When life gets stressful, we tend to hold a lot of tension, negativity, and anxiety in our shoulders. This can be exhausting on our bodies. It is so important to relieve this tension. We also sit hunched over our screens almost every day, which doesn’t help. Keeping your shoulders stretched, relaxed, and flexible may help elevate your mood too! My shoulders are always tight, and they might be the least flexible part of my body. You can see I still have some tension in my shoulders in the pictures below, and I had been stretching for about an hour!
You can do most of these poses anywhere, and they are great to do at your desk when you need a break at work. Even just constantly reminding yourself to “roll your shoulders back and down” will help so much. I feel like I walk around with my shoulders up by my ears all day! Think about wrapping your shoulder blades down around the back of your ribcage. There are many variations to these poses, so just go as far as feels right for your body today. Even if you can’t get into the full variation just a gentle stretch will make all the difference. Remember to breathe deeply (in and out for 5 slow counts) into your low back and stomach. Please stop or back off if you feel any pain or discomfort!!!
Remember, shoulders back and down.
Cactus Arms
Eagle Arms. Right under left, left under right. One side might be easier, that is ok! Bring the elbows up toward your third eye while remembering to roll the shoulders back and keep a tall spine.
Shoulder stretches to each side
Totally Fine if you use a strap for this one! No strap? No problem! You can use a belt or even long socks.
Gentle backbend
Thread the needle
Prayer hands behind back. If you aren’t flexible enough to do this yet, do prayer hands in front of your body and really focus on rolling the shoulders back and down and your breathing.
I hope these feel as good to you as they do me.
Namaste