Vinyasa Yoga Practice 16: Neck Tension Release

Release neck tension, open tight shoulders, and improve thoracic spine mobility with this strong but targeted vinyasa practice. In 40 minutes you can build strength and gain mobility at the same time.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to an All Levels Vinyasa practice.

My name is Rebecca and today's practice will be focused on releasing shoulders,

Upper back and neck tension.

We'll start out on hands and knees.

Knees under your hips,

Hands under your shoulders.

And begin moving with your breath.

A few cat-cows here to warm up.

Inhale,

Lift your chin,

Drop your belly,

Roll the shoulders back and lift your tailbone.

Exhale,

Tuck the tailbone,

Draw the navel toward your spine,

Round your upper back and bring your chin toward your chest.

Inhale,

Looking up,

Lifting chin and tailbone.

Exhale,

Tuck the tail,

Chin to chest,

Navel to spine.

Inhale,

Drop the belly,

Lift the chin,

Lift the tailbone,

Look up.

Exhale,

Tuck the tail,

Chin to chest,

Navel to spine.

Coming into neutral,

Straighten your legs back,

Coming into plank pose or high push-up position.

Take a breath here.

On an exhale,

Lower down to your belly.

Make sure your hands are down alongside the ribs,

Elbows close to the body.

Slide the shoulders back,

Elongate the back of your neck and press the forehead down into the floor or mat.

On an inhale,

Slowly press your way into a cobra pose.

Ribs,

Belly and thighs will stay on the floor.

Just lift your chin,

Pull the shoulders back,

Press into the floor.

Use your upper back muscles as you lift your head and look forward.

On an exhale,

Release the pose,

Lower down,

Slide the shoulder blades once again as you touch your forehead to the floor.

Do that a few more times.

Inhale,

Lifting into cobra,

Pressing through the floor,

Using your upper back,

Extending your neck.

Exhale,

Lower down,

Slide shoulder blades back,

Touch forehead to the floor.

Inhale back up into cobra.

Exhale lowering back down.

Inhale,

Lift to cobra.

Exhale down.

Push back up to all fours and push into child's pose.

Take a seat back on your heels.

You can have knees together or knees wide.

Forehead,

If it doesn't rest on the floor,

Grab a block or a cushion and rest your forehead.

Walk your hands over to the right,

Extending your body off the side of the mat.

Feel a long stretch down the left side of your body.

Take a full deep breath here.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Come back to center and walk your hands over to the left,

Off the left side of the mat.

Take a full deep breath here.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Come back to center.

Push up to all fours and exhale back to downward facing dog.

You can bend one knee and the other here,

Stretching out your calves,

Your hamstrings,

Moving your hips from side to side if you like.

Let your neck release,

Let your head go.

Turn your head and look over underneath the right arm and draw your chin down towards your chest on a diagonal.

Come back to center.

Take a breath in.

Turn your head,

Look underneath the left arm,

And as you exhale,

Bring the chin down towards your chest on a diagonal.

Come back to center.

Look forward between your hands,

Step or jump your feet to the front.

Inhale,

Halfway lift,

Either up to the fingertips or hands on shins.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Sweep your arms out and up.

Exhale,

Hands in prayer at heart center.

Inhale,

Sweep your arms out and up.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Halfway lift.

Exhale,

Step or float your feet back into plank and lower down your choice,

Either to the belly or knees,

Chest and chin or chaturanga dandasana.

Inhale,

Cobra or upward facing dog.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Three breaths.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Look forward,

Step or float your feet to the front.

Inhale,

Halfway lift.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Sweep your arms out and up.

Exhale,

Hands in prayer at heart center.

Coming into chair pose.

Bend your knees,

Lean back on your heels,

And bring your hands together in prayer at heart center,

And we'll take a twist here.

Take a breath in.

On an exhale,

Twist to the right.

You can bring the left elbow over the right knee and keep the hands in prayer.

Option two,

Take a twist to the right,

Bring the right hand to the right hip and the back of the left hand to the outside of the right knee.

Hold here for three breaths.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Inhale,

Back to center.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Halfway lift.

Exhale,

Step or jump back,

Lower down,

Your choice.

Inhale,

Cobra or upward facing dog.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Coming into humble warrior.

Step the right foot forward between your hands and pivot the left heel down.

Lift your torso upright.

Interlace or clasp your hands behind your back or use a strap.

Roll your shoulders back,

Lift the heart,

Look upward.

Exhale,

Deepen the lunge.

Lean forward,

Bring the right ribs down alongside the right thigh as you reach your hands up towards the ceiling or up overhead.

Look down at the left heel.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up.

Release your hands.

Straighten the right leg,

Moving into triangle pose.

On an exhale,

Open your hips toward the left.

Pull the right hip back toward the left heel.

Lean forward,

Bring the right hand down to the right shin or to the floor or a block just inside the right foot.

Bring the left hand to the left hip.

Maybe reach it up to the ceiling or bring it into a half bind where you wrap the left arm back behind you.

Place it in the small of your back and slide the left hand down and hold the inside of the right hip.

Look down over the right hand.

Inhale,

Turn your head and look up to the ceiling.

Exhale,

Turn your head and look down back to the right hand.

Inhale,

Looking up.

Exhale,

Looking down.

Inhale,

Looking up.

Exhale,

Look down.

Inhale,

Look up.

Exhale,

Look down.

Inhale,

Come up.

Pivot your left heel up towards the ceiling as you square up your hips toward the front,

Coming into a revolved side angle pose.

Bring the hands to prayer at heart center.

Take a breath in,

Exhale,

Take a twist,

Bring the left elbow over the right knee.

Option to bring your left knee down to the floor.

Breathe in,

Breathe out one.

Breathe in,

Breathe out two.

Breathe in,

Breathe out two.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in,

Breathe out four.

Breathe in,

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Back to center.

Bring both hands to the floor on either side of the right foot.

Step back into plank pose.

Exhale,

Lower down,

Your choice.

Inhale,

Cobra or upward facing dog.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Take a breath here,

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

Look forward,

Step or float your feet to the front.

Inhale,

Halfway lift.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Sweep your arms out and up.

Exhale,

Hands in prayer at heart center,

Mountain pose.

Moving into chair pose.

Bend your knees,

Lower your seat back,

Lean back on your heels.

Take the same twist variation that you did on the other side.

Hands to prayer at heart center.

Exhale,

Take a twist to the left.

Option one,

Back of the right hand to the outside of the left knee,

Left hand to the left hip as you twist,

Or right elbow over the left knee,

Hands stay in prayer.

Five breaths,

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Back to center.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Halfway lift.

Exhale,

Step or float back to plank,

Lower down,

Your choice.

Either the belly,

Knees,

Chest and chin or chaturanga.

Inhale,

Cobra or upward facing dog.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Coming into humble warrior on the left.

Step your left foot forward between your hands,

Pivot the right heel down.

Lift your torso upright,

Clasp your hands behind your back or use a strap here.

Inhale,

Roll your shoulders back and lift the heart.

Exhale,

Deep lunge in the left knee,

And bring the left ribs down alongside the left thigh.

Hands reach up towards the ceiling or up overhead behind you.

Five breaths,

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up,

Release the strap or the clasp in your hands.

Straighten the left leg,

Moving into triangle pose.

Hips start to turn toward the right as you pull the left hip back toward the right heel.

On an exhale,

Reach the left hand down toward the left shin or the floor or a block.

Bring the right hand to the right hip or up to the ceiling,

Maybe take a half bind.

Look down over the left hand.

Inhale,

Turn your head and look up towards the ceiling or up over your thumb.

Exhale,

Turn your head and look back down over the left hand.

Inhale,

Looking up.

Exhale,

Looking down.

Inhale,

Looking up.

Exhale,

Looking down.

Inhale,

Look up.

Exhale,

Look down.

Inhale,

Come upright.

Release your hands.

Bring the left heel upward,

Coming into revolved side angle.

Bring the hands to prayer at heart center.

Option to bring the right knee down to the floor if you like.

On an exhale,

Take a twist,

Bring the right elbow over the left knee.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come back to center.

Bring both hands to the floor on either side of the left foot.

Step back into plank pose.

On an exhale,

Lower down,

Your choice.

Inhale,

Cobra or upward facing dog.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Take a breath here.

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

Come down to hands and knees.

Let your knees be hip distance apart.

Bring your torso upright as we move into camel pose.

Tuck your toes under so your feet are flexed and your heels are closer to your body.

Option one,

Place your hands on the back of your hips.

Option two,

Reach back and grab onto your heels.

Lengthen upright.

As you shift your body forward,

Lift your heart.

You can look forward up at the ceiling or drop your head back and look to see what's behind you.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up.

And we'll come back to hands and knees.

Getting ready for thread the needle.

We'll do some active release technique first before we get into thread the needle.

Keep the left hand under your left shoulder and make sure your knees are underneath your hips.

Place the right hand on the back of your head.

On an inhale,

Reach the right elbow up to the ceiling as you look up.

Exhale,

Reach the right elbow down toward the left elbow.

Inhale,

Right elbow back up.

Exhale,

Right elbow to left elbow.

Inhale,

Right elbow up.

Exhale,

Right elbow down.

Inhale,

Reaching up.

And this time,

As you exhale,

We'll thread the needle and bring the right shoulder down to the floor.

Extend the right arm out straight and slide it underneath the left arm.

Bring the right side of your head down to the floor.

You can keep the left hand next to your face or slide the left hand up to the top of the mat.

Option to extend the left leg back,

Toes on the floor.

Five breaths.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Slide the left hand in next to your face,

And bring the left knee down,

And push yourself back up to all fours.

Come upright once again on your knees,

Moving into camel pose.

If camel pose is easy for you,

You can go a little bit further and place the tops of your feet on the mat so that your toes are pointed back.

If you'd rather,

You can tuck the toes under again so the feet are flexed and heels are a little bit closer to you.

Option one,

Hands go to the back of your pelvis,

Shoulders roll back,

Heart lifts.

Option two,

Reach back and grab onto your heels.

Look forward,

Up at the ceiling,

Or drop your head back.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up,

And we'll come back to hands and knees.

We'll thread the needle on the other side,

Doing the active release technique first.

Place your left hand behind your head,

Right hand on the floor under the right shoulder.

Inhale,

Reach the left elbow up towards the ceiling.

Exhale,

Left elbow reaches over toward the right elbow.

Inhale,

Left elbow up.

Exhale,

Down.

Inhale,

Up.

Exhale,

Down.

Inhale,

Up.

Exhale,

Down.

Inhale,

Up.

And this time,

We'll thread the needle and bring the left arm extended out toward the left side and slide it underneath the right hand.

And left shoulder comes down to the mat,

Left side of your head down to the mat.

You can keep the right hand next to your face or straighten out the right arm and slide it up toward the top of the mat.

Option to extend the right leg back,

Toes on the floor.

Holding here,

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Slide the right hand in next to your face.

Push yourself back up to all fours.

Keep your hips over your knees,

Coming into puppy pose.

Walk your hands forward and bring your forehead down to the floor.

Maybe bring your chin or your chest down to the mat.

Extend your arms,

Elbows straight,

Active puppy pose.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Bring your hands back in.

Come up to all fours and take a seat.

Extend both legs straight forward.

From here,

Bend the right knee in toward your chest and place the right foot on the floor next to the left thigh.

We'll take a twist to the right.

Right hand to the floor behind you.

Wrap the left arm around the front of the right shin,

Or cross the left arm around to the outside of the right leg.

Option to bend the left elbow and straighten the fingers up toward the ceiling as you press into that leg for the twist,

Or you can straighten the left elbow and hold on to the right foot.

Lift the spine nice and tall.

Exhale,

Turn your head and look over the right shoulder.

Five breaths.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Come back to center.

Moving into marichyasana one.

Keep the left leg extended forward and the right knee pointing up.

If you're working your way into this pose,

Bring your left hand out to the floor at about 9 o'clock and reach the right hand over and hold on to the left toes.

Option to grab a strap here and loop it around the sole of the left foot.

Just stay here,

Keeping both sitting bones toward the floor and just leaning forward,

Opening up the lower back and right hip.

Going into the full pose,

Wrap the right arm around the front of the right shin as you reach back and grab onto the left wrist behind your back.

Inhale,

Lengthen.

Exhale,

Coming into a forward fold.

Forehead reaches down toward the left knee.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Release the pose.

Inhale,

Come up,

Moving into diamond pose.

Open the right knee out to the side and then bend your left knee and bring the soles of both feet together.

Push your feet out and away from you about two feet so that your legs come into a diamond shape.

Inhale,

Extend the spine upward.

On an exhale,

Tilt your pelvis forward and reach down.

Grab onto your ankles or your feet.

Don't pull here,

Just let gravity do most of the work.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up and extend both legs forward.

Taking Marichi's twist to the left,

Bend your left knee in toward your chest,

Left foot on the floor.

Left foot's about five inches away from the inside of the right thigh.

Left hand on the floor behind the left sitting bone.

You can wrap the right arm around the left leg as you turn the head and look over the left shoulder or you can cross the right arm over to the outside of the left thigh.

Option to straighten the right arm and hold onto the left ankle or foot.

Inhale,

Lengthen the spine upward.

Exhale,

Take your twist,

Look over the left shoulder.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Back to center.

Coming into Marichi Asana two.

Keep the left knee pointed up to the ceiling and the left foot on the floor.

If you're working your way into the pose,

Bring the right hand to the floor at three o'clock and reach the left hand over and hold onto the right toes or even loop that foot with a strap.

Coming into Marichi Asana two.

Lean forward and wrap the left arm around the left shin and hold onto the right wrist behind your back.

Inhale,

Lengthen one more time.

Exhale,

Tilt the pelvis forward,

Come into your forward fold.

Forehead down toward the right knee.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up,

Release the pose.

Extend the left leg forward next to the right.

Open the legs wide,

Coming into a wide-legged seated forward fold.

Toes pointed up to the ceiling.

Inhale,

Lift the spine upward.

Exhale,

Tilt the pelvis forward.

Bring your hands to the floor in front of you.

Walk your hands forward as far as you can go.

You can maybe make a pillow with your hands and rest your forehead down if you're almost to the floor.

Breathe in.

Breathe out one.

Breathe in.

Breathe out two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out three.

Breathe in.

Breathe out four.

Breathe in.

Breathe out five.

Inhale,

Come up.

Bring your legs back together.

Lie down flat on your back for final relaxation.

Wiggle your hips and your legs.

Let your feet be a foot or two apart.

Let your legs be relaxed.

Tuck the shoulder blades under.

Bring the arms down alongside you,

Palms facing up if you can.

A little bit of space between your hands and your hips.

Relax your feet,

Your ankles,

And your calves.

Relax your thighs and your hamstrings.

Relax your hips and glutes.

Lower back,

Lower belly.

Relax your abdomen.

Relax your middle and upper back.

Your ribs.

Your chest.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your neck,

Your jaw,

Your tongue,

And your face.

Just keep your awareness on the physical body.

Bring your awareness to the center of your chest.

Imagine the breath coming in through the center of your chest and then out through the forehead.

Take another breath like that and then slowly start to awaken the body by moving your hands and your feet.

Give yourself a long stretch.

Bend your knees,

Feet on the floor,

Roll over to one side and push yourself up to sit.

Bring your hands together in prayer at heart center and by your forehead down to your fingertips.

Thank you for practicing yoga with me today.

Be well and enjoy the rest of your day.

Reviews

You nailed it with this upper back flow! Especially helpful when traveling! Thanks Rebecca, you rule!