Full Somatic Shoulder Reset

This gentle somatic shoulder class is designed to improve mobility, reduce pain and tension, and help your shoulders move with greater ease and comfort. Through slow, mindful movements, you'll explore the connection between the shoulders, chest, upper back, neck, and nervous system, creating change without forcing or stretching. This practice may be helpful for shoulder stiffness, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff irritation, shoulder impingement, rounded shoulders, neck and upper back tension, and reduced shoulder range of motion. Please note that this practice does not replace professional medical advice or care. Move slowly, stay within your comfort zone, and never push or force through pain.

Transcript

Take a comfortable seated or standing position. We're going to test our shoulder range of motion before and after the practice. Raise the left arm. Up in front of you, Keeping the arms straight. And go up until you feel any resistance, Pain or tension. Once you reach that point, Stop breathing. And note. Note how far you can go. Before slowly drifting it down. And test this out on the other side. Lifting the arm directly. Straight in front of you. Noting the range of motion. And then drop it back down. Begin by laying on your back. Legs straight. Relax your forehead. Feel the floor underneath your shoulder blades. Consciously melt the shoulders down. Into the ground. Notice if you're carrying your weight. Evenly between the shoulder blades. Notice if one side is touching the floor more than the other. Drop your breath down into your diaphragm. Allow your belly to expand up to the ceiling with every breath. Here we're becoming aware of the body. Beginning to calm the nervous system. In preparation for this practice. Bend your knees, Keeping the feet hip width apart. Bring your arms. Out. To 90 degrees. From here bend the elbows to 90 degrees. This is our cactus position. It's okay if the hands do not touch the floor. Rest in a position that is most comfortable for you. Here we're moving the shoulders into external rotation. And again. Feel the weight of the shoulder blades on the floor. And notice any imbalance between the left and the right. From this position. Keeping the elbows on the floor. We're going to lift. The hands up. To the ceiling. Keeping the wrists nice and relaxed. And slowly. Move the hands. Down to the floor. Flipping the cactus from upwards to downwards. Moving so slowly. Bringing the shoulders into internal rotation. And stopping where you feel any resistance. And slowly move the hands back up to the ceiling. And back to our beginning cactus position. And flip them downwards again. Moving in slow motion like you're underwater. Or in a dream. Elbows firmly on the floor. As you flip the hands up and down. Really feel the movement of the shoulders and the sockets. Feel the shoulder blades on the ground. How they move as you flip your hands. And bring the arms back up to the beginning cactus position. Resting here. We're going to repeat the same movement. However, This time, We're going to add in more movement. Through the chest and mid back. Slowly flip the palms down again. And this time as the palms near the ground. Allow the shoulder blades to come up. Off the floor. Bringing the shoulder joints forward. Compressing the chest. And now bring the shoulder blades back down to the floor. Flip the hands. Back up to the cactus position. And this time. Let your mid back. Leave the ground. Arching through the spine. Opening the chest. And flip the hands back down. Bringing the mid back. Down to the surface. And allow the shoulder blades to lift up. Off the floor. As you flip downwards. Allowing the hands to actually reach the floor. And then flipping back upwards again. Gluing the shoulder blades down. And letting the mid-back leave the ground. As you flip up into character. Repeat this movement a few more times. Enjoying the feeling. Enjoying the stretch of the shoulder capsule and the muscles. Always listening to your body. Breathing down into the diaphragm. Complete your last one. Bringing the arms up into the cactus position again. Resting here. Noticing the relaxation through the shoulders. Keep the right arm where it is. And flip. The left. Arm down. So we have one upwards cactus and one downwards cactus. From here. We're going to flip positions. Bring both hands up to the ceiling. And continue the movement. To flip the left arm up. And the right down. And again. Moving so slowly. Moving the hands at the exact same time. Letting your eyes go heavy. Allowing the body to move where it wants. Lifting the shoulder blade. Complete the last one. Bring the arms back up. To our cactus position. If it's comfortable for you, You may leave the arms here. If not, You can place the hands on your belly. Start to roll the head. From left to right. Rotating it fully. Using only 10%. Of your energy. Letting gravity do the rest of the work. The nerves that exit from the neck. Go on to supply the shoulders. So it's very important. That we relax and decompress the neck. When we work alongside the shoulders. Head nice and heavy. You rolling from side to side. You may want to sigh or yawn during this. Allow any releases to come forth. And return the head back to center. Bring the arms. Back up to cactus position. Keep the right arm where it is. Slowly flip. The left arm down. And as you do, Roll the head to the left side. As you flip the arms. Roll the head to the right. Let the shoulder blade leave the ground. Flip the arms again. And roll the head to the left. And continue this movement. Shoulders and head. Moving as one. Always listening to your body. If this variation does not feel comfortable. Return to the previous one. And return the arms and head back to the starting position. Bring the arms down to your sides. Straighten out the legs. And once again, Roll the head from side to side. Fully relaxing the neck muscles. Bring the head back to center. And bring your attention. To the shoulder blades sitting on the floor. Notice how they feel heavier. How there's more contact. Between your body and the ground. How the chest is open. And the shoulders are sitting. Backwards in good posture. When you're ready. Bend your knees. Roll onto your side. And push yourself up. To a sitting position. And from here. We're going to retest the range of motion. Bring the arms all the way up one by one. And notice if there's any change in feeling. Or range of motion. In the shoulder joint. If this practice felt good for you. I recommend practicing every day. Thank you so much for practicing with me.