Opening those Shoulders Shoulders Shoulders :)

Today I am wearing all my hats. My foodie cook book hat, my pro photographer hat, my yoga hat and my urban house laundry lady hat :P It's the start of the week and after the weekend of birthday celebrations with my mom, it's all gotta be done. 

So I am working this Monday  day and evening on my  gluten * sugar *  soy * animal free = a guilt free vegan book of awesome yummines. I am sending out photos for photo clients for their holiday stuff. I am putting together photos from past shoots  for the Four Seasons website in Nevis.  I am making a promise to get to that huge pile of laundry (though it is looking doubtful) and  despite my hot yoga class this afternoon at the beautiful Hudson yoga studio in Victoria, my shoulders are tried and sore from all this. Computer work is a killer for shoulders! I even work on a ball chair but still I feel my shoulder tighten

So time I thought to talk about some great shoulder openers to share with you for moments just like this. 

Lets get to it :) Lets start off in my "go to" pose for waking up the spine before I start any yoga session with my clients. It is called the Cat Cow sequence. Cat Cow is great for opening up your shoulders and upper back!

So here are the steps: 

 

1-Begin in Table Top, hips over knees, shoulders over wrists.
2-As you take an inhalation, roll your upper back and press it upwards towards the ceiling, keeping your shoulders and wrists, and your knees and hips, aligned with each other. Feel a release in your upper back. This is Cat.
3-When you exhale, bring your upper back down and raise your glutes to the ceiling, creating the exact opposite shape in your torso as you did in Step 2. This is Cow
4-Repeat this cycling of Cat Cow with your inhalations and exhalations for five to seven breaths.
5-When you are finished, sit your glutes back onto your heels into Child Pose, extending your arms forward and pushing your glutes back. Feel a stretch all along your spine and take five deep breaths

I think the name of this pose is too funny but it's a get one for the shoulders too:
Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana):

Let go through it step by step 

1 - Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose), then bend your knees and put your feet on the floor. Slide your left foot under the right knee to the outside of the right hip. Then cross your right leg over the left, stacking the right knee on top of the left, and bring the right foot to the outside of the left hip. Try to bring the heels equidistant from the hips: with the right leg on top you'll have to tug the right heel in closer to the left hip. Sit evenly on the sitting bones.
2-  Inhale and stretch your right arm straight out to the right, parallel to the floor. Rotate your arm inwardly; the thumb will turn first toward the floor, then point toward the wall behind you, with the palm facing the ceiling. This movement will roll your right shoulder slightly up and forward, and round your upper back. With a full exhalation, sweep the arm behind your torso and tuck the forearm in the hollow of your lower back, parallel to your waist, with the right elbow against the right side of your torso. Roll the shoulder back and down, then work the forearm up your back until it is parallel to your spine. The back of your hand will be between your shoulder blades. See that your right elbow doesn't slip away from the right side of your torso.
3-  Now inhale and stretch your left arm straight forward, pointing toward the opposite wall, parallel to the floor. Turn the palm up and, with another inhalation, stretch the arm straight up toward the ceiling, palm turned back. Lift actively through your left arm, then with an exhalation, bend the elbow and reach down for the right hand. If possible, hook the right and left fingers. 4 - Lift the left elbow toward the ceiling and, from the back armpit, descend the right elbow toward the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back ribs and lift your chest. Try to keep the left arm right beside the left side of your head.
5- Stay in this pose about 1 minute. Release the arms, uncross the legs, and repeat with the arms and legs reversed for the same length of time. Remember that whichever leg is on top, the same-side arm is lower.

Moving right along, another really great one is Big Toe Pose and don't worry I can never  say it right in Sanskrit either "Padangusthasana"

(both images are right -it just depends on your range of motion - listen to your body)

This is how we do that one

1- Stand upright with your inner feet parallel and about six inches apart. Contract your front thigh muscles to lift your kneecaps. Keeping your legs completely straight, exhale and bend forward from your hip joints, moving your torso and head as one unit. 2- Slide the index and middle fingers of each hand between the big toes and the second toes. Then curl those fingers under and grip the big toes firmly, wrapping the thumbs around the other two fingers to secure the wrap. Press your toes down against your fingers. (If you can't reach your toes without overly rounding your back, pass a strap under the ball of each foot and hold the straps.)
3- With an inhalation, lift your torso as if you were going to stand up again, straightening your elbows. Lengthen your front torso, and on the next exhale, lift your sitting bones. Depending on your flexibility, your lower back will hollow to a greater or lesser degree. As you do this, release your hamstrings and hollow your lower belly (below your navel) as well, lightly lifting it toward the back of your pelvis.
4-  Lift the top of your sternum as high as you can, but take care not to lift your head so far that you compress the back of your neck. Keep your forehead relaxed.
5- For the next few inhalations, lift your torso strongly as you continue to actively contract your front thighs; on each successive exhalation, strongly lift your sitting bones as you consciously relax your hamstrings. As you do this, deepen the hollow in your lower back.
6- Finally exhale, bend your elbows out to the sides, pull up on your toes, lengthen the front and sides of your torso, and gently lower into the forward bend.
7 - If you have very long hamstrings, you can draw your forehead toward your shins. But if your hamstrings are short, it's better to focus on keeping the front torso long. Hunching into a forward bend isn't safe for your lower back and does nothing to lengthen your hamstrings.
8-  Hold the final position for one minute. Then release your toes, bring your hands to your hips, and re-lengthen your front torso. With an inhale, swing your torso and head as a single unit back to upright..

Ahh...now that is feeling better...oh I wish there was a yoga pose for getting the laundry folded and put away :P

Have a restful night.

Enjoy! Namaste