Yoga Class by Katy Wright – Part 19

 Shoulder rotations

We’ll start with the shoulders, so come into a standing position – and step your feet apart so you can be steady during the exercise we’re about to do.

Bring your awareness to your shoulders and outwardly rotate them, so your chest opens – it should feel like you’re peeling the front of the body open!

And then rotate your shoulders inward, so your chest collapses and your upper back rounds.

Keep moving between these two positions, rolling forward and backward with the shoulders, letting your arms naturally follow.

Standing mountain raises x 5

Lift your arms in front of you and overhead – or as close as you can comfortably get them (eventually they’ll come as far as your ears, but don’t force them there if they don’t want to go that far just yet).

On an exhale, lower your arms again. Repeat this movement four more times, lifting on an inhale, lowering on an exhale.

Standing Y raises

For the next exercise, we’re doing the same thing, except when you get to the top, you’re opening your arms out, into a ‘Y’ shape. We’ll repeat this five times…

Single arm rotations – RIGHT

Now that the shoulders have begun to open, we can begin working more deeply into the joint. So we’ll work on one arm at a time for this, starting with the right arm.

You’re taking it round in circles – out in front, over the top and back behind you – five times. Be aware of your body as you do this – it’ll try to accommodate this movement by joining in! But we want the body to be still, so the focus is on the shoulder. So keep your core strong and your hips stable.

Single arm rotations – LEFT

Okay, switch sides, so you’re bringing your left arm up, shoulder toward the ear, and then back and round. Repeat this action another five times.

Forward arm rotations – RIGHT

And now we’re going to change the direction of the rotation. So switch back to your right arm, and this time, instead of taking your arm in front, up and back…take it back, up and then down the front of your body. You can put your opposite hand on your belly to help keep your hips still.

Forward arm rotations – LEFT

Then we have to switch sides, of course, so repeat this exercise with your left shoulder. Five or six rotations should do it. And when you’ve finished, shake out both arms.

Scapular push-ups

For this next exercise, you need to come onto your knees. We’re going to be doing some ‘scapular push-ups’ and you can do these either in plank or half plank. Whichever you choose, keep your arms straight and your inner elbows facing the front of the mat.

Now dip down through the space between your shoulder blades, and then press up through that same space – keep your arms straight as you do this. That means your body won’t go very far down, like it would in a normal push-up, but you’ll feel a lot of movement in your shoulderblades – which is what we want!

Repeat another nine times, if you can. And then come back to a simple table top position before lowering down onto your belly, where we need to be for our next set of exercises…

‘A’ stretch set-up

First, take your arms down by the sides of your body, hands about 30 centimetres away from you, palms turned down. You can actually do this standing in front of a wall, if it’s not comfortable to lie on your belly.

Now rotate your shoulders forward, so they come towards the mat.

A stretch – LEFT

We’ll start on the left, so roll onto your left side, increasing the stretch across the left shoulder as you do. Bend your right elbow so you can support yourself with your right hand. Now take your right foot behind you and rest it on the floor behind your left leg.

If you want to go further, you can reach back with your right hand and take hold of your right foot – if it doesn’t reach, you can just rest your right arm behind you.

If you’re holding onto your foot, try to keep your right knee close to your left leg, so your right arm is drawn back and not up.

A stretch – RIGHT

Come back to the centre and switch sides. So roll onto your right side while you support yourself with your left hand. Take your left foot behind your right leg and work here… Or reach back with your left arm and try to take hold of your right foot.

Remember, what’s possible on one side isn’t always possible on the other, due to imbalances in the body, so just work where’s good for you right now – don’t force your body to do things it’s not ready for.

 T stretch – LEFT

Release from the A stretch and bring your arms into a ‘T’ shape – again, palms facing down. This will make it a bit harder to roll your shoulders down to the mat. If they don’t reach, then keep working in this position. If they do come down, we can take the posture a bit further.

We’re doing the same as before, taking the right foot behind the left leg, and potentially reaching back for the right foot – just like you did before, in the ‘A’ stretch.

T stretch – RIGHT

Come back to the centre and into your T shape, then bring your left foot behind your right leg, and either reach back for the foot, or just take the arm back so the left shoulder also gets a good stretch.

Y stretch – LEFT

Come back to the centre and move your arms up, into a ‘Y’ shape. The tighter your shoulders are, the harder it will be to bring your arms into a narrow ‘Y’, so just keep them a bit wider for now – or even continue working in a ‘T’ shape.

Rotate your shoulder down to the mat and work there, or repeat the same move as we’ve done in the last two variations on this pose and take your right foot behind you and your roll onto your left shoulder and take your right arm back.

Y stretch – RIGHT

Come back to the centre and repeat the pose on the opposite side. Remember, you might need to work differently on one side, so take time to feel your way into the pose, stopping when you reach your limit – don’t push your body too much.

Cactus up – LEFT

Roll back onto your stomach and we’ll take our last set of exercises for this session.

For this, you need your arms in a ‘cactus’ position. So start with your arms in a ‘T’ shape, then bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle, so that your forearms are pointing forward.

Rotate your left shoulder down to the mat and, as you press down through that shoulder, bring the right side of your body away from the mat by pressing into your right hand.

Cactus up – RIGHT

Come down and switch sides… and as you move into the posture, make sure your right forearm doesn’t start to move in – you want to keep that 90 degree angle in the elbow.

Cactus down – LEFT

Okay, final variation – cactus down. As the name suggests, you need to flip your arms for this. So your upper arms are still in a ‘T’ shape, but your forearms are pointing down towards your feet. You’re resting on the top of your hands.

Roll onto your left side and lift the right side of the body way from the mat, stepping your right foot behind your left leg, if possible. You right arm can come back too.

If you have a lot of flexibility in your shoulders, you might be able to take hold of your left hand behind your back, which will open the chest as well as the shoulders.

Cactus down – RIGHT

Come back to the centre and set up on the other side – arms in a downward cactus position as you lift the left side of your body and step your left foot behind your right leg. Again, take your left arm behind you, and maybe catch hold of your right hand to intensify the stretch across your chest.

Sitting and outro

Roll back onto your belly and bring your arms out in front of you, rolling your arms in and out to release any tension in the shoulders.

Then, when you’re ready, press up to tabletop and sit back on your heels, before lifting up into a kneeling position. Here, give your arms a good shake out and then with an inhale, lift your arms out and up over head… And exhale as your arms come back down to your sides.

And that’s it! You’ve completed another yoga session – good work! Give yourself a short rest in corpse pose, and each time your mind wanders, bring your awareness to your breath. Over time, you’ll find you’re able to hold your focus for longer – the mind needs training, just like the body. Namaste!