November 1, 2023 • 64 mins
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In this practice, we unravel the potential an often overlooked and misunderstood part of our bodies. We'll delve deep into the anatomy and function of the trapezius muscles, introducing you to a range of exercises that help you understand and experience these muscles in a whole new way. Whether you're a seasoned yogi or a curious beginner, we're sure you'll find this exploration fascinating and useful.
In this experiential anatomy approach, I'll guide you through a series of poses and mobility drills designed to familiarize you with the sensation of your trapezius muscles engaging and releasing. I'll show you how to actively engage both the lower and upper trapezius muscles and teach you some innovative ways to to experience your shoulder blades, spine and neck.
All you need is a bolster, a couple of yoga blocks, a blanket, and an open mind.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle.
For this week's pod practice, Iwanted to focus on an area of
the body that we rarely considerin Yin Yoga, or even probably
actually yoga in general.
That would be the trapezius.
(00:21):
The traps are an upper backneck muscle that are widely
misunderstood.
I often talk to students andclients about issues that they
believe that they're having withtheir traps, and I have
recognized over time that peopledon't fully understand the
(00:43):
dimensions of this area and alsothe function of it.
So if you are interested inlearning more about anatomy in
general, but especially upperback muscles, this is definitely
the practice for you, as youwill definitely understand the
structure, position and functionof the traps very, very well by
(01:06):
the end of your practice.
This is my preferred way ofteaching anatomy, and that is
experientially.
Likewise, if you're someone whois plagued with pain and
tightness and soreness in theupper traps, which is so, so
common, this practice is reallya go-to for you.
The practice will help you toexpand your understanding of the
(01:29):
area so that you can makebeneficial changes through your
movement, potentially yourposture and maybe even your
beliefs.
For your practice you're goingto need a bolster, a couple of
yoga blocks and a blanket.
If you're receiving value fromthese practices, please know
(01:50):
that I have a huge library ofclasses within my shift school
membership.
In the shift school you willfind movement resources for
managing musculoskeletal painissues, just like you do here on
the podcast.
You'll find experientialanatomy instruction, strength,
mindfulness and even breathwork.
I have just launched a patronmembership option for my podcast
(02:17):
listeners.
The patron membership grantsyou unlimited access to my
practice library for just $15per month.
By becoming a patron, you'resupporting the useful content on
this podcast and grantingyourself access to a valuable
library of practices thatprovide movement for healing and
(02:38):
for vitality, and you are alsosupporting this podcaster,
something that I appreciate verymuch for the many hours that I
put into the podcast each andevery week.
If you're a teacher, theexperiential anatomy section of
the practice library will be ofparticular value to you.
(02:59):
You can become a shift schoolpatron today for just $15 a
month.
I will leave a link in the shownotes in case you'd like to
check it out.
So, as you're sitting facing thefront of your mat, you're going
(03:21):
to need to have your blanketoff to one side.
Maybe a little pushed backtoward the back of your mat
would be best.
And then you'll take yourbolster and it's going to be
latitudinal across your mat, soshort edges of the bolster to
long edges of the mat up, maybeabout just a third of the way
(03:44):
back from the front, maybe abouta third of the way back.
Yes, and then one more thingwe're going to take your yoga
block and that's going to godirectly behind your bolster.
Okay, all right.
So then just find some kind ofcomfortable way to sit on.
That latitudinal bolster couldbe crisscross applesauce.
(04:05):
Sometimes it's nice to besitting right on top of it, so
your center of gravity is muchhigher.
Sometimes it's nice to sit moreon the front of it, so you feel
like you get a little pelvictilt.
And once you find the positionthat you're going to sit in,
just rest your hands on yourthighs, if it's okay.
(04:25):
Just close your eyes and startto notice your breath by
slightly, slightly changing it.
The least possible amount ofchange.
And that least possible amountof change might help you to feel
(04:59):
where the breath is.
Where does it go in you with somany options?
Maybe you feel it more in thefront of you, back of you, sides
of you, maybe you feel thebreath more on the right or the
left.
(05:19):
And then imagine that someonehas draped a nice, soft, smooth,
(05:42):
cool cape across your upperback and you'll start to breathe
especially into that cape,almost so that you can feel that
(06:04):
imaginary fabric moving,stretching, changing.
And as you observe that cape,as you breathe, you may be aware
(06:30):
that it's a little different onthe right or the left, and
that's okay, you don't need tofix that, it's normal.
Now start to focus yourattention especially on the left
(06:53):
side, so that perhaps theinhale will feel like it's
expanding the left side of thecape and the exhale will feel as
if it is emptying, softening,reducing.
(07:36):
Next time you breathe in, drawyour left shoulder blade up,
left shoulder blade and will theleft shoulder move as well yes,
they move together and thenbreathe out and draw your left
shoulder blade down, just soft,just kind of kicking the tires a
(07:56):
little bit on whateverelevation or depression of the
shoulder blade may be possible.
And the next time you draw yourleft shoulder blade up towards
(08:30):
your left ear, hold it there,keep breathing and this time,
instead of just moving straightdown, move the left shoulder
blade back.
Move it back and it's going tomove in, like towards your spine
.
It's going to crowd the leftside of your spine and then,
(08:50):
once you have no place to goinward anymore, you're going to
start to depress the shoulderblade.
So we'll still get to thedepressed position and then,
once you get all the way down asfar as you'd like to go, I'd
like for you to bring yourshoulder blade wide, so it's
going to kind of wrap around theside of your rib cage and then
eventually it's so wide thatyou're going to have to elevate
again.
(09:11):
Let your left hand just hang offthe front of that bolster, so
maybe you could just keep yourarm out of it and then the
shoulder blade retract, draw in,depress, protract, elevate, use
about a medium level of effort.
(09:31):
Okay, just a medium level ofeffort.
I'll let you do more or lesssoon, but keep it medium and
notice how the shoulder bladesort of slides around on the rib
cage, although there might belittle sticky spots, right, you
might feel a little pop, andthat's okay, that's normal.
(09:55):
Shoulder blade is not slidingdirectly on the rib cage.
There's muscles there andsometimes they get a little
poppy.
Okay, now I'd like for you todo one of these, so soft.
So what you were using beforewas medium effort.
This is the lightest possibleeffort and you'll notice that
(10:18):
your range of motion is, ofcourse, diminished.
It's okay, but see if you cankeep it smooth.
And then do a couple with acomfortable maximum effort Note
(10:40):
the word comfortable,comfortable max effort.
Okay, next time that shoulder islifted up, you're going to hold
ooh.
And then go ahead, twist yourheart to the left, bring your
(11:01):
right hand maybe to the outsideof that left knee, or maybe it's
just going to hold the rightshin, that's too far and bring
your left hand to the block thatI had you set previously.
You might be on a low block,you might be on a high block,
you might be on a medium block,it's up to you.
And then we already looked atthe movement of the shoulder
blade, which the movements upand down.
(11:22):
Right, we did elevation, we diddepression, that's what that's
called.
Let's just work with retraction.
So squeeze your shoulder bladeinto your spine, crowd your
spine and protraction, pull yourshoulder blade away from your
spine.
Will that mess up your twist?
Yes, who cares?
Retract, retract it andprotract it, feeling that
(11:52):
shoulder blade kind of wraparound those ribs.
And when that happens, maybeyou notice that the muscles of
your chest start to get a littlemore involved.
That's good Next time theshoulder blade is retracted.
(12:14):
So it's crowding your spine,your twist is in its lovely
twisted place.
You're going to hold.
Make sure you're feeling niceand soft here in this twist and
then, as gently as you possiblycan, turn your face to the right
and consider a point at theback of your skull which is just
(12:35):
to the left of center.
Just kind of bookmark thatpoint and then draw a line from
that point down to the bottom ofthe middle, back T12.
And then draw a line from thereout and diagonal up to the tip
(12:57):
of your shoulder, that kind oflittle bumpy, knobby part on the
top of your shoulder, chromiumand then from the chromium back
up to the base of this skull.
And then turn your head sogently to the left, so gently
not a stretch here, not astretch, not a stretch and
(13:20):
notice what is the relationshipbetween this point at the back
of your skull and the chromium,the tip of the shoulder, and
then turn away again.
Turn your face away, nice andsoft.
Turn your face back to yourleft shoulder.
Turn your face away.
(13:41):
So we just trace the dimensionsof your left side trapezius
muscle, approximately, of course.
And your trapezius has threesort of distinct regions that
behave differently based on theangle of the muscle fibers,
their position.
And the upper trap helps you toturn your head.
(14:05):
So the left side upper trap doyou feel it engage as you turn
your face to the left?
And maybe you feel it stretchas you turn your face to the
right.
This time, with your face turnedto the right, you're just going
to hold in the twist for twobreaths In your mind's eye,
breathe into the left sidetrapezius, that left side cape,
(14:31):
both inhale and exhale it, andthen you're going to turn your
whole body forward again.
So your face was alreadyforward right.
Now the rest of the body turns.
Rest your hands on your thighsjust briefly here and notice the
(14:54):
left side and the right side,notice what may have changed or
shifted.
You'll bring your left footflat, left foot flat, and then
just fold the left knee overonto the right knee and slide
(15:16):
off the front of your bolster sothat you're in a side sit
position with your hip againstthe bolster, your face turned to
the right, and then you'regoing to bring your right thigh
and smush it along the length ofyour bolster.
So your right thigh and yourbolster smush together.
Yeah, now the block you're goingto push back and then drape
(15:39):
your right side over the bolsterwith your right arm in front of
you, not under you, and youmight realize quickly that your
head doesn't reach the floor.
And if it doesn't, that's whenI want you to grab your blanket
and pull that under your head.
Pull that under your head, yeah, and make it just the right
(16:01):
height.
Okay, so you've draped yourleft side body over the bolster.
Reach your left hand up andover and find your block.
Find your block.
Where did it go?
There it is, you got it.
And push that block far enoughaway that, with your arm fully
extended, you can just barelywrap your fingers around the far
(16:24):
edge of it, yeah, around thefar edge of it.
You could just barely wrap yourfingers around the far edge of
it.
So your fingers are wrappedaround the edge which is
furthest away from your body,because I want you to create a
little bit of traction, want youto be able to kind of wrap your
fingers over that edge.
And there's a slight pushingdown, slight, slight, slight,
(16:47):
tiny bit 5%, 2% pushing down.
So your right hip should be onthe floor.
Your right shoulder should beon the floor, your head
supported on the floor or theblanket Right.
Yes, okay.
And now I'd like for you tosummon your inner grasshopper.
(17:10):
Okay, so bring your left thigh,smush it onto your right thigh.
So your two thighs are stackedand we're going to stay mostly
in this plane.
We're going to keep the thighsstacked.
As you pull your top hip, yourleft hip back, your thigh is
(17:32):
going to remain on.
Your left thigh is going toremain on your right thigh.
Your hip is going to move backin space, but your thighs remain
together like a grasshopper,like you're going to make some
noise, right, and then keep yourthighs together, but glide your
left hip and knee forward, soyour knee will even pass the
bottom knee right.
So push the hip and kneeforward.
(17:54):
It doesn't have to go far.
Okay, it does not have to gofar.
And then push the hip back, keepthe thighs together, push back
and give yourself permission todo very little here, because
this isn't actually about thehip, it's actually about the
lower trapezius.
Can we do this?
Good, and then we're going topull the hip back and then we're
(18:15):
going to push it forward.
Yes, just like that, and Iexaggerated a little bit.
You'll probably do less on yourown, was it okay?
Yeah, okay.
So as you pull your hip back,you might notice a peculiar
sensation in the lower part ofyour trapezius that we already
(18:35):
identified.
So pull that hip back, kind ofjust hold for a second and
you'll feel how that trap canhelp you, because one of the
jobs of the lower trap is todepress the shoulder blade.
So even though you've got yourarm under traction, when you
pull your hip back, the shoulderblade will try to depress.
(18:56):
So I want you to becomefamiliar with that sensation.
Let the knee come forward alittle bit, let it come back a
little bit.
So we're going to workdynamically this sensation.
Work dynamically this sensation.
I always feel like the bestplace to really feel a muscle is
(19:16):
in a stretched but activatedposition, which is what we're
doing right now.
Somebody might call that aneccentric contraction.
Just do a couple more, and ifyou're like Mandy, I don't feel
it, let me know I'll help, okay.
(19:38):
And then the next time is thelast time.
You do one more, pull that hipback one more, press it forward
and then just rest.
Rest in a position that feelssoft, peaceful, and that
includes your arm, your hand.
So if you want to change theposition of your arm, you can.
(20:00):
You can change it, yeah.
So, as I said, your trapeziushas three distinct regions, even
though it's one muscle.
Depending on the directionalityof the muscle fibers, you can
(20:25):
get a different function.
So the lower trapezius fibersare sort of diagonal but almost
vertical, and their jobprimarily is to depress the
shoulder blade, but they canalso assist with retraction,
which is what you experienced amoment ago.
(21:05):
Let's take one more breath andthen bring that left hand around
in front of you, press it intothe floor, help yourself back up
to your seat, turn to face thefront and then bring your hips
(21:29):
back up onto that bolster forjust a comfortable seated
position.
Sukhasana, if possible, and ifyou have your ankles crossed,
try to cross the way.
That feels weird that youdidn't do first.
Okay, yeah, oh, I forgot onething your block needs to be
right behind your mat.
Sorry about that.
So we'll have it right therewhen you twist.
(21:56):
Now take a moment again just toobserve the right and the left
side trapezius.
Maybe you'll compare especiallythe lower trapezius on the
right and the left, and you'reunder no obligation to cross the
(22:20):
weird way.
If that doesn't work for you,it's just a suggestion.
So now I'd like for you tobreathe a couple of times into
the right side trap, right sidetrap.
Usually we associate the trapjust with the upper trap right,
and people get really sensitive,especially on the right side
(22:41):
upper trap.
And so I'd like to introduce toyou a concept that when we
learn about a piece of ouranatomy, it's not just about
origin and insertion, activation, contraction, it's also about
(23:01):
our thoughts and feelings andfears and beliefs about that
muscle.
So shrug your right shoulderblade up towards your ear and
continue to monitor not just howit feels physically,
kinesthetically, but also how itfeels emotionally to do that
(23:23):
and then depress the shoulderblade.
We'll elevate the rightshoulder blade and we'll depress
it, and it's highly possiblethat you will have some feelings
, and some of those feelings maybe this isn't safe for me.
I don't feel safe.
(23:44):
Well then, you can just imaginethe movement.
If you don't think it's safefor you, or you can do way less,
let's do a couple more.
So just medium effort, yes.
(24:04):
And the next time your shoulderblade is elevated, you'll stay
and then you'll begin to retract.
Pull the shoulder blade backuntil it has no place else to go
but down, until it has no placeelse to go but out, and then no
(24:29):
place else to go but up Mediumeffort, which is really hard.
Right, it's either all ornothing.
Sometimes, especially on thatright side.
And if you're having a littlesomething, you're having like a
little moment of crisis right,because I know this area can be
sensitive Let me know, we cancustomize for you.
(24:52):
Okay, we can customize for you.
Hand is just hanging off theside of the bolster or the lap.
Now do a couple with the leastpossible amount of effort, feel
(25:14):
the smoothness or maybe thestickiness, and now do two with
a max comfortable level ofeffort, max comfortable level of
(25:37):
effort.
And you might be wondering,mandy, if this is a class about
the trapezius, why do we keeptalking about the shoulder blade
?
Because the primary role of thetrapezius is to stabilize the
shoulder blade so that the armcan move freely or with strength
(25:58):
, or both, okay.
So the next time your shoulderis up, up, up, hold, and then,
as it comes back, you're goingto twist, twist your heart to
the right, bring your hand tothat block Left hand could rest
(26:20):
on the outer right thigh, ormaybe you're just going to use
your left thigh because yourright thigh is way too far away.
That happens.
So anywhere you can get thatleft hand is fine with me.
And then let's just work.
Since we already workedelevation and depression, let's
just work protraction,retraction.
So protract the right shoulderblade, wrap it around your ribs.
Yes, it's going to mess up yourtwist.
Retract your shoulder blade andit's likely that on one side
(26:50):
you feel like you're better atthis.
Maybe it's this side, or maybeyou felt like you were better at
it on the first side.
It's fine, it's normal, youknow, and you could use your
hand, kind of pulling andpushing off of that block, to
help you protract, retract.
But I would prefer that youdidn't.
Yeah, or maybe just use it alittle, just for information.
(27:16):
At the same time, shoulder bladeis retracted, scouting your
spine.
You're in this beautiful twist.
You'll just hold and gently,gently turn your face to the
left and find a spot on the baseof your skull, just a little
bit to the right, and then tracethe line down the right side of
your spine to the bottom ofyour middle back.
(27:38):
So it's right where your spinemoves from the convex to concave
yeah, the T12, we call it andthen trace out to the acromion
that's the tip of your rightshoulder, and then back up to
the base of your skull, turnyour face to the right and just
(28:00):
notice that relationship betweenthe right side of the asa, put
the back of your skull and theacromion, and then turn your
face away really soft.
We do not need a stretch here.
We do not need a stretch.
I could repeat it 50,000 timesand only half of the people who
hear it will actually listen tome.
(28:21):
So let's make it 100%.
Okay, we do not need a stretchhere.
I promise.
Yes, thank you.
Next time your face is turnedaway, you're going to keep it
turned away and you're justgoing to hold for a couple of
soft breaths.
(28:41):
Just ensure that your posturefeels soft, because this could
get a little fraught, right.
So your face is turned left.
You're holding in your twistfor two breaths Soft breaths,
soft, soft breaths.
Final breath in and then exhale.
(29:20):
Turn your heart to the front.
Yes, let's bring that right footflat and then fold it over onto
the left thigh and slide offthe front of your bolster, come
to your side position with yourknees pointed to the left and
your left thigh smushed upagainst your bolster and then
make sure that your right hip ison the floor, kim, make sure
(29:41):
your right hip is actually onthe floor.
Find a way to support your headif needed, if needed.
Okay, you know what to do.
So you're going to reach thatright arm over, you're going to
find your block and you're goingto have the arm fully extended
no-transcript and the block isright where you can just barely
(30:03):
get your fingertips curled overthe edge of it, okay.
And then we're going to summonthe inner grasshopper, slide the
right thigh back on the leftthigh, so your right hip is
going to move back in space andthen slide the knee forward.
It's not very much movement.
I think where we can kind of getmixed up with this is if we try
(30:25):
to do too much movement.
It's not going to be very much.
So when you slide that hip back, you probably will feel your
right lower trap.
Try to help, and if you don't,you already know what it felt
like on the left, so maybe youcan kind of encourage it, give a
little extra little extrainformation based on your
(30:47):
experience.
So we're sliding forward andback, sliding forward and back
and maybe a couple times you'lljust pause with your hip back
and just feel that lower trapworking.
(31:08):
I will say that this one isharder to get, so you might need
just a little extra attentionhere.
Can be harder to get.
Let's do one more of eachsliding forward, sliding back.
(31:28):
If you haven't taken a pause inthe back position, then make
sure you do that before wefinish with our repetitions.
Yes, and then allow yourself tojust rest in your favorite
position so the lower trap is nolonger engaged, or at least
(31:49):
minimally engaged.
So we'll take one more breathand bring that top hand back
(32:53):
around in front of you, pressinto the hand to help you back
up to a side, sit and then turnforward.
And then sit one more time onyour bolster and compare right
and left, compare right and left.
(33:15):
We don't make value judgmentswhen we compare.
We don't say things like thisone's good, this one's bad.
We simply observe Give yourselfthat kindness.
Yes, now shrug both shoulderblades up back, squeezing
(33:47):
together until you can't squeezein anymore.
The only place to go is down,and then the only place to go is
out.
You might even get a littlehollow in the chest and then
back up Up, almost like you'remaking circles on your back with
(34:12):
your shoulder blades.
Next time you find yourself inthe retracted position, I'll
have you simply stay.
Stay in the retracted position,shoulder blades drawn together
(34:33):
on the back.
So this is like the mostvirtuous posture, right?
Right?
Doesn't everybody always saysqueeze your shoulder blades
together, stick your chest out,but as you hold, you might
notice some feelings.
Yeah, just let those wash overyou.
(34:55):
Now let the shoulder bladesprotract, draw them out away,
let your chest hollow.
What makes the retraction morevirtuous than the protraction?
Notice how you feel Now elevate, elevate.
(35:18):
And what makes retraction morevirtuous than this position?
And depress, draw it down andnow allow your shoulder blades,
as naturally as possible, tojust drift to the position which
(35:40):
feels the softest, the mostpeaceful.
Is this a virtuous posture?
Okay, so I'm going to have youlean to one side again, but this
(36:05):
time it's to get yourself to atabletop position, with your
knees behind the bolster andyour hands in front of the
bolster.
So the bolster is stilllatitudinal, its position has
not changed, only you havechanged.
Yeah, so you're in the tabletop, the bolster is under you, and
(36:30):
then you're going to slide yourknees back and bring your pelvis
right onto that bolster, rightonto the bolster, and here's
where you remember that youshould have peed right before
class.
So if you need to go right, Itotally understand.
I totally understand.
So you're on your elbows now,so your pelvis is on that
(36:51):
bolster, your elbows are on thefloor directly under your
shoulders.
Go ahead and clasp your hands,relax your neck and then let
your shoulder blades squeezetogether.
Let them squeeze together andyour chest just drop.
This is the previously definedvirtuous position, the prestige
(37:13):
posture Right.
Draw the shoulder bladestogether, poke the chest out and
then do the opposite Push yourshoulder, your elbows down, your
shoulder blades protract, sothere's a little dome in your
upper back, and this is the onethat we think is not so virtuous
(37:35):
.
Right, we tend to look atpeople with their shoulders
rounded forward as somethingAllow the retraction again, so
the shoulder blades will pinchtogether.
As your chest collapses, theshoulder blades protract and as
you dome the back, keep yourneck as soft as you can.
(37:57):
Do two more scapular pushups.
This, by the way, if you've gotlike just some ickiness in your
upper back or your neck.
This is such a go to thesescapular pushups.
You don't even have to be onthe floor, you could place your
(38:18):
hands on the seat of a chair.
It's just a nice way toactivate the trap in a really
comforting way.
Last one Next time you'reprotracted you'll stay, and then
you're going to take your palmsback, one at a time.
(38:38):
Just plant them right in frontof your bolster so that you can
help yourself again to atabletop.
At this time just briefly,because I'm going to have you
slide your bolster to the left,so it's going to be just off of
the edge of the mat, morelongitudinal this time Bring
both of your knees way to theleft, so they're going to maybe
(39:00):
push that bolster, and thenbring your right hip down again
for a side.
Sit Right hip down, so yourright hip is down, your knees
are pointed to the left and thenthe right arm is going to reach
back.
So it's not going to be underyou, it's not going to be in
front of you, it's going to bebehind you as you come down onto
(39:21):
your right side.
So you're resting on the sideof your chest, on the side of
your chest, on the side of yourboob right, not on your boob and
if you want to be on the mat,you can.
Yes, and the right arm behindyou.
(39:42):
It's confusing and then use theleft hand to pull the bolster
between your lower legs, betweenyour from your heels to your
knees.
Bolsters between the the caps.
Yes, right arm is back, palm isfaced down and if this is
really a challenge for you,you're in good company, all
(40:04):
right.
So if you need to take breaks,you're welcome to take breaks.
Now again, summon the innergrasshopper and slide your left
hip back in space.
Yes, and this time consciouslyengage the middle trap to
(40:25):
retract.
Retract and there's also alittle bit of depression, just a
little and then just rest.
And then pull the hip back,retract the hip doesn't go far,
no, no, no, it does not go farand then rest.
(40:47):
Let's do two more where we'rejust going to kind of hold there
with the hip pulling back andthe right side middle trap
assisting, and rest.
Last time, pull back and hold.
Now I'm going to ask you to dosomething really stinking hard,
(41:10):
but I know you can do it.
So see if you can keep yourshoulder blade squished into
your spine as you slide yourleft knee forward as far as you
can.
Your bolster may even slide offof your right knee.
Try to keep right middle trapengaged as your left knee slides
forward.
(41:30):
Your left hip is way forward ofyour right hip.
Hold for three, two, keepbreathing and one rest.
Now you could stay here justlike this, especially if you're
feeling a lot of tension in yourwrist and your right hand, or
some of you might like to landthe sole of your foot on the
(41:52):
floor, just kind of jog it backa little bit behind your right
foot, bring your left kneecap topoint up for the broken wing.
And if you're in the brokenwing, maybe your left palm is
still planted, or maybe yourleft arm rests on your side, or
maybe it half binds.
All of those are up to you.
You breathe into your rightside trapezius.
(42:15):
Now I'll try to trace thedimensions of the right side
trapezius A little harder.
Now let's take one more breath.
(43:14):
One more breath, okay, and thenyour left thigh can come back
to the bolster, your left handcome back around to plant on the
mat and then, when that lefthand plants, I want you to
commit to using the left armalmost entirely to help you push
(43:38):
up away from the floor.
So the right arm you're justdragging for a little bit and
then, when you're ready.
You'll come back to a tabletop.
Face the front, drag thebolster latitudinal under you
again and then bring your pelvisonto the top of that bolster
(44:02):
and come down to your elbows,clasp your hands, retract, allow
your chest to collapse and, asyour chest is collapsed, try to
elevate your shoulder blades.
They won't go far.
(44:25):
Now protract, try to depressyour shoulder blades.
Retract, elevate, protract,depress.
(44:49):
Keep the shoulder bladesdepressed as you retract, let
that chest collapse and thenelevate the shoulder blades as
you protract.
Rounding doming head hangingOne more like that.
(45:19):
Shoulder blades, retract,depress Shoulder blades, elevate
, protract and then allow theshoulder blades to move out of
(45:39):
that elevated position, justmore neutral, and then bring
your palms back, planting themjust in front of your bolster,
so you can come back briefly toa tabletop.
Put your bolster over there onthe right you know how you're
going to need it right there ina moment.
Bring your knees to the right,land on your left hip for a side
(46:00):
set and then staying on yourmat, so your head's going to
come forward but your left armis going to go back so you can
lay on your side and then pullthat bolster between your lower
legs.
So from your knees to yourankles.
You're supported.
Yes, what a precarious, hardplace to move right.
(46:23):
I know sorry about that Rightpalm.
Can stay flat on the floor.
You're not using it for much, Idon't think.
Relax it, though, and now pullthe left excuse me, that's the
right hip Pull it back so soft,as smoothly as you can Think
about infusing a bit of elegance, and then just rest, pull back,
(46:48):
and here you might immediatelybe like, oh yeah, left side
middle trap is on, it's justgoing, it's helping, I can grip
it here.
Or maybe it's the opposite.
Maybe you're like, wow, thisone's hard.
And then rest.
So you're going to do it twomore times.
You're going to pull back andthen you're going to rest.
You're going to pull back andrest last time.
(47:19):
Pull back, you're going tosqueeze, really, get that
retraction left shoulder blades,super crowding, and then see if
you can keep that engagement inthe middle and lower trap as
you slide the knee forward.
You'll slide it so far forward.
Your bolster may even come offof your bottom knee.
(47:40):
It's okay, we don't need it.
Slide that hip forward.
Keep the retraction If you can.
It's so hard, so unusual.
For three, two, one, rest.
Maybe your right foot comes backlands on the mat and the knee
(48:04):
point up for the broken wing, ormaybe you stay roughly in the
position you were just in?
What are you going to do withthat right arm?
You could keep your palm flat.
You could lay the arm on yourside.
You could half bind it Brokenwing.
(48:31):
It's not always about stretching, I would argue.
Probably the tissue that needsstretching the least, just
because it's so sensitive, isthe upper trap.
It feels like you shouldstretch it, but I think if upper
(48:56):
trap is sensitive it would bebetter to engage middle and
lower.
Give a little bit of novelfeedback, a little safety.
Let's take one more breath, allright, so you will unwind.
(49:21):
Bring that right palm back tothe floor.
Stack the knees last timetabletop, this time tabletop.
Don't worry about the positionof the bolster, it can stay
beside your mat and just do fromthe tabletop, elevation,
(49:43):
retraction, depression,protraction, elevation, this is
the last one retract, depress,protract, good, and then swing
your legs around in front of youtwo feet or flat as you roll to
(50:07):
your back.
And here's where you finallyget to use your blanket.
So bring that blanket under theback of your head, but please
make sure it's a pretty lowprofile, so it's really just
providing cushion.
It's not elevating your head.
Yeah, feet are flat and almostas wide as your mat, kind of
(50:29):
wider, and I'll have you.
Please bring your arms rightalong your sides, right along
your sides, and turn the palmsinward so you're on the pinky
side of your hand, on the bladeof your hand, okay, and as you
push down into your forearms,try to depress your shoulder
(50:51):
blades, try to pull them down.
Push into your forearms forthree, two, one, rest.
Bring your arms straight out tothe sides, still on the blade
of the hand, so the palm isgoing to be facing forward watch
out for your neighbor straightout to the sides, like a T now
(51:14):
like a T, and this time I'd likefor you to try to retract your
shoulder blades as you push yourforearms down for three, two,
one and rest.
Now bring your arms up into a Yshape, this time palms face up,
(51:40):
palms face up, and I'd like foryou to imagine that you're
going to elevate your shoulderblades as your forearms press
down forearms, press down, notjust the hands, but the forearms
for three, two, one, rest.
(52:00):
Cross your arms over your bodywith your left hand on your
right shoulder.
I'd like to have it on top too,left hand, on right shoulder,
and you might even be able tofeel that little knobby part,
(52:21):
the acromion, that kind oflittle bumpy spot on the top of
your right shoulder.
So that's one of the attachmentpoints for your upper trapezius
.
So see if you can get one ofyour fingers on there and then
use your hand to pull that rightshoulder down and out, down and
(52:46):
out and gently, turn your faceto the left and then release the
pulling down and out, turn yourhead back up.
Yes, do it again.
Pull down and out, turn yourface to the left.
So because we're pulling just alittle bit on that acromion,
(53:07):
we're turning the head away.
It's a tiny bit of a stretchfor the upper trap release.
We're going to do two more.
I'd like for you to treat thisvery dynamically, with the
breath Again, I'm not a big fanof a big stretch, especially on
the right.
So this should feel likemobilizing, like breathing,
(53:28):
inhaling and exhaling the uppertrap okay, not stretching it
Time and rest, and then the armsare just going to stay on you,
just out of the way, and you'regoing to pretend that your upper
(53:48):
body, actually from your hipsto your shoulders is a barrel
and use your left foot to helpyou roll your barrel to the
right just a little bit.
So you're going to kind of smushthe middle trap because you
have your arms here, you'reprotracted, so you're going to
kind of smush right into themeat and then come back to the
center and we're going to do theexact same thing.
(54:10):
So we're just going to kind ofsmush around on the meat of the
middle trap and back to thecenter.
Do two more.
It's so soft it should not feelsuper overwhelming here.
Okay, last one, last one.
(54:36):
Then, back in the middle, you'regoing to take your arms down
along your sides, right alongyour sides, with your palms face
in.
Now, this time don't try todepress your shoulder blades,
okay, although maybe just seewhat happens.
Right, you're just going topull a string and see what
(54:56):
unravels.
So push down into the forearmsand just feel what happens,
naturally, with your trapezius,which part of it engages Is it
lower, is the middle, is it high?
And rest.
Bring the arms straight up intoa T, palms face forward.
(55:18):
You're on the blade edge ofyour hand so you might end up
retracting, but let's notintentionally do it.
Push the forearms down.
Push the forearms down the Tshape, rest, bring the arms into
(55:40):
the Y, make sure you got thoseforearms on the ground.
So maybe your arms are too high, maybe they're too low, those
forearms can't rest.
And then we're not going tointentionally elevate the
shoulder blades.
But let's see what happens whenyou push your forearms down for
three, two, one, rest.
(56:03):
Bring your arms across you,this time right hand on left
shoulder, and see if you can useyour fingers to find that kind
of knobby little part on the topof your shoulder, the acromion,
and you're going to pull outand down on that shoulder as you
gently turn your face to theright and then release and come
(56:29):
back to the center.
I know that you feel compelled.
Do it again to find a bigstretch and I just want to
caution you that a littlestretch is okay, but think more
about this being mobilization.
Okay, do two more with thebreath and then just keep the
(57:10):
arms across you out of the way.
Maybe you can cross the arms alittle bit more assertively so
that your shoulder blades arewell protracted.
Use your feet to push yourbarrel to the left just a little
bit, so you're going to stay onthe meat If you go too far,
you're going to bump yourshoulder blade, which is fine.
(57:30):
That's just not what we'redoing.
And then come back to themiddle.
Let's do that a few more times,so you're just kind of rolling,
placing weight, maybe with alittle pressure, into the feet,
on that meat of the middle trap.
Your face is turning with your,your barrel.
(58:03):
Do one more and then come back.
Hopefully the bolster is closeenough.
It's not too hard to just dragit under your thighs, let your
(58:24):
arms rest a comfortable distanceaway from your body, or maybe
even on your body.
And one more time, let's justmap the trapezius We'll do both
at once and at the base of theskull, move down to T12.
(58:47):
Move diagonally up to achromium, a tip of the shoulder,
and then back to the asa.
Put Breathe into that cape.
(59:08):
Just observe that you willprobably not have the exact same
experience on the right and theleft as you breathe it.
And then let's just let theawareness go, just let it go,
(59:37):
and I'm just going to sink, sinkinto whatever can be observed
passively right now, in thisroom, in this moment, in this
body, for your shavasana.
There you go, Start the dove.
(01:00:20):
The dove fits in.
It's time to deepen the breath,time to restore movement to the
(01:02:02):
body.
When you're ready, you'll findyour way onto the side of your
choice.
Rest there, roll into yourhands and rise to your seat.
(01:02:29):
Press your palms together Infront of your heart, bow your
head, take one more breath intothat smooth cape, one more
(01:02:53):
exhale from that place.
Thank you so much for sharingyour practice with me today.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle.
For this week's pod practice, Iwanted to focus on an area of
the body that we rarely considerin Yin Yoga, or even probably
actually yoga in general.
That would be the trapezius.
(00:21):
The traps are an upper backneck muscle that are widely
misunderstood.
I often talk to students andclients about issues that they
believe that they're having withtheir traps, and I have
recognized over time that peopledon't fully understand the
(00:43):
dimensions of this area and alsothe function of it.
So if you are interested inlearning more about anatomy in
general, but especially upperback muscles, this is definitely
the practice for you, as youwill definitely understand the
structure, position and functionof the traps very, very well by
(01:06):
the end of your practice.
This is my preferred way ofteaching anatomy, and that is
experientially.
Likewise, if you're someone whois plagued with pain and
tightness and soreness in theupper traps, which is so, so
common, this practice is reallya go-to for you.
The practice will help you toexpand your understanding of the
(01:29):
area so that you can makebeneficial changes through your
movement, potentially yourposture and maybe even your
beliefs.
For your practice you're goingto need a bolster, a couple of
yoga blocks and a blanket.
If you're receiving value fromthese practices, please know
(01:50):
that I have a huge library ofclasses within my shift school
membership.
In the shift school you willfind movement resources for
managing musculoskeletal painissues, just like you do here on
the podcast.
You'll find experientialanatomy instruction, strength,
mindfulness and even breathwork.
I have just launched a patronmembership option for my podcast
(02:17):
listeners.
The patron membership grantsyou unlimited access to my
practice library for just $15per month.
By becoming a patron, you'resupporting the useful content on
this podcast and grantingyourself access to a valuable
library of practices thatprovide movement for healing and
(02:38):
for vitality, and you are alsosupporting this podcaster,
something that I appreciate verymuch for the many hours that I
put into the podcast each andevery week.
If you're a teacher, theexperiential anatomy section of
the practice library will be ofparticular value to you.
(02:59):
You can become a shift schoolpatron today for just $15 a
month.
I will leave a link in the shownotes in case you'd like to
check it out.
So, as you're sitting facing thefront of your mat, you're going
(03:21):
to need to have your blanketoff to one side.
Maybe a little pushed backtoward the back of your mat
would be best.
And then you'll take yourbolster and it's going to be
latitudinal across your mat, soshort edges of the bolster to
long edges of the mat up, maybeabout just a third of the way
(03:44):
back from the front, maybe abouta third of the way back.
Yes, and then one more thingwe're going to take your yoga
block and that's going to godirectly behind your bolster.
Okay, all right.
So then just find some kind ofcomfortable way to sit on.
That latitudinal bolster couldbe crisscross applesauce.
(04:05):
Sometimes it's nice to besitting right on top of it, so
your center of gravity is muchhigher.
Sometimes it's nice to sit moreon the front of it, so you feel
like you get a little pelvictilt.
And once you find the positionthat you're going to sit in,
just rest your hands on yourthighs, if it's okay.
(04:25):
Just close your eyes and startto notice your breath by
slightly, slightly changing it.
The least possible amount ofchange.
And that least possible amountof change might help you to feel
(04:59):
where the breath is.
Where does it go in you with somany options?
Maybe you feel it more in thefront of you, back of you, sides
of you, maybe you feel thebreath more on the right or the
left.
(05:19):
And then imagine that someonehas draped a nice, soft, smooth,
(05:42):
cool cape across your upperback and you'll start to breathe
especially into that cape,almost so that you can feel that
(06:04):
imaginary fabric moving,stretching, changing.
And as you observe that cape,as you breathe, you may be aware
(06:30):
that it's a little different onthe right or the left, and
that's okay, you don't need tofix that, it's normal.
Now start to focus yourattention especially on the left
(06:53):
side, so that perhaps theinhale will feel like it's
expanding the left side of thecape and the exhale will feel as
if it is emptying, softening,reducing.
(07:36):
Next time you breathe in, drawyour left shoulder blade up,
left shoulder blade and will theleft shoulder move as well yes,
they move together and thenbreathe out and draw your left
shoulder blade down, just soft,just kind of kicking the tires a
(07:56):
little bit on whateverelevation or depression of the
shoulder blade may be possible.
And the next time you draw yourleft shoulder blade up towards
(08:30):
your left ear, hold it there,keep breathing and this time,
instead of just moving straightdown, move the left shoulder
blade back.
Move it back and it's going tomove in, like towards your spine
.
It's going to crowd the leftside of your spine and then,
(08:50):
once you have no place to goinward anymore, you're going to
start to depress the shoulderblade.
So we'll still get to thedepressed position and then,
once you get all the way down asfar as you'd like to go, I'd
like for you to bring yourshoulder blade wide, so it's
going to kind of wrap around theside of your rib cage and then
eventually it's so wide thatyou're going to have to elevate
again.
(09:11):
Let your left hand just hang offthe front of that bolster, so
maybe you could just keep yourarm out of it and then the
shoulder blade retract, draw in,depress, protract, elevate, use
about a medium level of effort.
(09:31):
Okay, just a medium level ofeffort.
I'll let you do more or lesssoon, but keep it medium and
notice how the shoulder bladesort of slides around on the rib
cage, although there might belittle sticky spots, right, you
might feel a little pop, andthat's okay, that's normal.
(09:55):
Shoulder blade is not slidingdirectly on the rib cage.
There's muscles there andsometimes they get a little
poppy.
Okay, now I'd like for you todo one of these, so soft.
So what you were using beforewas medium effort.
This is the lightest possibleeffort and you'll notice that
(10:18):
your range of motion is, ofcourse, diminished.
It's okay, but see if you cankeep it smooth.
And then do a couple with acomfortable maximum effort Note
(10:40):
the word comfortable,comfortable max effort.
Okay, next time that shoulder islifted up, you're going to hold
ooh.
And then go ahead, twist yourheart to the left, bring your
(11:01):
right hand maybe to the outsideof that left knee, or maybe it's
just going to hold the rightshin, that's too far and bring
your left hand to the block thatI had you set previously.
You might be on a low block,you might be on a high block,
you might be on a medium block,it's up to you.
And then we already looked atthe movement of the shoulder
blade, which the movements upand down.
(11:22):
Right, we did elevation, we diddepression, that's what that's
called.
Let's just work with retraction.
So squeeze your shoulder bladeinto your spine, crowd your
spine and protraction, pull yourshoulder blade away from your
spine.
Will that mess up your twist?
Yes, who cares?
Retract, retract it andprotract it, feeling that
(11:52):
shoulder blade kind of wraparound those ribs.
And when that happens, maybeyou notice that the muscles of
your chest start to get a littlemore involved.
That's good Next time theshoulder blade is retracted.
(12:14):
So it's crowding your spine,your twist is in its lovely
twisted place.
You're going to hold.
Make sure you're feeling niceand soft here in this twist and
then, as gently as you possiblycan, turn your face to the right
and consider a point at theback of your skull which is just
(12:35):
to the left of center.
Just kind of bookmark thatpoint and then draw a line from
that point down to the bottom ofthe middle, back T12.
And then draw a line from thereout and diagonal up to the tip
(12:57):
of your shoulder, that kind oflittle bumpy, knobby part on the
top of your shoulder, chromiumand then from the chromium back
up to the base of this skull.
And then turn your head sogently to the left, so gently
not a stretch here, not astretch, not a stretch and
(13:20):
notice what is the relationshipbetween this point at the back
of your skull and the chromium,the tip of the shoulder, and
then turn away again.
Turn your face away, nice andsoft.
Turn your face back to yourleft shoulder.
Turn your face away.
(13:41):
So we just trace the dimensionsof your left side trapezius
muscle, approximately, of course.
And your trapezius has threesort of distinct regions that
behave differently based on theangle of the muscle fibers,
their position.
And the upper trap helps you toturn your head.
(14:05):
So the left side upper trap doyou feel it engage as you turn
your face to the left?
And maybe you feel it stretchas you turn your face to the
right.
This time, with your face turnedto the right, you're just going
to hold in the twist for twobreaths In your mind's eye,
breathe into the left sidetrapezius, that left side cape,
(14:31):
both inhale and exhale it, andthen you're going to turn your
whole body forward again.
So your face was alreadyforward right.
Now the rest of the body turns.
Rest your hands on your thighsjust briefly here and notice the
(14:54):
left side and the right side,notice what may have changed or
shifted.
You'll bring your left footflat, left foot flat, and then
just fold the left knee overonto the right knee and slide
(15:16):
off the front of your bolster sothat you're in a side sit
position with your hip againstthe bolster, your face turned to
the right, and then you'regoing to bring your right thigh
and smush it along the length ofyour bolster.
So your right thigh and yourbolster smush together.
Yeah, now the block you're goingto push back and then drape
(15:39):
your right side over the bolsterwith your right arm in front of
you, not under you, and youmight realize quickly that your
head doesn't reach the floor.
And if it doesn't, that's whenI want you to grab your blanket
and pull that under your head.
Pull that under your head, yeah, and make it just the right
(16:01):
height.
Okay, so you've draped yourleft side body over the bolster.
Reach your left hand up andover and find your block.
Find your block.
Where did it go?
There it is, you got it.
And push that block far enoughaway that, with your arm fully
extended, you can just barelywrap your fingers around the far
(16:24):
edge of it, yeah, around thefar edge of it.
You could just barely wrap yourfingers around the far edge of
it.
So your fingers are wrappedaround the edge which is
furthest away from your body,because I want you to create a
little bit of traction, want youto be able to kind of wrap your
fingers over that edge.
And there's a slight pushingdown, slight, slight, slight,
(16:47):
tiny bit 5%, 2% pushing down.
So your right hip should be onthe floor.
Your right shoulder should beon the floor, your head
supported on the floor or theblanket Right.
Yes, okay.
And now I'd like for you tosummon your inner grasshopper.
(17:10):
Okay, so bring your left thigh,smush it onto your right thigh.
So your two thighs are stackedand we're going to stay mostly
in this plane.
We're going to keep the thighsstacked.
As you pull your top hip, yourleft hip back, your thigh is
(17:32):
going to remain on.
Your left thigh is going toremain on your right thigh.
Your hip is going to move backin space, but your thighs remain
together like a grasshopper,like you're going to make some
noise, right, and then keep yourthighs together, but glide your
left hip and knee forward, soyour knee will even pass the
bottom knee right.
So push the hip and kneeforward.
(17:54):
It doesn't have to go far.
Okay, it does not have to gofar.
And then push the hip back, keepthe thighs together, push back
and give yourself permission todo very little here, because
this isn't actually about thehip, it's actually about the
lower trapezius.
Can we do this?
Good, and then we're going topull the hip back and then we're
(18:15):
going to push it forward.
Yes, just like that, and Iexaggerated a little bit.
You'll probably do less on yourown, was it okay?
Yeah, okay.
So as you pull your hip back,you might notice a peculiar
sensation in the lower part ofyour trapezius that we already
(18:35):
identified.
So pull that hip back, kind ofjust hold for a second and
you'll feel how that trap canhelp you, because one of the
jobs of the lower trap is todepress the shoulder blade.
So even though you've got yourarm under traction, when you
pull your hip back, the shoulderblade will try to depress.
(18:56):
So I want you to becomefamiliar with that sensation.
Let the knee come forward alittle bit, let it come back a
little bit.
So we're going to workdynamically this sensation.
Work dynamically this sensation.
I always feel like the bestplace to really feel a muscle is
(19:16):
in a stretched but activatedposition, which is what we're
doing right now.
Somebody might call that aneccentric contraction.
Just do a couple more, and ifyou're like Mandy, I don't feel
it, let me know I'll help, okay.
(19:38):
And then the next time is thelast time.
You do one more, pull that hipback one more, press it forward
and then just rest.
Rest in a position that feelssoft, peaceful, and that
includes your arm, your hand.
So if you want to change theposition of your arm, you can.
(20:00):
You can change it, yeah.
So, as I said, your trapeziushas three distinct regions, even
though it's one muscle.
Depending on the directionalityof the muscle fibers, you can
(20:25):
get a different function.
So the lower trapezius fibersare sort of diagonal but almost
vertical, and their jobprimarily is to depress the
shoulder blade, but they canalso assist with retraction,
which is what you experienced amoment ago.
(21:05):
Let's take one more breath andthen bring that left hand around
in front of you, press it intothe floor, help yourself back up
to your seat, turn to face thefront and then bring your hips
(21:29):
back up onto that bolster forjust a comfortable seated
position.
Sukhasana, if possible, and ifyou have your ankles crossed,
try to cross the way.
That feels weird that youdidn't do first.
Okay, yeah, oh, I forgot onething your block needs to be
right behind your mat.
Sorry about that.
So we'll have it right therewhen you twist.
(21:56):
Now take a moment again just toobserve the right and the left
side trapezius.
Maybe you'll compare especiallythe lower trapezius on the
right and the left, and you'reunder no obligation to cross the
(22:20):
weird way.
If that doesn't work for you,it's just a suggestion.
So now I'd like for you tobreathe a couple of times into
the right side trap, right sidetrap.
Usually we associate the trapjust with the upper trap right,
and people get really sensitive,especially on the right side
(22:41):
upper trap.
And so I'd like to introduce toyou a concept that when we
learn about a piece of ouranatomy, it's not just about
origin and insertion, activation, contraction, it's also about
(23:01):
our thoughts and feelings andfears and beliefs about that
muscle.
So shrug your right shoulderblade up towards your ear and
continue to monitor not just howit feels physically,
kinesthetically, but also how itfeels emotionally to do that
(23:23):
and then depress the shoulderblade.
We'll elevate the rightshoulder blade and we'll depress
it, and it's highly possiblethat you will have some feelings
, and some of those feelings maybe this isn't safe for me.
I don't feel safe.
(23:44):
Well then, you can just imaginethe movement.
If you don't think it's safefor you, or you can do way less,
let's do a couple more.
So just medium effort, yes.
(24:04):
And the next time your shoulderblade is elevated, you'll stay
and then you'll begin to retract.
Pull the shoulder blade backuntil it has no place else to go
but down, until it has no placeelse to go but out, and then no
(24:29):
place else to go but up Mediumeffort, which is really hard.
Right, it's either all ornothing.
Sometimes, especially on thatright side.
And if you're having a littlesomething, you're having like a
little moment of crisis right,because I know this area can be
sensitive Let me know, we cancustomize for you.
(24:52):
Okay, we can customize for you.
Hand is just hanging off theside of the bolster or the lap.
Now do a couple with the leastpossible amount of effort, feel
(25:14):
the smoothness or maybe thestickiness, and now do two with
a max comfortable level ofeffort, max comfortable level of
(25:37):
effort.
And you might be wondering,mandy, if this is a class about
the trapezius, why do we keeptalking about the shoulder blade
?
Because the primary role of thetrapezius is to stabilize the
shoulder blade so that the armcan move freely or with strength
(25:58):
, or both, okay.
So the next time your shoulderis up, up, up, hold, and then,
as it comes back, you're goingto twist, twist your heart to
the right, bring your hand tothat block Left hand could rest
(26:20):
on the outer right thigh, ormaybe you're just going to use
your left thigh because yourright thigh is way too far away.
That happens.
So anywhere you can get thatleft hand is fine with me.
And then let's just work.
Since we already workedelevation and depression, let's
just work protraction,retraction.
So protract the right shoulderblade, wrap it around your ribs.
Yes, it's going to mess up yourtwist.
Retract your shoulder blade andit's likely that on one side
(26:50):
you feel like you're better atthis.
Maybe it's this side, or maybeyou felt like you were better at
it on the first side.
It's fine, it's normal, youknow, and you could use your
hand, kind of pulling andpushing off of that block, to
help you protract, retract.
But I would prefer that youdidn't.
Yeah, or maybe just use it alittle, just for information.
(27:16):
At the same time, shoulder bladeis retracted, scouting your
spine.
You're in this beautiful twist.
You'll just hold and gently,gently turn your face to the
left and find a spot on the baseof your skull, just a little
bit to the right, and then tracethe line down the right side of
your spine to the bottom ofyour middle back.
(27:38):
So it's right where your spinemoves from the convex to concave
yeah, the T12, we call it andthen trace out to the acromion
that's the tip of your rightshoulder, and then back up to
the base of your skull, turnyour face to the right and just
(28:00):
notice that relationship betweenthe right side of the asa, put
the back of your skull and theacromion, and then turn your
face away really soft.
We do not need a stretch here.
We do not need a stretch.
I could repeat it 50,000 timesand only half of the people who
hear it will actually listen tome.
(28:21):
So let's make it 100%.
Okay, we do not need a stretchhere.
I promise.
Yes, thank you.
Next time your face is turnedaway, you're going to keep it
turned away and you're justgoing to hold for a couple of
soft breaths.
(28:41):
Just ensure that your posturefeels soft, because this could
get a little fraught, right.
So your face is turned left.
You're holding in your twistfor two breaths Soft breaths,
soft, soft breaths.
Final breath in and then exhale.
(29:20):
Turn your heart to the front.
Yes, let's bring that right footflat and then fold it over onto
the left thigh and slide offthe front of your bolster, come
to your side position with yourknees pointed to the left and
your left thigh smushed upagainst your bolster and then
make sure that your right hip ison the floor, kim, make sure
(29:41):
your right hip is actually onthe floor.
Find a way to support your headif needed, if needed.
Okay, you know what to do.
So you're going to reach thatright arm over, you're going to
find your block and you're goingto have the arm fully extended
no-transcript and the block isright where you can just barely
(30:03):
get your fingertips curled overthe edge of it, okay.
And then we're going to summonthe inner grasshopper, slide the
right thigh back on the leftthigh, so your right hip is
going to move back in space andthen slide the knee forward.
It's not very much movement.
I think where we can kind of getmixed up with this is if we try
(30:25):
to do too much movement.
It's not going to be very much.
So when you slide that hip back, you probably will feel your
right lower trap.
Try to help, and if you don't,you already know what it felt
like on the left, so maybe youcan kind of encourage it, give a
little extra little extrainformation based on your
(30:47):
experience.
So we're sliding forward andback, sliding forward and back
and maybe a couple times you'lljust pause with your hip back
and just feel that lower trapworking.
(31:08):
I will say that this one isharder to get, so you might need
just a little extra attentionhere.
Can be harder to get.
Let's do one more of eachsliding forward, sliding back.
(31:28):
If you haven't taken a pause inthe back position, then make
sure you do that before wefinish with our repetitions.
Yes, and then allow yourself tojust rest in your favorite
position so the lower trap is nolonger engaged, or at least
(31:49):
minimally engaged.
So we'll take one more breathand bring that top hand back
(32:53):
around in front of you, pressinto the hand to help you back
up to a side, sit and then turnforward.
And then sit one more time onyour bolster and compare right
and left, compare right and left.
(33:15):
We don't make value judgmentswhen we compare.
We don't say things like thisone's good, this one's bad.
We simply observe Give yourselfthat kindness.
Yes, now shrug both shoulderblades up back, squeezing
(33:47):
together until you can't squeezein anymore.
The only place to go is down,and then the only place to go is
out.
You might even get a littlehollow in the chest and then
back up Up, almost like you'remaking circles on your back with
(34:12):
your shoulder blades.
Next time you find yourself inthe retracted position, I'll
have you simply stay.
Stay in the retracted position,shoulder blades drawn together
(34:33):
on the back.
So this is like the mostvirtuous posture, right?
Right?
Doesn't everybody always saysqueeze your shoulder blades
together, stick your chest out,but as you hold, you might
notice some feelings.
Yeah, just let those wash overyou.
(34:55):
Now let the shoulder bladesprotract, draw them out away,
let your chest hollow.
What makes the retraction morevirtuous than the protraction?
Notice how you feel Now elevate, elevate.
(35:18):
And what makes retraction morevirtuous than this position?
And depress, draw it down andnow allow your shoulder blades,
as naturally as possible, tojust drift to the position which
(35:40):
feels the softest, the mostpeaceful.
Is this a virtuous posture?
Okay, so I'm going to have youlean to one side again, but this
(36:05):
time it's to get yourself to atabletop position, with your
knees behind the bolster andyour hands in front of the
bolster.
So the bolster is stilllatitudinal, its position has
not changed, only you havechanged.
Yeah, so you're in the tabletop, the bolster is under you, and
(36:30):
then you're going to slide yourknees back and bring your pelvis
right onto that bolster, rightonto the bolster, and here's
where you remember that youshould have peed right before
class.
So if you need to go right, Itotally understand.
I totally understand.
So you're on your elbows now,so your pelvis is on that
(36:51):
bolster, your elbows are on thefloor directly under your
shoulders.
Go ahead and clasp your hands,relax your neck and then let
your shoulder blades squeezetogether.
Let them squeeze together andyour chest just drop.
This is the previously definedvirtuous position, the prestige
(37:13):
posture Right.
Draw the shoulder bladestogether, poke the chest out and
then do the opposite Push yourshoulder, your elbows down, your
shoulder blades protract, sothere's a little dome in your
upper back, and this is the onethat we think is not so virtuous
(37:35):
.
Right, we tend to look atpeople with their shoulders
rounded forward as somethingAllow the retraction again, so
the shoulder blades will pinchtogether.
As your chest collapses, theshoulder blades protract and as
you dome the back, keep yourneck as soft as you can.
(37:57):
Do two more scapular pushups.
This, by the way, if you've gotlike just some ickiness in your
upper back or your neck.
This is such a go to thesescapular pushups.
You don't even have to be onthe floor, you could place your
(38:18):
hands on the seat of a chair.
It's just a nice way toactivate the trap in a really
comforting way.
Last one Next time you'reprotracted you'll stay, and then
you're going to take your palmsback, one at a time.
(38:38):
Just plant them right in frontof your bolster so that you can
help yourself again to atabletop.
At this time just briefly,because I'm going to have you
slide your bolster to the left,so it's going to be just off of
the edge of the mat, morelongitudinal this time Bring
both of your knees way to theleft, so they're going to maybe
(39:00):
push that bolster, and thenbring your right hip down again
for a side.
Sit Right hip down, so yourright hip is down, your knees
are pointed to the left and thenthe right arm is going to reach
back.
So it's not going to be underyou, it's not going to be in
front of you, it's going to bebehind you as you come down onto
(39:21):
your right side.
So you're resting on the sideof your chest, on the side of
your chest, on the side of yourboob right, not on your boob and
if you want to be on the mat,you can.
Yes, and the right arm behindyou.
(39:42):
It's confusing and then use theleft hand to pull the bolster
between your lower legs, betweenyour from your heels to your
knees.
Bolsters between the the caps.
Yes, right arm is back, palm isfaced down and if this is
really a challenge for you,you're in good company, all
(40:04):
right.
So if you need to take breaks,you're welcome to take breaks.
Now again, summon the innergrasshopper and slide your left
hip back in space.
Yes, and this time consciouslyengage the middle trap to
(40:25):
retract.
Retract and there's also alittle bit of depression, just a
little and then just rest.
And then pull the hip back,retract the hip doesn't go far,
no, no, no, it does not go farand then rest.
(40:47):
Let's do two more where we'rejust going to kind of hold there
with the hip pulling back andthe right side middle trap
assisting, and rest.
Last time, pull back and hold.
Now I'm going to ask you to dosomething really stinking hard,
(41:10):
but I know you can do it.
So see if you can keep yourshoulder blade squished into
your spine as you slide yourleft knee forward as far as you
can.
Your bolster may even slide offof your right knee.
Try to keep right middle trapengaged as your left knee slides
forward.
(41:30):
Your left hip is way forward ofyour right hip.
Hold for three, two, keepbreathing and one rest.
Now you could stay here justlike this, especially if you're
feeling a lot of tension in yourwrist and your right hand, or
some of you might like to landthe sole of your foot on the
(41:52):
floor, just kind of jog it backa little bit behind your right
foot, bring your left kneecap topoint up for the broken wing.
And if you're in the brokenwing, maybe your left palm is
still planted, or maybe yourleft arm rests on your side, or
maybe it half binds.
All of those are up to you.
You breathe into your rightside trapezius.
(42:15):
Now I'll try to trace thedimensions of the right side
trapezius A little harder.
Now let's take one more breath.
(43:14):
One more breath, okay, and thenyour left thigh can come back
to the bolster, your left handcome back around to plant on the
mat and then, when that lefthand plants, I want you to
commit to using the left armalmost entirely to help you push
(43:38):
up away from the floor.
So the right arm you're justdragging for a little bit and
then, when you're ready.
You'll come back to a tabletop.
Face the front, drag thebolster latitudinal under you
again and then bring your pelvisonto the top of that bolster
(44:02):
and come down to your elbows,clasp your hands, retract, allow
your chest to collapse and, asyour chest is collapsed, try to
elevate your shoulder blades.
They won't go far.
(44:25):
Now protract, try to depressyour shoulder blades.
Retract, elevate, protract,depress.
(44:49):
Keep the shoulder bladesdepressed as you retract, let
that chest collapse and thenelevate the shoulder blades as
you protract.
Rounding doming head hangingOne more like that.
(45:19):
Shoulder blades, retract,depress Shoulder blades, elevate
, protract and then allow theshoulder blades to move out of
(45:39):
that elevated position, justmore neutral, and then bring
your palms back, planting themjust in front of your bolster,
so you can come back briefly toa tabletop.
Put your bolster over there onthe right you know how you're
going to need it right there ina moment.
Bring your knees to the right,land on your left hip for a side
(46:00):
set and then staying on yourmat, so your head's going to
come forward but your left armis going to go back so you can
lay on your side and then pullthat bolster between your lower
legs.
So from your knees to yourankles.
You're supported.
Yes, what a precarious, hardplace to move right.
(46:23):
I know sorry about that Rightpalm.
Can stay flat on the floor.
You're not using it for much, Idon't think.
Relax it, though, and now pullthe left excuse me, that's the
right hip Pull it back so soft,as smoothly as you can Think
about infusing a bit of elegance, and then just rest, pull back,
(46:48):
and here you might immediatelybe like, oh yeah, left side
middle trap is on, it's justgoing, it's helping, I can grip
it here.
Or maybe it's the opposite.
Maybe you're like, wow, thisone's hard.
And then rest.
So you're going to do it twomore times.
You're going to pull back andthen you're going to rest.
You're going to pull back andrest last time.
(47:19):
Pull back, you're going tosqueeze, really, get that
retraction left shoulder blades,super crowding, and then see if
you can keep that engagement inthe middle and lower trap as
you slide the knee forward.
You'll slide it so far forward.
Your bolster may even come offof your bottom knee.
(47:40):
It's okay, we don't need it.
Slide that hip forward.
Keep the retraction If you can.
It's so hard, so unusual.
For three, two, one, rest.
Maybe your right foot comes backlands on the mat and the knee
(48:04):
point up for the broken wing, ormaybe you stay roughly in the
position you were just in?
What are you going to do withthat right arm?
You could keep your palm flat.
You could lay the arm on yourside.
You could half bind it Brokenwing.
(48:31):
It's not always about stretching, I would argue.
Probably the tissue that needsstretching the least, just
because it's so sensitive, isthe upper trap.
It feels like you shouldstretch it, but I think if upper
(48:56):
trap is sensitive it would bebetter to engage middle and
lower.
Give a little bit of novelfeedback, a little safety.
Let's take one more breath, allright, so you will unwind.
(49:21):
Bring that right palm back tothe floor.
Stack the knees last timetabletop, this time tabletop.
Don't worry about the positionof the bolster, it can stay
beside your mat and just do fromthe tabletop, elevation,
(49:43):
retraction, depression,protraction, elevation, this is
the last one retract, depress,protract, good, and then swing
your legs around in front of youtwo feet or flat as you roll to
(50:07):
your back.
And here's where you finallyget to use your blanket.
So bring that blanket under theback of your head, but please
make sure it's a pretty lowprofile, so it's really just
providing cushion.
It's not elevating your head.
Yeah, feet are flat and almostas wide as your mat, kind of
(50:29):
wider, and I'll have you.
Please bring your arms rightalong your sides, right along
your sides, and turn the palmsinward so you're on the pinky
side of your hand, on the bladeof your hand, okay, and as you
push down into your forearms,try to depress your shoulder
(50:51):
blades, try to pull them down.
Push into your forearms forthree, two, one, rest.
Bring your arms straight out tothe sides, still on the blade
of the hand, so the palm isgoing to be facing forward watch
out for your neighbor straightout to the sides, like a T now
(51:14):
like a T, and this time I'd likefor you to try to retract your
shoulder blades as you push yourforearms down for three, two,
one and rest.
Now bring your arms up into a Yshape, this time palms face up,
(51:40):
palms face up, and I'd like foryou to imagine that you're
going to elevate your shoulderblades as your forearms press
down forearms, press down, notjust the hands, but the forearms
for three, two, one, rest.
(52:00):
Cross your arms over your bodywith your left hand on your
right shoulder.
I'd like to have it on top too,left hand, on right shoulder,
and you might even be able tofeel that little knobby part,
(52:21):
the acromion, that kind oflittle bumpy spot on the top of
your right shoulder.
So that's one of the attachmentpoints for your upper trapezius
.
So see if you can get one ofyour fingers on there and then
use your hand to pull that rightshoulder down and out, down and
(52:46):
out and gently, turn your faceto the left and then release the
pulling down and out, turn yourhead back up.
Yes, do it again.
Pull down and out, turn yourface to the left.
So because we're pulling just alittle bit on that acromion,
(53:07):
we're turning the head away.
It's a tiny bit of a stretchfor the upper trap release.
We're going to do two more.
I'd like for you to treat thisvery dynamically, with the
breath Again, I'm not a big fanof a big stretch, especially on
the right.
So this should feel likemobilizing, like breathing,
(53:28):
inhaling and exhaling the uppertrap okay, not stretching it
Time and rest, and then the armsare just going to stay on you,
just out of the way, and you'regoing to pretend that your upper
(53:48):
body, actually from your hipsto your shoulders is a barrel
and use your left foot to helpyou roll your barrel to the
right just a little bit.
So you're going to kind of smushthe middle trap because you
have your arms here, you'reprotracted, so you're going to
kind of smush right into themeat and then come back to the
center and we're going to do theexact same thing.
(54:10):
So we're just going to kind ofsmush around on the meat of the
middle trap and back to thecenter.
Do two more.
It's so soft it should not feelsuper overwhelming here.
Okay, last one, last one.
(54:36):
Then, back in the middle, you'regoing to take your arms down
along your sides, right alongyour sides, with your palms face
in.
Now, this time don't try todepress your shoulder blades,
okay, although maybe just seewhat happens.
Right, you're just going topull a string and see what
(54:56):
unravels.
So push down into the forearmsand just feel what happens,
naturally, with your trapezius,which part of it engages Is it
lower, is the middle, is it high?
And rest.
Bring the arms straight up intoa T, palms face forward.
(55:18):
You're on the blade edge ofyour hand so you might end up
retracting, but let's notintentionally do it.
Push the forearms down.
Push the forearms down the Tshape, rest, bring the arms into
(55:40):
the Y, make sure you got thoseforearms on the ground.
So maybe your arms are too high, maybe they're too low, those
forearms can't rest.
And then we're not going tointentionally elevate the
shoulder blades.
But let's see what happens whenyou push your forearms down for
three, two, one, rest.
(56:03):
Bring your arms across you,this time right hand on left
shoulder, and see if you can useyour fingers to find that kind
of knobby little part on the topof your shoulder, the acromion,
and you're going to pull outand down on that shoulder as you
gently turn your face to theright and then release and come
(56:29):
back to the center.
I know that you feel compelled.
Do it again to find a bigstretch and I just want to
caution you that a littlestretch is okay, but think more
about this being mobilization.
Okay, do two more with thebreath and then just keep the
(57:10):
arms across you out of the way.
Maybe you can cross the arms alittle bit more assertively so
that your shoulder blades arewell protracted.
Use your feet to push yourbarrel to the left just a little
bit, so you're going to stay onthe meat If you go too far,
you're going to bump yourshoulder blade, which is fine.
(57:30):
That's just not what we'redoing.
And then come back to themiddle.
Let's do that a few more times,so you're just kind of rolling,
placing weight, maybe with alittle pressure, into the feet,
on that meat of the middle trap.
Your face is turning with your,your barrel.
(58:03):
Do one more and then come back.
Hopefully the bolster is closeenough.
It's not too hard to just dragit under your thighs, let your
(58:24):
arms rest a comfortable distanceaway from your body, or maybe
even on your body.
And one more time, let's justmap the trapezius We'll do both
at once and at the base of theskull, move down to T12.
(58:47):
Move diagonally up to achromium, a tip of the shoulder,
and then back to the asa.
Put Breathe into that cape.
(59:08):
Just observe that you willprobably not have the exact same
experience on the right and theleft as you breathe it.
And then let's just let theawareness go, just let it go,
(59:37):
and I'm just going to sink, sinkinto whatever can be observed
passively right now, in thisroom, in this moment, in this
body, for your shavasana.
There you go, Start the dove.
(01:00:20):
The dove fits in.
It's time to deepen the breath,time to restore movement to the
(01:02:02):
body.
When you're ready, you'll findyour way onto the side of your
choice.
Rest there, roll into yourhands and rise to your seat.
(01:02:29):
Press your palms together Infront of your heart, bow your
head, take one more breath intothat smooth cape, one more
(01:02:53):
exhale from that place.
Thank you so much for sharingyour practice with me today.
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