Best Ever Shoulder Stabilising, Mobilising and Strengthening Sequence!

Well, that is a pretty bold claim I know.  If it is not the best ever it is certainly one of the best I have found that you can practice within a yoga sequence.

This is a little sequence we are practicing in my Canberra outdoor yoga classes.  

It is something new that I inserted in the past few weeks and it has certainly vamped up some people's practice.  

The final pose is not new itself--we have always been practicing some version of pincha mayurasana or horn stand. 

What is new is the way we come into it. 

I am mindful of not always coming into postures the same way.  

This helps me feel things differently and also to keep me learning.  I like to think it helps prevent bad habits from keeping into my practice as well.

Inserting this into my classes has helped to shake up the practice of a lot of students, in a good way!  

It helps you understand a little bit more about the strength, mobility, and stability around the shoulder joint complex.

It is also another nice way to come into downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana) that keeps your spine light and free and I feel it is worth practicing just the transition from balasana to down dog just for that spinal freedom. 

As always, this post is intended for my students.  I believe it is best to learn from a physical teacher not a virtual one through the internet.   I will be teaching these little spinal freeing techniques and some foundational shoulder mobilising and stabilising techniques in my upcoming yoga retreat in Sri Lanka as well.  

Watch the video then check out the step by step sequencing.  Do not do anything that hurts.  Move slowly.  Stretch less, tense less, and see if you can breathe and think less as well.  Be comfortable and feel like you are doing something but without strain. 

Video sequence

The video shows the transition from balasana, then to downward dog. From there I bend my elbows simultaneously to come down onto my forearms.  Then I straighten them simultaneously to come back to downward dog, pull my knees into my chest, and lower my butt back to my heels.

That is a nice little sequence itself and we do it naturally in our practice at a few points and you could try it, for example, within a suriya namaskar if you want to insert it into your own home practice. 

If you are up to that level, you can see I start again but get to my forearms and come into the forearm balance, pincha mayurasana.  That is pretty tough and I do not practice with a wall.  

Below I deconstruct the sequence.

Balasana

I start in balasana on the balls of my feet.  

I reach my arms as far forward as they will go.  I creep my fingers forward on finger tips first like a spider scurrying away.  Then I put my hands down flat. 

I do not try to get my chest on my thighs.  

In fact, you can see I have a little space between my chest and thighs.  My whole spine feels like it is lengthening.  I am not trying to arch it or straighten it.  Just to reach my arms away and lengthen it as much as possible. 

Knees to chest

I push my hands down and forwards and then lift my knees into my chest as much as I can.

Your tummy will work.  I try not to have forward movement around the shoulder joint complex.

Down dog

I continue my journey to down dog by trying to push my heels down from the previous position.  If you watch the video you can see it is more like my legs unravel beneath my hips.

There is no levering around the shoulders or pressing of the spine at all.  It is what I call a 'secret movement'.  The legs do the moving without disturbing the spine or shoulders.

Lower to forearms

This is much harder than it looks!  Try to lower the elbows at the same time.

Perhaps try to bend the elbows slightly first.  Then try to hug the elbows together as you lower.  Allow your knees to bend if needed and the heels to lift if they lift.

Again, this is trying to be a secret movement so the spine is not disturbed.

Back up again

Aiyo! as my friends in Sri Lanka might say.  This is really tricky again.

Try to get back up to down dog by pushing down and forward through the hands.  Try to get the elbows up at the same time (not one at at time).

If it is too much then bring your knees down and come back up through balasana.

Back down for a rest

You can pull your knees back into your chest on your way back down to balasana. 

Back up if you want!
Head back up to down dog and then back onto forearms if you want.

From there you can walk the feet in a little.  Again, a secret movement so the spine and shoulders are not disturbed. I am looking towards my navel.  This helps keep tummy engaged.

Working your way up

Make sure you build your stability in the preceding poses before trying this next one.  The most common mistake I see in class is people trying to bring their knee to chest while collapsing into one of their shoulders.  

Move slowly if you are going to try this and sense that you are not twisting your spine or dropping into one shoulder more than the other.  If you are doing this then you are not ready to bring knee to chest and you need to keep practicing the preceding poses.

Again, bringing knee to chest is a secret movement that does not disturb your spine or shoulders.  Remember also that this pose, the way I practice, should be spine releasing and neck releasing.  

If your neck and top of shoulders are feeling tense then you are in some other pose and I recommend you get out and go back to basics!

Pincha

If all is going well you might try to tap or kick up into pincha mayurasana.  It is pretty tricky.  I keep saying that don't I? 

I am trying to practice pincha in a true neck releasing style by looking more towards my navel when I am up rather than looking forward.  I press strongly down and forwards through elbows and wrists to help generate lift.  I push up through the balls of my feet.  I feel light and my spine is lengthening not squashing.  I sort of feel a bit like when I was a kid and my uncles used to pick my up by my feet and hang me upside down (playfully as a game!).  

As always, happy and safe practicing.  There should not be strain or tension.  The shoulders and neck should feel great.  If they don't you are in some other pose and make sure you seek advice from your teacher.

We will take a look at these movements in more detail in my classes in Canberra and Sri Lanka and workshop them at the retreat in Sri Lanka in October.

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Tips to get you free balancing in forearm balances

Forearm balancing, when done well, is a great way to release tension in the spine, which includes the neck since it is part of the spine.  It also includes the shoulders.  That means you are in the wrong pose if you practice this posture and have a sense of tension or strain anywhere but especially around the neck or shoulders.

This is the pose I recommend you be able to complete before making efforts to do a headstand.

In this posture, which we call horn stand (your hands are clasped except for your baby finger which is sticking out to form a horn) there is no weight on the head at all.

To do it you must have adequate strength and mobility around the shoulder joint complex while your feet are both on and off the ground.

As in many postures, the preparation is more difficult than the final posture.

In this post I share a few tips about preparing to come into this balance.  This includes my thoughts on the use of the wall and how I use it in a limited fashion, along with common errors and how to use a block to help you prepare.

First, here is a video of me free balancing so you get an idea of the final posture.

I practiced on the grass today since I was matless and sleeveless and the concrete was too scratchy on my elbows.

Now, to get there I recommend a few stages of specific preparation (as distinguished from the non-specific just general stability and strengthening and movement you do through my classes).

Base preparation
Number one is to get the horn.  See the picture below.

The 2-4 digits are interlaced.  The palms are pressed together.  The thumb and baby finger are free.  The baby fingers point out like a horn.  The horn is going to help you balance in the final posture, with the weight shifting between horn and elbows.

The elbows are about shoulder width apart but I prefer to try a bit narrower since the tendency is for them to splay out on tight shouldered people.

Then get the lower ribs high up away from the ground and get your head and neck so you are looking to your navel.  The upper and middle back will feel rounded.  The lower back is lengthened, not arched.

When you get your lower ribs far away from the ground your head will come away from the ground.  You cannot see it in the photos because there is so much hair tumbling down.  In the first video I kept my head forward so you could see it is not on the ground.

In the wall video I kept it looking to navel and then moved it back and forth a bit so you can see it there as well.

I am firming my tummy in a way that I can still breathe.  If you don't know how to do this you need to look back at previous posts or come to class.  It is important.

I push my horn and wrist downward and feel as though I am pushing my elbows forward.  I can't show a picture of those things.  They are 'secret' internal actions.

Beware the sinking shoulders
Sinking the chest and into the shoulders is one of the common errors in this posture.  See the example of sinking shoulders from the side and front views, below.

Compare this with the lower ribs lifted into lower back in the next picture.  You can see that the wrinkles in my t-shirt have ironed themselves out. 

And sinking with the knees raised...

Versus lifting with the knees raised...

Again, you see how many wrinkles in the shirt appear around the lower back in the sinking version.

Get strong!
With the base set, I start some strengthening and mobility practice.

I take my knees just a tad from the floor.  Enough so an ant or grasshopper could go underneath without being squished.

Move slowly and do not sink into your shoulders or drop the ribs.

This should create postural firmness in the tummy in a way you can breathe if it was not there already (and if you had not sucked it all in).

You can go a bit higher so a little puppy could run under your knees.

I go slowly up and down.  I make sure I do not drop in my shoulders.  I keep horn pushing down, elbows pushing forward, neck free, tummy can breathe (but firm).

I can come higher and perch on the very tips of my toes.  I try to get off the balls of my feet.  If you have weight going through the balls of your feet you won't get enough weight through the arms.

You just stay there and breathe. Make a few jokes to passersby.  Be firm but relaxed and calm.

If you can, you take a knee into chest, heel to bottom.  But you go slowly and make sure you do not collapse into one shoulder or drop the chest.

Take note.  If this feels tough it is because THIS IS REALLY HARD!

It is really hard to go through these stages without sinking into your shoulders and feel comfortable.

Stay here and keep practicing at this level until you can at least feel comfortable for more than 30 seconds I say.  That's not science but hopefully you get the picture.

Block practice
The video below shows my block practice.

I go to the blocks in class sometimes to help people get an idea of what it can feel like to be upside down.

You don't need to kick up to do this so as long as you have some good strength around shoulders and core it should be accessible.

If you are not strong enough you will find it difficult to get a leg off the ground so go back to the first (ground) practice.

I push the ball of one foot into the block and then the other foot starts to come up.  Alas, most of the important parts to see are in shadow in the photo below!

You can just hover a little away from the ground or start to bring knee to chest.

And finally take the leg directly up.

The head is down and looking towards the navel.  It feels really great if you are in the correct position.

A word of caution about block practice is that it can feel so good you might like to take both feet off.  I don't advise trying.  Mainly because if you crash down you are going to smash your feet into the block.  Ouch.

Wall practice
Ok, so I really don't use the wall for any of the inversions.  All of my students will know how I sort of begrudgingly take us over there only on very rare occasions!  The video below shows how I use the wall if I use it.

You can see I missed the first two times because I was trying to lightly kick up.

One of the reasons I have developed a no wall practice is because I think people go to it too early.  They try to build strength at the wall when you need to build strength on the ground.  It is actually much harder to do the first position that I described (ground version) than it is to do either the block or wall variation.  Perhaps that is why people go to the wall!!

Anyway, if you are going to a wall, psychologically you will know it is there.  Most people will therefore just over-kick or not worry about refining their kick because we know the wall is there to catch us.  People who spend too much time at the wall seem to take longer to learn to free balance.

Thus, if you use it do so sparingly I say!  And, if you must, then perhaps try this way.

I show using the wall with just a toe tip touching.  I try and take one leg straight up and be on the other toe tip.  I then figure out where that up leg needs to be to help me find my centre of gravity.  I can also learn to 'play' with the weight between horn and elbows.  You should find that if you are on a toe tip and you press through the horn that the toe tip starts to float away from the wall.

So for me the lesson of the wall is to learn about how to play with and find your centre of gravity upside down.  But this is a refining technique to try once you have built the strength!

Summary
Look for lifting not sinking.  Firmness but calmness.  Lightness not heaviness.  This is a great way to practice all postures, but especially for these inversions.

This is the same approach I take to handstand so you can apply these ideas on ground, block and wall but just with the arms straight!

Happy and safe practicing!  Remember, these videos and posts are intended for students who come to my classes and who can ask questions and interact with a real person about their own bodies.  Learning from the internet is not recommended.

This is the type of thing I teach in my classes and which we regularly workshop in retreats. Join us if you like!

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com