SaraBethYoga: 20 Minute Deep Stretch Yoga for Neck & Shoulders

20 Minute Deep Stretch Yoga for Neck & Shoulders is exactly what the title implies, deep stretching for your neck and shoulders using a bolster. As I’ve mentioned in another SaraBethYoga review, I bought a bolster for other reasons that did not work out for me, so I searched for “bolster yoga” on YouTube so I could find a way to use my bolster. That is how I discovered SaraBethYoga. She has a lot of practices I plan to try. Between SaraBethYoga and Yoga Ranger, there are lots of restorative and Yin Yoga practices I can do using my bolster. Anyway, this one is pretty gentle, which I need because of recent shoulder surgery. I was not able to do a full eagle arm pose with my left arm but Sara offers a modified version that felt nice. Other than that, this was a gentle and relaxing practice that stretched out both my neck and shoulders nicely.

20 Minute Deep Stretch Yoga for Neck & Shoulders uses a bolster and a fitness mat. Optional for tight hamstrings: folded blanket.

1. Sit on bolster with legs crossed and hands on knees and take deep breaths; drop chin to chest and continue taking deep breaths; slowly arch neck back then round spine, dropping chin to chest again, continue flowing between these two positions (a sort of seated cat/cow)
2. Still sitting cross-leg on bolster, clasp hands behind back and lift them behind you, expanding chest; bring clasped hands around to one side of waist and hold while also tilting head in the same direction, stretching neck
3. Still sitting cross-leg on bolster, do a spinal twist with one hand on knee and other on mat behind you
4. Still sitting cross-leg on bolster, do neck circles
5. Sit on mat with legs extended in front of you and bolster under knees, do eagle arm pose in this position; hinge forward over legs so arms (still in eagle arm pose) rest on bolster between legs
6. Place hands on mat behind you, feet on ground and knees bent, lift torso into reverse table top
7. Repeat #5 with arm position reversed
8. Repeat #6
9. Child’s pose with bolster between thighs, arms on mat on either side of bolster and head resting on bolster
10. With legs together and bent, one hip on floor and bottom thigh against the short edge of the bolster, torso/head lies on top of bolster and arms are on floor on either side of the bolster
11. Repeat #10 on other side of body

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