Yin Yoga for Full Shoulder Flexibility & Release

Yin Yoga for Shoulder Flexibility & Release is my first fairly long Yin Yoga practice. And it wasn’t as difficult to get through as I thought it would be. My shoulder pain is getting worse, not better, but I don’t blame that on the therapeutic things I am doing (Yin Yoga and Classical Stretch). I blame it more on doing so many plank based exercises and (modified) push ups. So I am continuing to do workouts like this to help me get through this re-strengthening period.

This was a very good Yin Yoga practice. It is a Yoga Ranger workout led by Aprille Walker and free on YouTube. As always, she is very calm and soothing throughout the practice. One of her cats is snoozing on a  pillow nearby. I found all of the poses (not counting the transitional poses) uncomfortable. Not painful and not so uncomfortable I couldn’t hold the pose but I definitely felt every single Yin pose in my shoulders. I am hoping that is a good thing because they really need some help. The transitional poses all felt good.

Yin Yoga for Full Shoulder Flexibility & Release is 30 minutes. Equipment: rolled up blanket. I tried using my cylinder pillow and it was too soft so I swapped it out for a rolled up yoga mat. That worked much better. It was obviously more uncomfortable than the pillow but the pillow wasn’t raising me up into fish pose like the yoga mat did. Aprille gives easier options for some of the poses.

1. Supported fish pose w/ rolled up blanket under upper back for 3 minutes; shift shoulders so they are now touching the floor (still supported fish pose), hold for 1 minute
2. Sit cross-leg on rolled up blanket with eagle arm pose, take a deep breath reaching arms upward, hold for about 20 seconds then fold torso forward (arms still in eagle arm pose) hold for 1 minute then raise eagle arms again toward ceiling
3. Repeat #2 w/ arm positions swapped
4. Sit up, wrap one arm behind you then lay on back, on top of arm, reach other arm behind head w/ elbow on floor, hold for 2 minutes
5. Lay on side w/ knees bent, bottom arm extended out straight on floor, other arm extended on top of it, sweep top arm from bottom hand, overhead and to other side then sweep back to start (draw a rainbow overhead), do this 3x then remain on back, bent legs to one side, both arms extended open out to sides in a T, hold for about 30 seconds
6. Repeat #4 on other side of body for about 1:30 minutes
7. Repeat #5 on other side of body
8. Twisted ropes: lay on belly, cross arms under chest so arms/hands are extended out to opposite sides of the body, hold for 2 minutes
9. Still on belly, cross hands under forehead and rest in this position for 20 seconds
10. Repeat #8 with arms swapped for 1:30 minutes
11. Repeat #9
12. Still in belly, place arms on floor on either side of head in cactus pose (goal post), roll as far onto one side as possible, pushing up on one hand (other arm is still in cactus) and hold for 1:30 minutes
13. Return to cactus pose and hold for about 15 seconds
14. Repeat #12 on other side of body
15. Repeat #13
16. Puppy pose for 30 seconds
17. Lay on back, legs open wide, raise arms overhead, on the floor with fingers interlaced so palms face outward, hold for 30 seconds; unlace hands and open them out to sides in goal post (or whatever is comfortable) for 1:30 minutes (corpse pose); bend knees, feet on floor and stretch arms overhead; roll onto side into fetal pose and rest for a few breaths
18. Sit on knees, raise arms overhead and lower them into prayer

For more info on Yoga Ranger and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.