all familiar withusing these you know, foam
(01:28):
rollers and the cross balls tosupposedly make a permanent
change, histological change, toour connective tissues.
That is just not possible.
We cannot make permanent changeto these tissues, thank
goodness, because otherwise we'dbe awfully delicate, right.
But these techniques have beenshown to have other important
(01:49):
benefits, maybe better thanactually changing the tissues.
So we can see increased bloodflow and overall hydration to
tissues.
We see important nervous systembenefits, which can help to
reduce sensitivity in thetissues which are being quote
released, and, finally, we alsosee that there is a temporary
(02:11):
effect of increase, ofincreasing muscle extensibility
after engaging in thesetechniques.
So, yes, they're veryproductive.
No, they are not releasingfascia, and I just could not
have continued this episodewithout making that little note.
And someday in the future we'lldo a whole episode on
(02:31):
myofascial release.
If that's something that youwould be interested, definitely
reach out to me on social mediaand let me know.
If a lot of people cometogether, then I'll go ahead and
put that together for you.
I wanted to mention one otherthing that I already have coming
up, which is a specialmasterclass webinar that I will
be doing on September 11th inthe afternoon here in the US.
(02:55):
We're going to be talking aboutcreating Yin sequencing poetry,
really finding that Yinsequencing magic that seems to
be so difficult to grasp.
So I'm going to give you somereally quick tips on how you can
really make your next sequenceyour best sequence.
(03:17):
If you would like to registerfor that webinar, whether you
can make it live on September11th or whether that date has
already passed and you'relistening far into the future
I'm going to leave a link in theshow notes.
Just go ahead and click that toeither get access to the live
masterclass or to be delivered arecording.
(03:37):
Thank you so much and I'mreally excited for you to check
this practice out.
If you have any thoughts on it,please do let me know on social
media or you might have noticedthat in Spotify, if you scroll
to the bottom of the show notes,you can actually leave a
comment right there, and I justlove to hear from you guys.
Let me have you take yourfolded blanket and place that at
(04:05):
the front of your yoga mat.
Place that at the front of youryoga mat and then it should
still be on the mat, though Makesure it's on the mat with you
and then you're going to laydown on your back with your head
on that blanket, so your head'sgoing to be up at the top.
Yes.
(04:31):
And as you come to lay down,you're just going to check a
couple of things.
I'm going to be a littlepersnickety.
If your chin seems to be higherthan your forehead, I'd like
for you to make your blanket alittle thicker.
And if your chin issignificantly lower than your
(04:52):
forehead, your blanket needs tobe a little thinner.
Okay, we just want to have thatperfect head neck position for
what we're working with today,and it's okay to have your legs
long or your feet flat that'syour choice.
(05:15):
And as you're getting settled,start to observe the current
environment, all the stuffthat's going on around you
outside of your skin, everythingfrom the temperature to the
(05:39):
sounds, any textures of yourclothing, even the subtle energy
of the people around you.
And then, just like that, drawthat observing inward to the
(06:16):
internal environment, noticingany movements, any sensations.
And then let's concentrate thatawareness even a little bit
(06:43):
more into your right shoulder.
Draw your awareness into yourright shoulder.
Any movements there, anysensations.
(07:17):
Do you have any feelings aboutyour right shoulder?
What is the energy currently ofthe right shoulder Like?
(07:44):
Is it sleepy energy?
Is it anxious energy?
Is it balanced, perfect, softenergy?
And how do you know?
What caused you to designatethe energy the way that you did.
(08:11):
Yeah.
And I'll have you bring yourfeet now flat onto your mat so
that they are standing as wideas your yoga mat, as wide as
(08:35):
your yoga mat If you have verylong legs, they might even stand
slightly outside of your matand bring your right arm
straight out to the right, soit's no higher than your
shoulder, it's no lower thanyour shoulder, straight out to
the right, with the palm of thehand face up and the crease of
the elbow face up, crease of theelbow face up.
(08:56):
And I'd like for you to imaginethat this elbow, in this
position on the floor and atthis rotation, is being warmly
held in this position, notrestricted, but warmly held as
(09:17):
it is right to the floor.
Okay, and then gently tilt yourknees to the left without
allowing your elbow to move.
Let your hips tilt to the leftwindshield wiper, you know.
And then back to the middle,and let's do that several more
(09:42):
times.
So you're going to windshieldwiper your two knees to the left
.
The hips are tilting as well asthe knees right, which means
probably your left thigh willmove toward the floor just
outside of your mat right, andyour right knee is going to kind
of come down and pivot towardthe mat as well, and the whole
time your right elbow is heldwarmly in this position, and as
(10:10):
you breathe and you move and youexperience, I'd like for you to
just briefly define in your ownmind what is a shoulder, and
we'll just go purely anatomicalnow.
What part of the bodyencompasses your perception of
(10:33):
your shoulder?
So this time, is your hips?
Tilt to the left, allow yourhips to pull your sternum to the
left a little bit.
So your sternum is red, centerbone, down the middle of your
chest, and it's going to tilt alittle bit and it's also going
to kind of roll to the left andthen back to the center.
(10:55):
It's going to come back to aneutralish position, okay, and
we'll do that a few times.
So a little bit more attentionto the movement of the sternum,
with the right elbow remainingin that warmly held position,
yeah, and then the next timeyour knees are in the middle,
(11:19):
you're just going to come backand stay and we're going to
change the position of yourelbow.
So I'd like for you now to turnthe palm of your right hand
down, as well as the crease ofthe elbow, to the extent that
you are able.
It's not going to come all theway down I promise it's going to
be a little bit more toward theback of the room and then
(11:41):
continue this windshield wiper,sternum, tilt and roll activity
with the elbow held warmly tothe floor and in this rotation.
So everybody has their ownperception of what a shoulder is
(12:02):
, but I will let you in on myperception.
It includes the chest, the ribs, the pectoral muscles, that's
the muscle on the front of yourchest.
There's two of them.
And so as you roll the sternum,you are tensioning the lateral
(12:29):
head of your pec major, whichattaches to your upper arm bone.
So by pulling the sternum awayfrom your upper arm bone, you
get a little traction for thatportion of pec major.
And then the next time you'rein the center, you're going to
(12:50):
hold and you're going to turnthe palm back to the starting
position, the crease of theelbow as well, and then we're
actually going to over rotatenow.
So you're going to continue toroll, so that the pinky finger
is now up, the thumb is down,the crease of the elbow is
pointing toward the front of theroom.
Yes, as best as you can.
We all have our own uniquerange of motion here.
(13:12):
And then windshield wiper, andthe whole idea behind this
windshield wiper is simply todraw the sternum away from the
upper arm bone.
Yes, away from the upper armbone, that's all.
(13:32):
Draw the sternum away from theupper arm bone.
So pec major begins in thecenter of the chest.
It spreads out over the ribsconnecting to them, and it
connects way out to the upperarm bone, also connects to your
(13:54):
clavicle, your collar bone.
So you might feel that movingtoo the right side collar bone,
let's just do one more.
And when your knees get over tothe left, you're going to keep
them there and then you're justgoing to let the arm rest in the
(14:15):
position that you like the best.
So, is it the position with thepalm back?
Is it the position with thepalm down or up?
It's your choice.
And just remain in yourwindshield wiper position and
now use your breath, your breathalone, to explore the right
side of the chest as it becomesyour right shoulder.
(14:39):
Is it okay to have this comedown or no?
Yeah, okay, sure, just use yourbreath.
(15:00):
You have so many options withyour breath now to explore this
chest shoulder complex Could bethe inhale, could be the exhale,
could be holding the breath.
Now here's the final breath andyou'll bring your right arm
(15:35):
right beside you, right besideyour waist, and then keep it
with you as you roll all the wayonto your left side so that
your right thigh is stacked ontoyour left thigh.
You're on your side.
Your head will be a little bitfalling toward the blanket.
Don't take too many measures tocorrect it because of where
we're about to go.
(15:58):
Your right hand reach straightup to the ceiling, straight up
to the ceiling, and then turnthe palm back as if someone is
behind you and you want to tellthem to talk to the hand, and
then bend the elbow and bringthe back of your hand to your
lower back or waist.
It could go lower to the sacrumif this position is already a
(16:21):
little harrowing, or you couldslide the hand even up between
the shoulder blades.
So those are the options.
And then take your time.
Oh so gently rolling to yourback with your palm pinned to
the floor by your back, andagain, too much, you would put
(16:41):
the hand behind the sacrum.
If you want more, you'll takethe hand up between the two
shoulder blades.
Yeah, and your legs.
I think long To me legs, longis a little milder, which is
what I'm going for, okay, but ifyou need to make an adjustment,
(17:04):
maybe you just want the rightfoot flat so you can push into
it a little bit, right, so it'sless on the shoulder you could
do that.
It's totally customizable, 100%, all for you.
And just so gently now, soslowly, turn your head side to
(17:25):
side and as you turn, you maynotice that you get a little
more stretch.
If you turn in one direction,I'm going to have you lift your
head for me, dear.
Good, let's try this, thank you, yeah, and I want to talk to
(17:49):
you about this stretch thing.
Okay, so today is not aboutstretching.
It's about experiencing.
Experiencing themulti-dimensional shoulder,
perhaps expanding our concept ofour shoulder.
(18:11):
The head is turning side toside only so that you can feel
this multi-dimensional sensationand you could add your breath
as well, okay, and then justrest with your head in your
(18:42):
favorite position just for acouple of breaths.
Okay.
So your right arm is going to beas passive as possible.
(19:08):
I want you to use it not at all.
Bring the sole of your rightfoot to the mat.
Use the right foot to help youroll back onto your left side.
Keep your right arm as it is.
Use it not at all.
It's just going to hang therebehind you.
Yeah, you could bend that leftknee too if you need to, and
(19:31):
then, so slow, just so lazy, letthat right arm just come up
onto your right side, your waist, and then let it fall down in
front of you, so it's across thefront of you, and keep it
really close to you and use yourleft hand to hold your right
arm.
Use your left hand to hold yourright arm somewhere along the
(19:53):
wrist, forearm, and we're goingto take really good care of this
right arm and shoulder here.
Yeah, because we have to right,not because we've compromised
it, but because we can, as youroll back onto your back, use
your left hand to keep yourright arm across you.
(20:14):
Nice and calm, just really softagainst your body, yes, and
then, once you're on your back,maybe your feet flatten.
Use your left hand to gentlyposition your right arm either
to the floor or on you in acomfortable, neutral position.
Use your left hand right, we'retaking care of it now.
(20:36):
Now, because we have to wedidn't do anything wrong to it
but because we can, yeah, andjust rest on your back here for
a moment and notice the energyof the right shoulder.
Right shoulder complex, yeah,and now bring your awareness to
(21:05):
the left side shoulder.
Let's leave the right onebehind.
Maybe that left arm now needsto be in a more neutral position
so you can fully observe it.
So, the left side shoulder anymovement sensation, any thoughts
(21:33):
or feelings about the shoulder?
What is the energy of the leftshoulder?
How do you know?
(21:55):
How do you know with theenergies?
Now, the two feet are flat, onceagain, as wide as your mat,
(22:16):
standing as wide as your mat,all the way to the edges.
We'll need that left footespecially for leverage here to
for my official release on theleft side, you know, and your
left arm is straight out to theleft, with the wrist no higher
than the shoulder, no lower thanthe shoulder, the left elbow
held in this position, with thepalm face up, softly held softly
(22:41):
as you windshield wiper,tilting hips and knees to the
right.
Keep your elbow in place.
It should not be the hugeststretch in the world, because we
didn't come here to stretch, wecame here to experience.
Back to the center and over tothe right.
We're going to do this manytimes and see if you can get a
(23:03):
sense of the dimension of thatmuscle that crosses over your
chest, from your sternum out toyour upper arm bone, up to your
clavicle.
Take your time and then let'sget another view of the shoulder
(23:38):
.
Next time the knees are center,you're going to take the palm,
the left palm, to face down andturn the crease of the elbow to
face down as much as possible.
Don't force it.
No forcing necessary windshieldwiper to the right, and
remember it's essential that thehip draws the sternum with it,
so your sternum is tilting androlling slightly to the right.
(24:01):
That's what we're looking for.
Take your time.
Maybe you need a little extrapush from the left foot to get
your sternum to tilt and roll.
Maybe you can feel also now,because of the way we position
(24:26):
the arm, your collarbone gettingtugged, not just your sternum.
(24:51):
Next time you're center, you'restaying.
We'll turn the palm back to thestarting position, crease of
the elbow, and then overdo it,roll a little bit more until
your thumb is down, your pinky'sup this one's the hardest for
sure right.
And then windshield wiper, pullthe sternum.
Use that left hip to pull thesternum to the right, roll it
(25:17):
under.
That's a good one.
There's lots there.
This is really hitting thathumeral head of the lat.
And, yes, there is a stretch,but there's also learning.
There's a conscious learningand there's a subconscious
(25:42):
learning.
Okay, next time your knees areover to the right, you'll keep
them.
Keep them to the right and thenyou'll turn your arm to the
position that you like best andyou'll hold.
(26:14):
That is a stretch.
Really.
It's mechanical tension of amotor unit right, a muscle fiber
plus its nerve, or many, manymuscle fibers plus its nerve,
(26:38):
and the tension is great enoughthat a signal and action
potential is sent via the spinalcord to the brain and the brain
goes oh, there's mechanicaltension here.
And then the brain has todecide is this good, is it bad?
Have we done this before?
Did I get hurt before doingthis?
(26:59):
How do I feel about thisshoulder doing this?
Do I feel a little vulnerable?
So the mechanical tension isthe dumb part of it.
It's what happens in your brain.
It's the experience that I'minterested in.
(27:29):
Okay, so you bring your left armright up beside you, right
beside your waist, and then youbring it with you as you roll
onto your right side, stack yourknees I know your head is
probably a little bit too low atthe moment, but we'll move
(27:49):
pretty soon, so hopefully youcan manage it.
The left arm, reach up to thesky the palm, turn backward,
talk to the hand right and thentake the back of the bend the
elbow and take the back of thehand to your low waist or behind
your butt or between yourshoulder blades or anywhere
along that spectrum, and rollback onto your back and pin that
(28:13):
hand gently.
Once you're on your back, youhave many options.
I find that having the legslong is a nice mild position,
but sometimes, if the left footneeds to be flat on the floor,
that'll give us like a littlebit more control.
You know you'll feel like youcan kind of modulate.
(28:36):
This internal rotation of thearm and shoulder is a movement
that we don't do a lot right, soit's a lot.
Ever so slightly.
(28:58):
Turn your head side to side,not to increase the stretch Now
to experience that.
Dimensions of the chest, of theshoulder, this relationship
(29:26):
Really good?
Yeah, really good, really good.
(29:55):
Okay, so you'll allow the headjust to rest in the position you
like best, just for a breath.
And remember, as we're comingout of this, we're just going to
give this left arm shoulder atthe nicest, most comforting
(30:20):
experience that we can provide,not because we have to, because
we can.
So bring your left foot flat Ifit's not already, you could
bring your right foot flat tooand then push into that foot to
roll you back onto your rightside.
(30:41):
Keep that left arm just hangingthere behind you.
Roll to your right side yourright knee, if you'd like and
then the left arm lazily comesup onto your side and then drops
down in front of your body andyou'll take your right hand and
hold that left arm close to youand as you roll to the back, the
(31:04):
right hand is just going tokeep that left arm hugged close
to you, and then you'll use theright hand to help you to
position the left arm in a nice,comfortable, neutral position
where you can observe for a fewbreaths yes, that's perfect.
Yes, notice the energy of theleft shoulder.
(31:31):
So your two feet flat and onceagain as wide as your mat
(31:54):
standing on the edges.
So we worked with the front ofthe shoulder and, of course, the
chest.
Here I'd like to move ourtension to the tops of the
shoulders and then we'll move tothe backs of the shoulders.
So take both arms and reachthem up to the ceiling and then
(32:15):
you're going to make an X withyour arm, with your right arm on
top, and make that X as low toyour chest as you can, so you're
crossing at your upper arms,and then take your fingers onto
the tops of your shoulders, soyour X is not at your forearms,
my friends, it's as high as youcan, it's high, high, high, up
(32:35):
at your upper arms, high andtight.
And then use your fingers justto hold onto the tops of your
shoulders.
Yes, the higher we go, thebetter, perfect.
And then you're going to useyour arms to push down into your
chest and as you do that, youcould use your hands to pull
your shoulders out.
They're not going to go far,obviously, if anywhere, and then
(32:58):
let your elbows start to comeup.
The arms are still together.
Your elbows are going to comeup and keep going until you're
kind of smooshing your face,yeah, and then you're going to
bring the arms back down, smooshinto your chest, and then
you're going to use your handsto pull your shoulders out a
little.
Yeah, okay, do that a few moretimes and you'll also feel your
(33:25):
shoulder blades moving aroundtoo.
We'll give those more attentionshortly.
So when you considered yourconcept of your shoulder, did it
include these muscles on thetop, where it's basically your
shoulder becomes your neck?
Use this movement to explorethat dimension and also for some
(33:53):
nice sensations.
It's hard to stretch your uppertrap, so this can kind of help
you get that upper trap a littlebit.
Also, levator scap, primarily.
If you're feeling a stretch asyour elbows come down, it's
probably going to be levatorscapula and upper trapezius.
All right, next time your elbowspush down, your elbows push
(34:21):
down, you're going to keep thearms in that position, but let
your arms rest so they're notpushing down.
And then you may need to takeyour fingers so they're not at
all behind your shoulders ifthey are, because otherwise
you'll smoosh them and your feetare still very wide.
(34:44):
Feel the left shoulder bladecurrently no, excuse me, it's
the right.
Feel the right shoulder bladeand its position on the mat, and
if you're not sure, it's okay,you'll know more in a second,
yes.
And then try to bring thatright shoulder blade wider, kind
of like you're shrugging yourright shoulder forward, yeah.
And then use your left foot andyour right foot to help you
(35:10):
tilt like a barrel your wholetorso just a couple of degrees
to the right.
You're not going far becauseyou're going to bump into the
inner border of your shoulderblade.
So find the inner border of theshoulder blade.
It'll be very sensitive, okay.
And then use your feet to helpyou roll yourself like a barrel
back to the middle just to themiddle, so we're not going to go
far at all.
Come back to the center.
(35:30):
So think about a windshieldwiper.
100% would be knees all the wayover torso turned completely.
This is like 20%.
Use the feet to help you tiltto the right.
Find the inner border of yourshoulder blade against the mat
it should be a little sensitive.
And then come right back to themiddle.
Okay, now, this time try toavoid going as far as the inner
(35:51):
border of the shoulder blade, soyou can just kind of like, roll
on that meat between yourshoulder blade and your spine.
Roll on that meat, cause itfeels really freaking good,
Right.
Just a couple of times, just soyou know how to avoid your
shoulder blade.
Okay, and then the next timeyou're tilting to the right, I
(36:15):
want you to find the innerborder of the shoulder blade
against the mat.
And this is very technical.
Follow along, push a littlewith your right foot so you'll
feel almost as if you're pullingthe right shoulder blade out
even wider.
So we're going to tractionmiddle trap and come back to the
middle.
Come back to the middle andthere'll be a little bit of a
(36:36):
fancy footwork going on.
You'll have to figure it out.
But what I do is I push with myright foot so you turn you like
a barrel, you catch the innerborder of the shoulder blade
against the mat and then yougive a little push with your
right foot and that will widenand traction the middle trap and
back to the middle.
And if you're like Mandy, whatcall me over?
I'm here for you, I will helpyou, okay?
(37:03):
So, yes, it's a deliciousstretch, absolutely sublime,
right, but it's also anexperience of the anatomy of
your shoulder.
Come over here a little bitthere Now, see how you've caught
it.
Now push with that right foot,not this way.
Push towards your left footthere, don't let it move.
(37:26):
Good, come back to the middle.
Bring your feet wide, please,dear.
Okay, let's go and roll, catchit.
Push with the right foot just alittle, not so much toward me,
just to the left foot, and stay,stay.
Good, that's it, you did it.
Can I help you one more time?
Okay, the shoulder blade, niceand wide.
Nice and wide.
Okay, come on over.
Push a little extra, not towardme, just to the left foot.
(37:50):
Yeah, there, it is so many waysto push with that foot right.
Yes, Okay.
Sorry that's so confusing guys,I know, but once you get it, boy
, oh, that's a life skill, allright.
(38:12):
So the next time you come backup to the center, I'd like for
you to stay and then roll overonto your left side, make your
(38:34):
blanket thick enough that yourhead isn't falling down, but
that your jaw, your mandible,your cheekbone, your temple are
all like on one plane.
Yeah, okay, reach the left armout in front of you so it's
basically on the same plane asyour shoulder.
Here, for the moment, yourknees are bent yeah, knees are
(38:56):
bent maybe drawn up forstability, and then, instead of
having that wrist on the sameplane as the shoulder, slide the
hand up a little bit so it'smore on the same plane as the
crown of your head.
So it's going to be up a littlehigher.
Got it?
Even a little bit higher.
Let's get rid of this.
Bring your bottom arm, this armdear, this arm, this one, bring
(39:20):
it up a little bit more.
Whole thing, whole thing.
There we go.
Yes.
Yeah, we got it.
So that arm is straight on thesame plane as the crown of your
head.
This is going to be weird, butthis hand, this left hand, is
going to act as an anchor foryour myofascial release.
Okay, so your right hand isgoing to come over to meet your
(39:41):
left hand.
Use your left hand to circleyour right wrist.
Left hand hold right wrist.
Maybe your hand is away fromthe floor.
Now, this right wrist must notmove from this position as you
stand your right foot in thecenter of your yoga mat.
(40:01):
Stand your right foot in thecenter of your yoga mat and let
that knee come up, maybe evenovershoot a little bit more to
the right.
Do not allow your right wristto move and then bring your
right knee back down.
Yes, I got you.
So the leg action is going tobe like this yeah, it's going to
(40:22):
open and it's going to close,and it's so nice if someone will
hold this wrist for you, right?
So now that you know it, bringthat right knee up.
Yes, good, bring it down.
Now bring it up.
But in the absence of thatindividual, you can sort of do
it kind of by yourself.
(40:42):
So this is a really beautifulstretch for the upper lat teres,
major teres, minor,subscopularis, and when you
considered your concept of yourshoulder, were these muscles
included?
Was this region included?
(41:03):
Just a couple more Nice andsoft, I'll take it there.
Good one, okay, very well done.
Everyone.
Now just rest, relax thoseelbows, those arms, just briefly
.
And then I'm going to have youcontinue to roll your arms.
(41:30):
Okay, good, good, good, good,good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good,good, good, good, good, good,
good.
You continue to roll all theway on to your belly, your
blanket.
You'll have to push to the side, roll to your belly and shimmy
(41:51):
yourself on to your mat andreach both of your arms out in
front of you, so they're goingto come way out in front of you.
Make sure your blanket isn't inthe way or anything like that.
Blankets off to the side, we'rejust blanket.
You're dead to me.
I don't want you anywhere nearme.
(42:12):
Okay, and then bring the palm ofyour left hand flat to your mat
beside your chest.
Bring your right arm and smushit all the way up against the
right side of your head with thearms still extended forward,
(42:35):
and then push with your lefthand to roll your temple up onto
your arm, keep your left hipheavy, like there's a hand
gently pushing that hip down,and then roll your forehead back
to the mat, creep your righthand forward one millimeter and
do it again.
(42:55):
Let's do that a few more timesand each time you could creep
your hand forward a millimeter,but you don't have to.
So you roll your head up ontoyour arm.
Your hip stays low to theground.
Yeah, so in this case we'rekind of pushing away and we've
(43:22):
created an interestingopportunity for traction for
infraspinatus, for, once again,tears minor and see if you can
incorporate this part of yourbody into your concept of your
(43:48):
shoulder Pushing with that hand.
Let me help.
Come back, bring this elbow upGood, and push with this hand.
(44:11):
Roll your head onto your arm.
There we go, is that okay?
Okay, just do a couple more.
Yeah, wow, good job, everybody.
Next time your forehead comesdown, just slide your left palm
(44:34):
forward a few inches, push intoit, lift head and shoulders and
thread your right arm under yourleft, so your right hand is
reaching out to the right.
There is a cookie over there.
Just get a little bit further,right, yes?
And then turn your chest andyour forehead down so that you
(44:57):
can lay down on that right armand, if you need to, you can use
your fist for your forehead, oryou can use your blanket, or
you can use your block.
That's why I had you grab ablock today, in case your
forehead needs something.
So that right arm is fullyunder you.
What do you think, suzanne?
Can we try it?
I'm going to have you bringthis hand back here, push into
(45:19):
the hand, lift your head andshoulders.
Now bring this arm yes, andit's above the girls and under
the chin right and then I'mgoing to give you this for your
forehead.
Let me see, is that the rightamount?
Not quite.
Let me do a little bit higherfor you.
Try this.
Yeah, that's better.
Okay, good, thank you.
Yeah, use your breath toexplore the back and top of your
(45:52):
right shoulder, okay, Great.
(46:33):
Here's our final breath.
So once again you will plantthe palm of the left hand, use
that hand to help you roll ontoyour right side and take very
loving care of this rightshoulder as you get yourself
(46:54):
onto your back.
Show me to the middle of yourmat, onto your back, in the
middle of your mat.
If you need legs long for alittle bit, go ahead, otherwise
feet are going to be flat and aswide as your mat arm.
Right arm in a neutral positionso that you can observe the
(47:20):
energy of whatever feels likethe shoulder to you.
And then two arms reach up tothe sky, up to the ceiling.
(47:41):
Left arm cross, make an X overthe right arm, remember, really
close to your chest, and thentake your fingers For now they
could be a little bit more tothe back of the shoulders, if
you like that.
I like to kind of go back andmy fingers on top and then your
arms push down into your chestand then your arms lift up and
(48:03):
smush your face so you can do alittle miss piggy impression,
just briefly.
And then they come back down toyour chest and, if you want,
you can pull your shoulders outas your arms push down.
Little stretch for a levator,scalp and middle trap, all that
good stuff, all the places wewish we could stretch, so hard
(48:24):
to stretch.
So if a stretch were justmechanical tension of a motor
unit, right then.
Why would we have this deepneed and preference for it?
Right, it's because thisstretch is also your concept of
(48:47):
it, it's your memories, it'syour feelings and thoughts, it's
your predictions.
(49:08):
Okay, next time the arms aredown, smushing into your chest,
hold and then maintain theposition of the arms, but
without the pushing down.
Make sure your fingers aren'tin the way that your feet are as
wide as your mat and use yourright foot.
(49:28):
Your feet are flat on the floor.
Please Use your right foot topush like a barrel your hips and
your torso to the left, just alittle bit, 20% of your
windshield wiper.
This time your torso rolls withyour hips, though it doesn't
stay, yeah, and then you comeback to the middle.
Okay, so let's see if we canfind gently the border of the
(49:49):
shoulder blade this time.
So you're going to feel it bumplike a wedge, like a speed bump
, right.
And then you're going to comeright back to the center, and
that inner shoulder blade borderis sensitive, yes.
So then a few times, let'savoid bumping into it and just
(50:09):
kind of roll around on the meatthere between your shoulder
blade and your spine on the left.
Remember, you're rolling yourtorso like a barrel.
That's really essential thatyour weight gets transferred.
Yeah, use your foot to pushhere.
So you're going to stay prettystiff in your waist for this to
happen.
Stiff in your waist, so youroll your torso onto its side
(50:30):
like a barrel.
You know you're going to rollonto your side, your barrel side
, mm-hmm, yes, that's essential.
Okay, and then let's see, nowthat you're familiar with the
position of your shoulder blade,I'd like for you and you've got
(50:50):
that roll down I'd like for youto bring your left shoulder
blade a little bit wider andthen take that barrel roll until
you get to the border of theshoulder blade.
You're going to feel it go bumpand then don't roll anymore,
but push a little bit towardsyour right foot with your left
foot, like an attraction alittle bit that shoulder blade
(51:12):
into a protraction feels reallygood back to the middle and do
it again.
And if you don't know what theheck you're supposed to be doing
, let me know I can help.
Yeah, pushing a little bit withthat left foot towards your
right foot, just attraction.
The left shoulder blade andthat inner shoulder blade border
(51:33):
very sensitive, for a goodreason.
That saying you don't need tosmush into me, leave me alone.
That's what that's saying.
Do a few more and again, now isyour chance to ask me questions
(51:59):
If you're not sure.
Cause this is a life skill.
This little drill, this issomething you want to bring home
.
Okay, and then the next time youroll to your back, you will
(52:21):
stay Beautiful.
So roll to your right side.
Make sure your blanket is thickenough so that your head isn't
falling down.
Roll to your right side.
Knees stack for stability.
Right arm reach out in front ofyou, yes, and then that arm
(52:47):
stays straight and we just bringthe wrist so that it's about as
high as the crown of the head,with that right arm Right, so
it's a little higher still,straight.
And remember, this arm has tobe pretty strong because you're
going to bring your left armaround and use your right hand
to grasp your left wrist, pullit a little bit, hold it in that
(53:09):
position, find the center ofyour mat with the sole of your
left foot and then open up theknee and hip.
So when the hip opens, wetraction Terry's minor, terry's
major subscopulars.
Take care of that.
(53:38):
Best of luck, you're welcome.
(53:59):
I'll hold this time.
So go ahead and close.
Good, okay, open, bring thesole of that foot on.
There we go.
Good, go ahead and close.
(54:19):
Two more.
There's two more guys, good.
And then rest for a moment.
(54:41):
Rest for a moment On your sidearms just rest, bent elbows, and
then you're going to roll toyour belly.
Find the center of your mat,get your blanket out of your way
.
If you're going to needsomething for your forehead
(55:04):
though, make sure it's closeenough you could grab it if you
need it.
A block is also very nice.
Reach two arms forward all theway out in front of you, and
then you're going to bring theright palm of your hand flat to
the mat beside your chest withthe elbow point up like you're
about to do a push-up.
Could you think about how youwould push up, do a one-arm
(55:26):
push-up with that right elbow?
Would it be down on the flooror would it be up?
Yes, and then smush your leftarm all the way up against your
head.
So when you push with yourright hand, you're going to roll
your head up onto your arm, butyour right hip stay heavy.
Right hip stay heavy.
Yeah, we got it.
We got it Good.
And then come down and maybejust a little millimeter forward
(55:48):
with that hand, so you get alittle more traction each time
on that outer armpit and yes,it's a stretch, but it's also an
opportunity for learning, forreally grasping all of the
(56:12):
dimensions of the shoulder.
Yes, and the learning isn'tjust conscious.
Right, we'll do some consciouslearning, yes, but most of it is
subconscious.
It's somewhere deep inside ofyou, understanding the
dimensions of the shoulder, thecapacities of the shoulder.
(56:47):
Let's just do one more.
And next time your forehead isdown, slide your right palm
forward Several inches, pushdown into that palm Left, both
the head and the shouldersThread your left arm under your
right and then, with that lefthand, reach for that cookie it's
(57:07):
just another inch away and thenturn your chest, your face,
your forehead down so thatyou're laying over the left arm.
The left arm is above yourboobs and below your chin, got
it?
And you might need somethingunder your forehead.
It could be your right arm,your right fist, it could be
your block, it could be yourblanket.
Yeah, breathe into the back ofthe right shoulder, left
(58:01):
shoulder, excuse me, breatheinto the back of the left
shoulder.
You could do the right one too,not just to stretch it more,
but to experience it.
Facilitating mechanical tensionof dumb protein, not that
(58:28):
exciting or beneficial, butexperiencing the dimensions of
this really amazing joint.
That's phenomenal, I mean trulya feat of evolution.
(58:49):
Final breath.
(59:18):
Okay, so the right palm flat tothe mat again, like you're going
to push up and instead you'regoing to roll onto your side and
then shimmy onto your mat.
Make sure you have your blanket.
It's going to go behind yourhead.
There it is, I got it, yeah.
(59:42):
And position the arms in aneutral position.
Your feet could be flat, legslong.
It's up to you right now.
And notice the energy of theright and the left shoulder, the
(01:00:07):
energy of your expanded conceptof your shoulder, which has
been informed by your movement,by your breath.
Okay, and then, if you'd liketo use your bolster under your
(01:01:05):
thighs for your shavasana, or ifyou need any other prop to be
comfortable for your final pose,please find that now the legs
will be long.
If it's okay for you, the legswill be long.
The heels is wide as your mat,and now is no longer the time
(01:01:37):
for thinking.
That's no longer the time fordoing.
We now acknowledge that what wehave done is enough, that the
learning has occurred for yourshavasana.
Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay,
(01:03:27):
okay, okay, okay, okay Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
Okay, it's time to deepen the breath, time to
restore movement to the body,small movements at first, and
when you're ready, you'll findyour way onto the side of your
(01:04:30):
choice and rest and roll intoyour hands, rise up to your seat
(01:04:55):
, press palms together in frontof your heart, bow your head and
(01:05:18):
take a nice soft breath intoyour shoulders, whatever those
are, and a comprehensive exhale,just letting go One more nice
soft breath into your shoulders,comprehensive out.
(01:05:44):
Thank you everyone forpracticing today.
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