Tight Shoulders are making a lot of poses difficult for me

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kleigh
Participant

February 16, 2016 at 10:11 pm

Post count: 2

#21238

I’m coming back to Hot Yoga after an extended break due to some health problems (Rheumatoid Arthritis) and I’m finding that my shoulders and neck have tightened up in an extreme way. I’ve been struggling to get into poses that stretch these muscles – eagle is particularly uncomfortable/difficult, and Camel has been a struggle, not because of the back bend itself but because I can’t get my arms behind myself because of how tight the front of my neck/shoulders are.

Besides continuing to do as much as I’m able during class, are there any poses or stretches I can be doing outside of the hot room to help get my shoulders to open back up? Most of the rest of my body seems to be re-acquiring its flexibility but my shoulders just don’t seem to be improving much.

Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
Forum Owner

February 20, 2016 at 1:45 am

Post count: 3048

#21245

Hello kleigh

Well done prodigal yogini! (going out on a limb and guessing you’re a woman)

I do have to check whether you are following directions to lock out your arms in poses such as Half Moon and squeezing your head with your arms.

Please confirm if your teachers are following the scripted dialog.

I need to check if most of your poses are affected. You have specifically asked about 2 poses but tightness in the area of which you speak can certainly affect all of the poses.

In Eagle maybe you can tell me if you are able to wrap the arms and hold the hands. Maybe it’s a similar wrap to before but painful. Or maybe you’re not able to get the same wrap because it’s painful.

Camel: Are you able to get your hands on your hips, palms forward, fingers down as prescribed? Or are you actually feeling the pain when you’re attempting to put your hands on your feet. Just wanting a clearer sense of exactly what you’re doing.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

kleigh
Participant

February 21, 2016 at 3:34 am

Post count: 2

#21250

Yes, I am a woman 😉

I do attempt to lock out my arms in Half Moon, etc but usually cannot fully lock out my elbows (without shrugging up my shoulders – I used to do this but have been reading your book and emails and have since been working on keeping them down and back, it definitely makes breathing easier but has also shown me just how tight I am in the shoulders/arms). I would say I am 90% of the way there with my right arm and occasionally able to lock out my left.

I’m able to wrap and hold hands in eagle but it’s somewhat painful, and very difficult to get the arms down much – usually they are in front of my nose instead of below it when I enter the pose. Sometimes I’ve had shoulder cramping as I hold the pose as well.

I can get my hands onto my hips with the fingers down in Camel but not get my arms behind myself – my elbows stick out at my sides. I cannot reach both feet at the same time – when I reach down for one I inevitably find myself twisting my torso to reach – if I do grab one foot my other arm cannot move down and back enough to grasp the other. I’ve stopped trying to reach down in the pose for now and am trying to focus just on the backwards bending, but it still feels like a tight band across the front of my shoulders in this pose that’s very uncomfortable/painful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer! I am very excited to be back to my practice and want to be sure I’m doing everything I can to stay motivated and uninjured while I transition back into it.

Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
Forum Owner

March 1, 2016 at 11:38 pm

Post count: 3048

#21277

Hi kleigh

Thank you so much for your details. It’s great that you’re applying some of the principles in my manual and that you can feel them working. It’s time to get a little creative. Here’s an idea for you: In half moon, instead of hands over head with arms straight(ish) grab the elbows so that the arms are in a ‘square’ above your head. You should find it a little easier than extended arms. You can also try it with palms forward without closing the hands. Draw the elbows backwards.

In Camel, if your elbows unduly move out the side then you can probably see and fell your shoulders are rolling forward and inward. This is counterproductive. You can apply the technique suggested above and drop the head back once the arms are folded similarly (elbows in fingers) behind you. Just push hips forward to the extent that you can keep the neck relaxed and feel shoulders externally rotate (and that stretch across the front of the shoulders).

In Eagle leave twisted arms out of the equation for a while. You can try the arms behind approach. Your issue is tightening you across the shoulders at the front because of this inward rotation of the shoulders

If these things don’t work then we may need to make a Skype appointment.

Keep me posted

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂
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