Tight shoulders

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#21

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;26550]What do you mean by “better”?
You mean ones that are more effective??

No. They vary from person to person.
And I’d like to reinforce what was said earlier.
They should be done such that there is no over doing in the lumbar spine.

Some students do find a back bending sequence to be more effective than a back bending posture.[/QUOTE]

IA, I’m sorry, I meant more effective. I work with adolescents and teach a relaxation class. I use some asana before I work them into guided meditation and visualization and I’m having a lot of success with the class. I don’t want to add any intense backbends, but cobra and childs pose are not out of the question. I’d love to have a couple of poses and counterposes to help these adolescents with their depression.

FlexPenguin, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack your thread. Perhaps if anyone has a reply for me they could send it via PM or let me know and I’ll start a new thread?

#22

@ Alix

Balasana is a pose of introspection. Its very nature takes the consciousness in toward the heart center for reflection. Unfortunately, it is used merely as a “rest stop” in faster paced asana practices. I personally would be cautious in using forward bending postures for students dealing with depression.

Bhujangasana might be effective or the less intense Sarpasana. With the former, students will need to be directed such that the curve of the pose is not in the lumbar spine (beyond its inherent curve) and encouraged to draw the thoracic spine forward toward the sternum without violence or aggression.

Setu Bhanda may also work though its focus is lower in the spine than the two aforementioned poses. Here students will need to understand that there is absolutely no movement of the head while in the pose.

#23

Thank you IA, I’ll incorporate all those. I think bhujangasana is the easiest for my kids to do. I’ll get them doing setu bhanda too.

#24

I created a video specifically to release shoulder tension :slight_smile: