Seated Gentle Yoga - Upper Back Stretch

In this seated chair yoga practice, I will guide you through a gentle upper back and shoulder stretch. In this practice, we will explore some gentle yoga-inspired movements to work the spine in all six directions, targeting specifically relief for the neck and upper back. All you need is a comfortable seat (or take the practice standing, if you prefer).

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Caroline and today I've brought for you a gentle seated practice that will help relieve stress and tension in your head,

Neck,

And upper back.

For this practice,

All you need is a chair or somewhere comfortable to sit with your feet planted firmly on the ground.

So whenever you're ready,

Go ahead and get started by finding a comfortable seat.

Bring your heels underneath your knees and let your feet relax onto the surface beneath you.

Settle into your seat,

Bringing your shoulders back over your hips,

Allowing your hands to relax in your lap or wherever they feel comfortable.

Take a deep breath in and sit up tall,

Imagining a string pulling the top of your head up to the sky or the ceiling.

And then on your exhale,

Let your shoulders relax and soften in your entire body.

Take two more deep breaths just like that.

Maybe even close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so.

Sit up tall,

Creating space between each vertebrae in your spine,

And then exhaling,

Settling,

And softening into your seat.

One more full breath.

Next,

Bring your hands up to the back of your head and interlace your finger as if you were lounging in the grass on a sunny afternoon.

Your elbows are out wide.

On an inhale,

Tilt your head up toward the ceiling,

Lifting through your chin,

Sending your elbows out as wide as they'll go.

And on your exhale,

Drop your chin toward your chest,

Bring your elbows to touch in front of you.

And take three more just like that.

With your breath,

Inhale to lift up,

Chin to the sky,

Finding a small backbend here as you look up,

Send your elbows out wide.

And then on your exhale,

Round forward,

Chin to chest,

Bring your elbows to touch.

Notice the movement in your shoulders as you inhale,

Come back up,

Imagine your shoulder blades pinching a pencil right in the center of your back.

And then on your exhale,

Imagine your shoulder blades drawing apart as wide as they can,

Making lots of space in your back.

Last time,

As you inhale,

Look up,

Squeeze your back,

Find a small bend,

And then exhale,

Gently round forward,

Bring your elbows as close as they'll come together,

And we'll hold here for the next few breaths.

Try not to pull on your head with your hands,

But rather let your hands rest gently and focus instead on the opening and stretching through your back while drawing your shoulder blades apart.

Take another full breath in and out.

And on your next inhale,

Gently unbind your hands,

Let them come down,

And lift your chin back up,

Coming to your neutral spine.

Next we'll bring the hands behind your back,

Interlace your fingers so that they make a fist,

And then bring this fist over to your left hip.

Bring your right ear down to the right shoulder,

Creating a stretch in the neck.

Keep dropping your left shoulder away from your left ear,

And also drop the right shoulder away from that right ear.

On your next inhale,

Keeping your head tilted to the right side,

Slowly circle your chin up toward the ceiling.

And on your exhale,

Rotate back down,

Ear to shoulder,

Till your chin comes down to your chest,

Drawing half a circle here only.

We'll take three more.

Inhale to roll up through center and up to the top,

Chin tilts up to the ceiling.

And exhale,

Rotate slowly back down,

Chin toward your chest.

Let your breath drive the whole movement,

Slowly roll up as you inhale,

Noticing each point of the circle that you're drawing up.

And as you exhale,

Notice each point of the circle that you pass through on the way down.

Last one,

Inhale up.

And exhale down.

Inhale now,

Bring your right ear back toward center on that right shoulder.

And take another few breaths right here.

Keep relaxing through both shoulders,

Drawing them down,

But still keeping them wide,

Not drawing down and pinching together,

But keeping space and openness in your back.

As you create relaxation through the neck.

Another full breath in and out.

And on your next inhale,

Bring your head up through center,

Your fist with interlace fingers,

Change it now over to your right hip behind your back.

And bring your head,

Your left ear over to your left shoulder.

Check in first with where your shoulders are,

Drop them down away from the ears,

Relax into this stretch.

And then we'll find movement on your next inhale,

Keeping your head tilted to the left,

Slowly allow your chin to roll up toward the ceiling.

And on your exhale,

Roll back down through that midpoint,

Bringing your chin toward your chest,

Creating half a circle here on the left side.

We'll take three more with your breath.

So use your whole inhale to gently roll this half circle all the way back up to the top.

And take your full breath out to roll back down,

Chin to chest.

Breathe in on the way up.

Notice every point of the circle that you pass through.

And as your exhale begins,

Roll back down.

Last one,

Inhale to roll up.

And exhale to roll down.

On your next inhale,

Bring your left ear back to that left shoulder in that midpoint of your circle.

And hold here for another couple of breaths in and out through your nose.

Relaxing through the neck,

Keep broadening through your back,

Sending shoulders down in a relaxed way,

But shoulder blades still down and out wide.

Last inhale and exhale.

And then inhale,

Bring your head back up through center.

Release your hands and bring them back down comfortably to your lap.

Bring your palms together in front of your chest.

Relax through your shoulders.

And keeping a long spine,

Inhale,

Reach your palms up and behind your head so that your elbows point up to the ceiling and tap your thumbs on the back of your neck or between your shoulder blades.

On your exhale,

Bring your palms back down through to your heart center.

And we'll take that three more times.

So inhale,

Lift through your hands,

Bring them up and over your head.

Elbows point up to the ceiling as if you had a shark fin.

And then exhale,

Bring your thumbs back down to your sternum.

Again,

Notice every point of this movement.

Inhale,

Reach up,

Rotate through the shoulders,

Tap your thumbs down on your back or your neck.

And then exhale,

Bring them back down.

Last one,

Inhale,

Lift them up and over.

And exhale,

Come back down to your chest.

Extend your arms forward,

Reaching out directly in front of you and cross your right elbow over your left.

From here,

Bring your opposite hands to your opposite shoulders in a half eagle.

Keeping your hands on your shoulders,

Lift your elbows up in front of you and keep reaching your elbows forward and up,

Drawing your shoulder blades apart broadening through your back.

Take three more breaths right here.

Relax your shoulders away from your ears,

Draw your shoulder blades down and wide,

Send your elbows as far forward as they'll go.

Couple more deep breaths,

Use your exhales to keep settling into the pose.

Use your inhales to create more space.

And on your next exhale,

Gently release your shoulders,

Reach your arms back out in front of you.

And then we'll cross again with your other elbow on top.

Reach opposite hands to opposite shoulders in your half eagle arms pose.

Keep sending your elbows forward and up,

Broadened through your back,

Broadened through your shoulders.

And keep sending your elbows up and forward as far as feels comfortable.

Now to create tension through the neck here in this pose but rather keep softening down,

Relax shoulders away from ears.

Maybe even close your eyes if you feel comfortable for a couple more breaths.

Take another inhale.

And on your exhale,

Gently release your shoulders,

Bring your hands comfortably back down to your lap.

Bring your hands together again in front of your chest,

Palms touching,

And then extend your arms forward so that your fingertips are reaching away from you and your thumbs are pointing up to the ceiling.

We'll take some thoracic twists here.

And we'll begin by taking a full breath in and out.

Sit up tall and then relax in your seat here.

On your next inhale,

Keep your right hand reaching forward and then open out with your left hand and reach it out as far to the left as it will possibly go.

Exhale to sweep back through and bring left hand to meet the right.

And we'll do that three more times.

Inhale,

Maybe look as you watch your left hand open out to the left,

Finding a twist in your middle spine.

And then exhale,

Bring the palms slowly back together.

Inhale to open out,

Reaching your left hand out to the left or even behind you.

This deep of a twist is feels good.

And then exhale,

Bringing palms back together.

And last one,

Inhale,

Open out.

This time we'll hold the twist,

Your right hand is still reaching forward,

Your left hand is reaching out to the left or slightly behind you.

In a deep twist.

You can keep your right hand reaching forward or bring it down to your left knee.

Take three more deep breaths here,

Using your inhales to sit up just a little bit taller.

Your exhales to twist just a little bit deeper,

But only as far as feels comfortable right now.

Take one more breath in.

And then on your exhale,

Gently untwist.

Let your hands relax for a moment in your lap.

Bring your palms back together.

Reach and extend your arms back out in front of you,

Fingertips point away from your body,

Thumbs point up,

Palms are touching.

And then a small breath here,

Settle into your seat,

Relax into your shoulders.

And then on your next inhale,

Keep the left hand reaching forward and extend your right arm out wide to the right,

As far as feels comfortable,

Making a twist.

Exhale,

Bring that right hand back through center to meet the left.

And take three more of these twists.

Inhale to open out,

Maybe let your gaze follow that right hand out wide open to the right.

And let your gaze follow as it comes back all the way through center reaching forward.

Notice the movement in your back,

Inhale to open out wide,

Taking this gentle twists from the middle of your spine.

Exhale back.

And last one,

Let your inhale really engage through this whole motion,

Reach out as wide as feels good as far as you can right now.

And we'll hold this twist.

So either keep your left hand extending forward as your right hand extends out wide or back,

Or bring your left hand to rest on that right leg.

Gently encourage your twist just a little bit deeper for three breaths.

Remember to inhale,

Create space and sit up taller and exhale soften into your twist.

Take one more breath in,

And then exhale unwind out of your twist,

Bring your hands back to rest on your lap.

And we'll take one more twist variation here.

So with your feet planted on the floor underneath your knees,

Slowly widen your stance so that your knees are pointed out more to the sides.

Take an inhale sweep your arms out wide reach up overhead,

And then exhale fold forward as far as feels comfortable in your seat.

If your hands,

Reach the ground where you're sitting,

Then walk your hands over toward your left foot.

If your hands don't reach the ground,

Then that's fine bring your hands over toward your left knee.

You can stay right here,

Or for a deeper twist,

Inhale reach your left hand up toward the ceiling.

And then exhale bring it back down.

And we'll take that three more times.

Inhale reach the left hand up for the ceiling,

Maybe even look up as your hand reaches high and exhale bring it back down.

Twice more with your breath.

Again,

Notice all points on this arc as you sweep your arm open,

Reaching high.

And then notice all points that your hand passes through again on the way down.

And on this last inhale reach up high and hold this pose for just another couple of breaths keep reaching up higher with each inhale,

Relax into your twist with each exhale.

Take one more breath in.

And on your exhale bring your left hand down.

Walk your hands back through center,

And then over to the right foot,

Or bring your hands over toward your right knee.

On your inhale sweep the right hand up toward the ceiling.

And on your exhale bring your right hand back down.

We'll take that three more times.

Inhale maybe even watch your right hand as it reaches up.

And then continue to follow the hand as it comes back down.

Use your entire inhale sweep all the way open and up.

And use your entire exhale to come back down.

Last time reaching up on your inhale this time hold the pose for a couple of deep breaths.

Keep reaching through all of your fingertips up toward the ceiling.

Keep engaging in your twist,

Relaxing through your shoulders.

Take another deep breath in.

And then exhale gently bring the right hand back down.

Bring your hands back down through center.

Hang out here in your forward fold for just a couple breaths.

Again allow your shoulder blades to come apart.

Without forcing your shoulders up by your ears just really allow your back to round create space in the entire upper back.

And then gently shake and nod your head here if it's hanging in space.

Take a full breath in through your nose.

Open your mouth and sigh it out.

Inhale slowly roll back up to your seat.

Interlace your fingers again behind your back.

Press your fist down into the seat of your chair behind you and lift up through your chest,

Taking a Cobra Pose here a gentle backbend.

You can keep your head and neck in line with your spine gently looking up at the wall in front of you or maybe even up to where the wall in the ceiling meet.

Or add on a little bit more of a neck stretch here and inhale tilt your chin up toward the ceiling.

Look up as far as you can.

And then exhale slowly drop your chin back down to your chest.

And take that three more times.

Inhale,

Lift your chin up and back.

Exhale,

Drop your chin down to your chest.

Keep nodding your head up and down with your breath.

But remember to keep lifting up through your chest,

Imagining even that a string is pulling your heart right up to the ceiling.

Stay lifted,

Pressing your fist down into the chair.

Drop your shoulders away from your ears.

One more full breath.

And on your next exhale,

Gently relax out of the pose.

Unwind your hands and bring your hands down to your lap or wherever feels good.

Allow your eyes to close if that's okay.

And reconnect with your breath.

Breathe in and out through your nose.

Take a quick scan through your body.

Take a quick scan through your upper body.

Starting with your head.

Check in with your facial expression.

Notice if your eyebrows are furrowed together,

Or if your eyes feel strained,

Or if your jaw is clenched.

Wherever you can soften,

Use your next exhale to relax all of the muscles of your face.

Take a quick scan through your neck,

Your shoulders,

Your upper back.

Notice if your shoulders creep up to your ears,

And if they do what's happening in your mind when that does.

Try to soften with your next exhale.

Scan all along down your spine.

Noticing anywhere that feels tight or tense still,

But also noticing everywhere that feels good.

Just a few brief minutes each day to move your spine in all six directions will help encourage this mobility,

This pain-free movement,

And a healthy support.

Take another deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Whenever you feel ready,

Gently blink your eyes open and have a great rest of your day.

Thank you so much for practicing with me today.

May you always see your inner courage,

Speak your strengths,

And hold joy in your heart.

Namaste.

Reviews

Such a wonderful seated practice with excellent guidance. Your track has become part of my daily chair and bed yoga routine. I do appreciate the chair options, as they are effective but much easier on my body. With gratitude...🪷😌🪷

Hello beautiful 🌸🎀🌸🎀🌸Thank you so much for the amazing chair yoga 🎀I’m feeling like a relaxing cat 🐈‍⬛and smile 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

I’m recovering from some medical issues and this was great! Nice, gentle movements. Thank you!