Yoga for Tight Shoulders, Neck And Upper Back Pain Relief

Feeling tight through your shoulders, neck, or upper back? This short yoga flow is designed to help. It blends stretch and strength to release tension, improve posture, and build support where you need it most. Bring a strap or tie, plus optional blocks or books.

Transcript

Hey, It's Hannah, And we're going to do a nice yoga sequence to help relieve tension in your shoulders, Neck, And upper back. All you're going to need is a yoga block and a strap or something like this, A belt, A tie, Anything like a yoga strap is great. I hope you enjoy. We're going to start in any comfortable seated position. So I'm just going to sit up on a yoga block here, Sit any way you want. I don't care how you sit, I care that you are comfortable. Once you find a comfortable seated position, Take a long, Slow, Deep breath in. As you breathe out, Feel your shoulders get heavy, And do that just one more time. Long, Slow, Deep breath in. Breathe out, Melt your shoulders down just a little bit more. Keep your shoulders heavy and just drop your left ear towards your left shoulder. Feel that stretch through the right side of your neck. If you want more, You can take a little nod with your head on this diagonal. If you want even more, You could interlace your fingers behind your back. If you want to do the most, Take those interlaced fingers and place them on your left hip. Keep your left elbow back. Big line of stretch all the way down the side of your neck, Maybe even into your shoulder. Play with another nod or two or three. Take your time. It's not about just doing more and more stretches, It's hanging out in them and letting your muscles and your fascia release. This takes a little bit of time. Come through center. Notice the difference, Right and left, And then head over to the second side. You might exhale to remind yourself to keep those shoulders heavy. Play with a nod, Bringing your hands behind your back or even over to your right hip. Keep your right elbow in. When you've had enough, Come up and find your strap or whatever you're using. We're going to do some shoulder flossing here, So take a nice wide grip and start with your hands just down in front of you. Breathe in. Keep your elbows straight. Reach your arms up. As you breathe out, Bring your hands behind you down and back. Inhale up. Exhale down. Try to keep your low ribs in as you do this. If that feels easy, Bring your hands a little bit closer. If this is happening, Or this, Or any funky stuff with your arms, You've gone too close. So imagine like this is one big piece of dental floss and you are one big tooth. That's how I remember it. Shoulder flossing. So it's a bit kind of awkward. That's how you know it's working. Just go for one more pass either direction. And if you want a little bit more, Keep your arms up. Take a lean to one side just for fun and lean to the other. Come on up. Release. You are officially done with your strap, So you can throw it out of the frame. And then we're just going to make our way down onto our backs. Once you're on your back, You can keep a bend in your knees, Feet flat on the floor. Reach your arms up to the ceiling. Bring your hands together and interlace them. Just leave your index fingers out. Try to keep your hips totally still. And we're going to send the arms over to the right. Your left shoulder blade will peel up, But not the left hip. Come back to center and go the other way. Breathe however you'd like. If your knees are moving, That's a sign your hips are moving, So keep them still. As you do this, You'll release through your upper back, Your thoracic spine, Getting some nice rotation in. And a little subtle bit of core work. When you're ready, Just let that go. Take a big stretch. And we're going to roll all the way over onto our tummies. Once you're on your stomach here, Just bring your blocks to their medium height and you can bring them just over to the top of your head. Top of your mat-ish. And then completely ignore them. Rest your forehead on your hands. Keep a slight little tuck of your chin here. And your hands are staying still. Push down into the tops of your feet. You'll feel your kneecaps lift as your quads engage. Keep your pelvis still and a little bit of activation in your core, Like you're trying to pull your abdomen away from the mat. Breathe in. As you breathe out, Just lift your head up so you can look down to your hands. You're not looking forward, Just down. And then lower. Keep that going. Lift like you're pulling your chin to the center of your throat. And lower. Feel how you get that length through the back of your neck that you wouldn't get if you were to look forward. It's not the most beautiful yoga pose, But it's so good for the upper back and the back of your neck. And then when you've had enough, Lower your head down. Keep your left hand where it is and send your right arm straight out in front of you so that your pinky finger is close to your block. So, Same idea. You're going to keep your feet pushing into the floor, Pelvis still, Core alive. Keep your elbow straight. Lift your arm up. Pass it over the block and down. Then the thumb is close to the block. And you're just going to keep passing over the block. Now, If you're feeling this in your low back, That means you're probably lifting too high and you're engaging your back. So, It's just the shoulder moving, Not the elbow. If this feels easy, Bring your block onto a higher height. It should feel challenging. You're strengthening through your shoulder, Creating space through your chest. Keep breathing slow and steady through your nose. Let's go for one more one direction, One more the other. Then you can push that block away and we'll go to the other side. So, Pinky finger is near the block, Head heavy. Lift that arm up, Up, Up. Hand passes over the block and down. The rest of your body is engaged so this doesn't go to your low back. You're strengthening the shoulder, Creating space. Make it harder by making that prop a little higher. Breathe slow in and out through your nose. Okay, Let that go. Make your way on to one side. So, Usually we would use an arm as a pillow here, But we're not going to do that today. You're going to take your hands and place them between your knees so you're not tempted to use them. Let your head fall to the side and you'll get a stretch through that top side of your neck. The next time you breathe out, Lift your head up so your ear is coming towards your shoulder. Top ear towards top shoulder and then gently lower it down. Resist the urge to pull your shoulder up to your ear. It's your ear going to your shoulder. So, You get this stretch at the bottom, Strength as you come up. I like to exhale to lift and inhale to lower, But you do whatever you want. I'll never know. When you've had enough, Release. Maybe you hang out in a little twist. Open your arms wide, Gaze away from your knees. And then you can roll over and head to the other side. So, The trick is to not use your arms, Head heavy. It's all in your neck. When you've had enough, You lower. Maybe you sneak in a little twist, Arms wide, Gaze away from your knees. Roll onto your back. Take a great big stretch. And then simply rest and breathe for as long as you'd like. I hope your shoulders, Upper back, Neck is all feeling brand new and refreshed. Thank you so much for being here with me. Take care.