The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Ardha Chandrasana › tight shoulders and neck!
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Ardha Chandrasana › tight shoulders and neck!
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I’m having some trouble with this pose. I do have tight shoulders and neck (very short neck tendons!) I read the advice posted earlier about not locking the arms which is helpful as I do feel this causes a lot of tension particularly on the backbend part of the pose. When I go to the right I find it really difficult to get the right shoulder forward in line with the other one. I don’t have so much difficult on the left side. The part that worries me most is the back bend because I feel a real pinch in my neck when I do this, also when I go fully back with the head I know that my arms are very far in front of the head and I feel like the shoulders really lift up and get tense in this part. Any hints and tips greatly appreciated, thanks so much!
Hi Kirsten
I am happy that your awareness in this area is already giving you some good results.
Much of the asymmetry in your poses will even out with a regular frequent practice where you focus on alignment and not depth. Your issue could have something to do with the shoulders and neck and equally it could have been generated further down the spine. For example your spine might be affected by a slight twist or curve (I find my Half Moon to the left is more difficult to align everything because of a scoliosis condition which resolves more and more the more frequently I practice). What I am saying is that the effect of a problem does not always accurately reflect the cause.
As you may have read in other posts about necks is that pain and discomfort can be quite fear-inducing when it comes to dropping the head back. If you can’t do this or haven’t tried this before then simply stay in the starting position in the first backbend with the head dropped back. The idea is to drop it back, look backward, arms over head and allow yourself to let your head’s full weight go back. It is important to use the eyes. You will gain confidence and little by little you can go back further. Always come back to a position where there is NO TENSION in your neck and shoulders and for the moment don’t worry about your arms. Just bring them back to the point where your shoulders stay down.
I have a technique that I use routinely with this problem but I won’t share it here because it really needs to be shown and it is important that it is not misinterpreted. If anyone is interested then please PM me.
A very important thing for you to focus on is your technique in Pranayama breathing. Your ability to do this correctly will open your neck safely. Check out the posts on Pranayama here, also paying attention to your shoulders. If you haven’t already then my video called A Transformational Technique For Your Practice would really help you out especially if you can apply it routinely.
Let me know how you go with this and how your neck tension is resolving.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂🙂
Thank you! I love all the advice about no tension as I do believe that really helps with yoga. The two best teachers I have had talk a lot about softening into the poses and using the breath to help you do this. I’ve just come from a Hatha yoga retreat in India where they said it was ‘stubborn yoga’ and you must force yourself! It was quite scary. I do find it a strain to tilt my back on the inbreath at Pranayama as I feel my neck and shoulders pinching and did read the tips on that in the forum thanks!
I made a post in the general forum asking about creating a regular practice when there is no studio available. I just looked and it had 48 views but no replies. I just wondered if this was because a lot of people had the same issue. Advice on this would be really appreciated.
cheers Kirsten
I just wanted to say thanks again Gabrielle, because your suggestions here and in the Pranayama forum really helped me today. For the first time since starting hot yoga I wasn’t completely worn out by triangle and had much better breath. My shoulders were more relaxed all the way through which totally helped with almost all the other poses too. I’ve realised that some of my previous yoga practice was probably making my neck and shoulders worse not better. Intention and attention equalled improved skill today. Thank you for your input.
all best
Kirsten
This is really for anyone who is having the same problem who might have logged on to this thread. I watched the video as Gabrielle suggested and yesterday really focussed on rotating the arms. (I noticed that everyone in the class had elbows facing forward not back in the standing resting pose!) Anyway not only did it help me with many of the poses, including this one which I was struggling with, and tree where for the first time my shoulders were equal, but that on getting to corpse pose, I felt my body perfectly aligned rather than scrunched up and collapsing. I was able to go straight into the pose with everything flat rather than wriggling around and stretching bits out to get there. Also my shoulders were totally relaxed after class, I needed less water, I was more focussed. It helped in so many ways. So if you are struggling with neck and shoulders then really, do watch that video (its free after all!) and try it out!
Thanks Gabrielle for the most helpful tip!
regards
Kirsten
Why do you suppose it is that if I keep my arms down at my sides in a natural position I can do a standing back bend and fall way back into it, especially if I push my hips forward while contracting my hamstrings and glutes, but if I put my arms up over my head, as in this pose, I can’t even do 50% of that bend. I try relaxing my front side and shoulders, but it doesn’t seem to help much and the most frustrating part is that I feel like I’m crushing my lumbar spine even though I am stretching up before I drop in. Is this just a mental block out of some sort of fear? I find it very strange.
Hi Micherie
It is possible that you have tension in your neck and shoulders as you try to lead with your arms. This could be accompanied by a slight drop in your chin (toward your chest). For an experiment, can you try it with your arms slightly bent? Or try going back into it and in the middle of your pose bend your arms, release your neck and shoulders and then re-straighten your arms.
Please get back to me and let me know if that helps so we can drill down further.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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