Featured Sequence: Standing Shoulder Stretches

by Baxter and Nina

Those of you who have been following the blog for a while will have noticed we’ve been slowly working our way through a series of office yoga poses. Our original plan was that after individually describing each of the poses in our complete sequence, we would, as our grand finale, write a post that links them all together into a full-length office yoga sequence. Eventually we realized two things: 1) the full-length sequence wouldn’t work well as an individual blog post (too long!) and 2) most people don’t even want to do, or have time for, a full, one-hour office yoga practice.

So with that in mind, we’re going to be creating some mini sequence using the poses we have introduced so far, and today we’re pleased to offer you our Standing Shoulder Stretches sequence. The Standing Shoulder Stretches sequence includes just five poses that move your shoulders through most of their range of motion, providing a wonderful antidote to sitting in front of a computer all day, working with your hands, or traveling, and releasing stress from areas where you hold tension while helping to keep your shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands flexible and healthy. Most of the poses provide benefits for your wrists and hands as well. You can do this sequence almost anywhere, in any attire, making it perfect for office or travel.

1. Dynamic Arm Circles (6 repetitions). This pose is great for preparing your shoulders for yoga practice, or for any task where you will be using your arms overhead (such as painting a house) or a sport that involves your arms, such as tennis. It’s also perfect for releasing tension after you’ve worked your arms or sat for hours at a desk or on a plane. And moving your arms within the complete range of motion is the best way to keep your shoulder joints healthy.

See Dynamic Arm Circles for complete information.

2. Upward Bound Hands (1 to 2 minutes per side). This simple pose allows you to stretch and strengthen your shoulders, arms, hands and wrists, providing the perfect antidote to working with your arms down by your sides all day. Raising your arms overhead with bound hands reverses the effect of gravity on your arms and reestablishes the full range of motion of your collar blades and shoulder blades.

See Upward Bound Hands for complete information.

3. Eagle pose Arms (90 seconds per side). This pose is a wonderful stretch for your middle and upper back and for your neck, which are areas where you may hold a lot of tension. Even thought some of us who are slumped over our computers appear to have wideness in the upper back, you may have noticed there is still quite a bit of tension there. The pose also increases mobility in your shoulders and releases tension from certain parts of your shoulder joint. It moves your shoulder blades on your rib cage into upward rotation, encouraging an important, functional movement for healthy shoulders and arms. It may also build strength in your pectoralis as well as some of the other chest muscles.

See Eagle Pose Arms for complete information.

4. Reverse Prayer pose (30 seconds to 2 minutes). This pose moves your shoulders into a position that you don’t take very often in your everyday life. Although this movement is not commonly needed, it’s still an important one because for the long-term health of your shoulders, you need to move them through their full range of motion. Unlike Prayer pose (Namaste) in front of your chest, Reverse Prayer pose (Paschima Namaskarana) takes your upper arms into internal rotation, creating an excellent stretch for your forearms that’s helpful for your elbows, wrists, and hands.

See Reverse Prayer Pose for complete information.

5. Standing Cow-Face pose (30 seconds to 2 minutes per side). This versatile pose uses just the arm positions from the full Cow-Face pose, which is typically done in a seated position. Because the pose works your two arms differently, it’s almost like two poses in one, taking your shoulders and arms through much of their range of motion. With your top arm, you reach up and overhead, spinning your upper arm bone outward and deeply bending your elbow joint. With your bottom arm, you reach down and back behind you, spinning your upper arm bone inward as you bend at the elbow joint. As it works your arms, this pose also stretches and strengthens your shoulder blades, upper back and neck.

See Standing Cow-Face Pose for complete information.