Day 3: Open Your Shoulders

Welcome to day three. This practice is where some of the familiarity of what we've done so far is going to help you recognize the movement and be more at home with it. So let's begin in child's pose. Knees together, feet together, sitting back, slowly dropping your ribcage onto the thighs, arms beside you. If you can, releasing your head, releasing your arms. Consciously slowing your breath down, following the fullness of your breath through the back into the pelvic floor. Each exhale, soften the collarbones, feel the shoulders drop a little, elbows heavy, sinking towards the mat. Three to four second inhale, three to four second exhale. In each exhalation cycle, creating that connection where you meet yourself on your thighs, softening the ribs, softening the belly, feeling gravity pressing you flatter. And then taking the arms straight out to the side, in line with your shoulders, walk the hands as far apart as you can. When you feel the arms fully extended, gently press your palms flat, not aggressive. As you release, pressing into the hands, softening the collarbones, feel your shoulders drop, and as the shoulders drop, upper arms fall a little, inch your hands wider. Bending your right arm like a push-up, turn your face to the right, drop the right hip to the floor beside you. Following the fullness of your breath through the back into the right buttock, feel the skin spread a little. Each exhale, diaphragm softens, internal organs recede, simultaneously lift your right shoulder higher, press the left shoulder lower. Notice how far you've come from day one, how there's more ease in this twist, more comfort with the buttocks on the floor. With an inhale come back to the center, bending your left arm straightening your right, turn your face to the left, drop the left hip to the floor beside you. Each inhale following the fullness of your breath through the back into the left buttock, skin of the buttocks spreading. Each exhale, soften through the shoulders, soften through the belly, lifting the left shoulder higher, press the right shoulder lower. With an inhale come back to the center, again to the right, right arm bent, left arm straight, right hip to the floor, turning your face, look at the hand. Each exhale, simultaneous release through the belly, turn through the shoulders, left rib cage heavy on your thigh. With an inhale back to the center and last one to the left, lift your left shoulder, press the right shoulder down. With an inhale sit up, clench your fist lightly over your thumbs, fold over your fists, release the arms, breathe through the back into the back of the heart spreading the skin, cross your shoulder blades, each exhale, soften where the fist and ribs meet. And now gently press the knuckles up into the navel, slide the knuckles towards the pubis, then circle the knuckles back to the navel and keep circling, slowly churning the belly with your fists, change direction, circle the other way, then alternately pump your knuckles up and down rapidly, releasing the fists, arms forward, walk the hands as far forward as you can, palms flat, arms straight, soften the collarbones, armpits sink, inch the fingers forward. Breathe into the front side and back of the lungs here, notice how much more space you have even though the ribs are compressed into the front. Each exhale soften where the ribs meet your thighs, and now taking the arms behind the back, interlock your fingers, palms apart, hands over the head, keeping the arms as they are, if you want to go deeper lift your hips, roll onto the crown of your head, walk your knees back so your thighs are vertical, release your shoulders, move the hands a little further. With an inhale, release, roll out, sitting on your heels, knees wide apart near the sides of your mat, place the back of the right wrist on the side waist, drop the right elbow inside the knee to the floor, and then slowly lean. Alternative here is if this is too extreme is to just grab your arm and gently pull the arm towards the midline until you can get that elbow down inside the knee. Breathe into your right shoulder, feel the skin across the joint expanding, on the exhale soften the collarbone, feel the space open inside the joint, lean a little further. With an inhale, release, slowly coming out, change sides, back of the left wrist on the side waist, lean to your right, drop the elbow inside the knee to the floor, and then lean to the left. Turn your face, look straight down, breathe into the left shoulder, feel the skin around the joint expanding, on the exhale soften the collarbone, space opens, lean a little further. With an inhale, slowly come out, sit cross-legged, push your feet away from you a little, place your hands on the knees, as you squeeze the knees in sliding the feet out so the feet and the knees line up, pulling the flesh away from the buttocks, place your hands flat on the floor, arms straight, head in line with your neck, constant slow breath, three to four second inhale, three to four second exhale. Each exhale, we release through the shoulders, chest and belly, extend through the back of the skull, inch the fingers forward. Each inhale, like you're coming out of the pose slightly, spine rounding, each exhale releasing through the shoulders, extend through the back of the skull, if you're going deeper, inch the fingers forward.

If you're flat with your ribs on your legs, let your forehead drop. With an inhale slowly coming up, change the crossing of your legs, squeezing the knees in a little, walk the feet apart, feet and knees line up, palms flat, arms straight, slow breath. Each exhale, simultaneous release through the shoulders, chest and belly, extension through the back of the skull, if you're going deeper, inching the hands forward. So important to come out of the pose slightly with each inhale, let the fullness of your breath lift you. Each exhale, we release shoulders, chest, belly, inch the hands forward, extend the spine from the back of the skull. If you're flat, chest on the legs, let your forehead drop. And inhale, sit up, hands on the waist, head upright, release your shoulders down, elbows slightly forward, then let your head fall forward. Breathe into the back of the heart, feel the skin spread across your shoulder blades. On the exhale, top of the lung softens, heart drops, throat softens, chin drops, head drops. With an inhale, head upright, press the right hand in strongly, exhale to the right, head falls to the side. Breathe into the left lung, left shoulder and left side of the neck. Exhale, soften the right ribs, gravity takes you lower. If your elbows supported, keep releasing your head. Pull your forehead back an inch, release the left hand, extend the fingers down towards the floor, pull the forehead back another inch, slowly extend the chin forward, slowly lift your head in line with your neck, turn your face, look up, slowly pull the chin in toward your throat, extend the back of the skull. Sweep the left arm up, reach for the ceiling. If you're going for more, straight arm next to the ear, extend through the fingers. Each exhale, soften the right ribs, extend the left hand. Bending the arm, touch the back of the heart, pull the elbow back, and the hand cups the back of the skull, pull the head up, chin drops toward your throat. Release the full weight of the head into your hand. Soften the jaws, soften the tongue. Releasing the hand, clench the fist, extend the elbow over the crown of the head, looking straight up, then slowly turn your head, look straight down at the floor, extend the elbow more. Last, sweeping the arm behind your back, reach for the right wrist. As you look down, turn the heart up, and with an inhale, come back to the center. Re-adjust your hands on the waist, pressing the left hand in strongly, exhale to the left, head drops to the side, breathe into the right lung, right shoulder, and right side of the neck. Exhale, soften the left rib, sink lower. If your elbow is supported, keep releasing your head, left ear dropping towards the shoulder. Pull the forehead back an inch, release the right hand, extend the fingers down, pull the forehead back another inch, slowly extend the chin forward, slowly lift your head in line with the neck, turn your face, look up, slowly pull the chin in towards your throat, extend the back of the skull. Sweeping the right arm up, reach for the ceiling. If you want more, arm straight next to the ear, extend through the fingers, bending the arm, touch the back of the heart, pull the elbow back. With the hand, support the back of the skull, pull the head up, chin drops towards your throat, soften the tongue, soften the jaws.

Releasing the hand, clench the fist strongly, extend the elbow over the crown, looking straight up at the ceiling. Slowly turn your face, look straight down at the floor, extend the elbow more. Last, with the right arm behind the back, reach for the left wrist. As you look down, turn the heart up. And with an inhale, come back to the center. Readjust your hands, head upright, shoulders down, elbows forward, tiny circles with your head. Then slow it down, make the circles bigger. One more, finish with your head falling forward. When your head is forward, we release your collarbones, press the elbows forward, breathe into the back of the heart. Each exhale, soften the top of the lungs, heart physically sinking, throat soft, chin physically sinking, head drops. With an inhale, head upright, either direction, tiny circles. And slow the head down, make the circles bigger. Go slow, one more, finish with your head forward. When your head is forward, we release your collarbones, armpits drop, press the elbows forward. And release. Hands down at the tops of the thighs, roll the shoulders, inhale up, exhale down, inhale up, exhale down. One more, inhale up, exhale down. Turn the palms up, curl the wrists, roll the shoulders back to front, inhale up in the back, exhale down in the front. Inhale up, exhale down. One more, up and down. Keep the hands as they are, try to straighten your arms, shoulders up around your ears, and then slowly rolling the head. Change direction. And release. Arms straight out to the side, shoulder height, head upright, top of the hip bones, gently press forward without leaning forward. Re-release your collarbones, extend out through the fingers. Slow your breath down, breathing into the front, side, and back of your lungs, the full length of your torso. Each exhale, we release the collarbones, extend out through the fingers. Slowly turn your palms to face up, check your hands. Then slowly pull the fingers down, flex the heel of your palms. Spin the fingers up, pull the tips in towards your ears, press out through the hands. Then drawing the arms back, spread the skin across your chest. Feel the rhomboid muscles of the back engage. Slowly curl the wrists, curl the fingers, swinging the arms forward until they're parallel. Release your collarbones, press the wrists forward. Breathe into the back of the heart, literally feel the skin spread across your shoulder blades. Exhale, soften the top of the lung, heart sinks, simultaneously lift the spine from the back of the skull. And now extending the fingers forward, turn the palms up, bend your arms, touch your shoulders, lift the elbows, walk the fingertips down the spine. Right hand grabs the left elbow, pull the left arm behind the head, drop the right arm behind the back, hook if you can, head upright. And release, forearms together again, change, left hand grabs the right elbow, right arm behind the head, left arm behind the back, hook if you can, head upright. With an inhale, release, forearms together again, walk the fingers lower, press the elbows closer. Slowly pull the elbows out to the sides and as far back as you can. Clench the fists, pump the biceps, curl the wrists.

And then interlocking, press the palms up, arms fully extend. As you create that extension, relax your diaphragm, organs drop, tailbone sinks, simultaneously press the hands higher. Slowly draw the arms back. When you reach your maximum pause here, breathing through the back on the inhale, each exhale, soften the top of the lung, heart sinks a little, move the hands a little further back. Releasing the hands back to your shoulders, squeeze the elbows together in front of your nose, press strongly, then sliding the fingers under your shirt, pull the fingers into the trapezius muscle, pull the elbows down toward your navel, slide the chin in toward your throat, feel the support of the trapezius cradle in your neck, head at rest, slowly extend the chin up towards the ceiling. With an inhale, head upright, elbows up, exhale the hands forward, palms up, inhale the arms apart, exhale right arm crossing over the left, palm down, inhale arms apart, exhale left arm over, palm down, arms cross, inhale arms apart, exhale right arm over, left arm bending, hug the right arm into your chest, inhale release, exhale left arm over, right arm bending, inhale release, exhale sweep the arms behind you, palms face each other, lift your hands, lift your chest, keep your head upright, and turn the palms up, lift your hands higher, lift your chest higher, curl the wrists, then releasing the arms and shoulders fully, extending the fingers forward, close your eyes, hands 12 inches apart, slowly pressing the hands in, as the hands encroach each other, feeling that resistance of thick air, then slowly separating the hands, open the eyes, hook the fingers strongly, clench the fists strongly, circle the wrists, and change direction, good, release, come up onto your hands and knees, have your knees wide near the sides of your mat, hands directly under your shoulders, pull the navel up a little, tailbone down a little, keep your head upright, spine lifting through the back of the skull, turn the right wrist over, arms straight, if it's too intense move the hand closer to the knee, and then clench the fist, and release, change, turn the left wrist over, arms straight, be mindful if it's too much move the hand back, clench the fist, and now we'll try something new here, try both wrists, otherwise repeat the first side, then the second side, if you're on both wrists, clench both fists, slowly lower your chin to the floor, good, pressing up, bring your knees in, hip width, walk your hands off the side of your mat, turn the fingers out 90 degrees, drop your pelvis forward, so your pelvis is in line with your knees and shoulders, exhale down, not all the way, inhale up, exhale down, inhale up, one more, exhale down, inhale up, now we're going to move our hands wider if you need a little stick them on your hands, as the hands go wider your floor might be slippery that really helps, okay, again exhale down, inhale up, slowly exhale to the right, keep your left arm straight, only go as low as you can keep that opposite arm straight, inhale back to the middle, exhale left, right arm straight, inhale back to the middle, again to the right, left arm straight, inhale middle, again to the left, inhale back to the middle, walking the knees forward, tuck your toes forward, bring your arms forward, palms face each other, turn your left hand over, thumb down, take your right hand over the left, interlock the fingers, squeeze the palms, with your left hand pull the right hand back, with the right hand pull the left hand back, hands in the middle, slowly wind the arms forward, go slow especially here, moving the arms as straight as you can, twist your hands right, twist your hands left, wind the arms back, twist your hands right, twist your hands left, and release, left hand over the right, interlock the fingers, squeeze the palms, with your right hand pull the left hand back, with the left hand pull the right hand back, hands in the middle, slowly wind the arms forward, twist your hands left, twist your hands right, slowly wind the arms back, twist left, twist right, release, arms up, elbows bent, slowly whip your hands side to side, start slow, and then a little faster, and now as fast as you can, and release, slowly front to back, a little faster, as fast as you can, and release, right hand side to side, left hand front to back, a little faster, as fast as you can, and release, left hand side to side, right hand front to back, faster, as fast as you can, switch, switch, switch, and switch, it's getting better, and release, palms up hands together, alternate hands together, alternate, all right fingertips to the floor, lift your knees up, lift your heels up, walk your hands forward, arms straight, lean forward onto your hands, right foot only, roll onto the toenail and then roll back, so you're going for the face of the nail, again lean forward, take weight on your hands, roll onto the face of the toenail's left foot, again right foot, and again left foot, all right, now we're in one more set, you can try it both feet, or you can just do right side, left side, so right, if you're going and left, if you're on both, walk your hands back to your point of balance, and hands in Namaste if you can, and then roll onto the base knuckle of your toes, if it's too much on both, do one at a time, right side and then left side, and now dropping down onto your knees, hands of the floor behind you, lean back, if you want to go a little deeper here, lift your knees off the floor, tiny circles with the knees, change direction, good, and release, lie down on your belly, elbows under your shoulders like the Sphinx, head upright, slow your breath down, breathing through the back into the pelvic floor, on the exhale soften the sphincter muscles, soften the pubic bone, lift the spine, then lift the tops of the feet a quarter inch off the floor pointing the toes, and release, sweep your left arm across your chest, drop the shoulder to the floor, keep the arm in line with your shoulder, right arm straight beside you, palms turned up, breathe into your left shoulder, on the exhale top of the lung softens, heart drops, press your right shoulder down into the left elbow, now slowly bend your left arm, hand behind your head, bend the right arm behind your back, if you can't hook just extend your fingers towards each other, keep breathing into the left shoulder, on the exhale top of the lung softens, heart drops, press the right shoulder down towards the elbow, extend the fingers, with an inhale slowly release, change arms, right arm across the chest, shoulder to the floor, left arm beside you, palms turned up, breathe into your right shoulder, exhale top of the lung softens, heart drops, press your left shoulder down into the right elbow, keep your belly and butt soft, slowly bend your right arm, hand behind the head, slowly bend your left arm behind your back, if you can, hook the fingers, keep breathing into your right shoulder, exhale top of the lung softens, heart drops, press the left shoulder down into the right elbow, with an inhale release, left arm straight out to the side, right hand next to your armpit like a push-up, tuck your toes forward, walk your hips to the right, three to four inches, then walk your feet over in line, slowly roll to your left, lift your head, turn your face, look up, breathe into your left shoulder, on the exhale soften the diaphragm, organs drop, turn your waist more, if you're going deeper bend your right leg, foot flat, drop the right knee behind you, and then taking the right arm vertical, turn the palm to face behind you, curl the wrist down, slowly lower in the arm, keeping the elbow straight, each exhale release the diaphragm, turn your waist, if you find the left hand on the floor lift the fingers, bend the wrist backwards, with an inhale slowly coming out, other side, right arm straight out to the side, left arm bent like a push-up, tuck your toes forward, walk your hips to the left, then walk the feet over, slowly roll to your right, turn your face, look up, breathe into your right shoulder, on the exhale diaphragm releases, organs drop, turn your waist more, if you're going for more bend your left leg, foot flat, drop the left knee behind you, then take your left arm up, turn the palm to face back, curl the wrist down, slowly lower in the arm, keep the elbow straight, doesn't matter if you hook, if you're not binding, be patient, soften through the belly, turn your waist more, the hand will drop, with an inhale slowly coming out, last opener in the shoulder, sweep the left elbow across your chest, drop the left shoulder to the floor, tip of the chin on the outside of the wrist, right arm straight beside you, palm turned up, breathe into your left shoulder, exhale, top of the lung softens, heart drops, chin pressing down on the wrist, right shoulder pressing towards the elbow, then inhale, slowly release, change, breathe into the right shoulder, on the exhale soften the top of the lung, heart drops, press the left shoulder down into the right elbow, press the chin down into the wrist, with an inhale release, put your hands next to your armpits, palms down, fingers forward, tuck your toes forward, pull the navel up a little, inhale slowly, lifting the knees off the floor, with an exhale push straight up in the plank, keep your head in line with your neck, slow your breath down, soft, smooth, even breathing, if you want to go further, lean forward, rolling over the toes onto the tops of the feet, shoulders come forward over the wrists, keep your hips in line, then slowly dog pose on your toe knuckles, drop your head, lift your butt, then rolling over the toes onto the soles of the feet, slow your breath, each inhale coming out of the pose slightly, each exhale hips and shoulders soften, arms and legs lengthen, then slowly walk your hands back to your feet, take small steps with your hands, when you're standing on your feet grab your elbows, hang forward, release the back of your skull, so it doesn't matter how straight your legs are here, each inhale breathing through the back body spine rounding like you're coming out of the pose slightly, each exhale release the sphincter muscles in the skin below your navel, waist lengthens a little, re-release the weight of your head and shoulders, hips leaning forward, try to feel the texture of your mat with your feet, releasing the arms, step on your palms, tips of the toes at the wrist, lean your hips forward and lean your hips back, turn the fingers out to the side, take your hands a little wider, extend your thumbs towards your heels and step on your thumbs, leaning the hips forward, curl the fingers over the toes and then coming off the hands slowly stand head last curling the spine up straight legs, move towards the front of your mat, step your right foot in front of the left, line your feet up like you're walking a tight rope, release your collarbones extend down through the fingers, when your balance is steady close your left eye, move your attention to your navel, when you're steady at the navel close both eyes and release, change, shift your weight forward a little so the weight is even front to back, release your collarbones, extend down through the fingers, spine lifting gently from the back of the skull, when you're steady close your right eye, move your attention to your navel, when you're steady in the navel close both eyes, force your attention to stay at the navel, the feet will wobble and release, feet together, shift your weight back a little, release your shoulders, extend down through the fingers, tadasana, feel the texture of your mat with your feet, with an inhale take the arms up palms together, hold your breath touch the back of the heart still holding the breath touch the front of your heart exhale drop the head and arms curl the spine down, inhale gaze forward right leg points back front leg bends top of the back foot hits the mat look up exhale roll over the toes of the back foot step back in the dog pose inhale slowly exhale slowly hips and shoulders release arms and legs engage release your head one more inhale exhale slow till you're empty holding the breath out come forward into plank still holding the breath out halfway down inhale roll over the toes upward dog exhale halfway down roll over the toes press back downward dog inhale lunge forward with your right foot roll over the toes of the back foot look up exhale back foot steps forward straight legs release your head and shoulders inhale standing head last curling the spine up arms up gaze up exhale lower the hands other side inhale hold the breath touch the back still holding the breath touch the front exhale drop the head curl down hands release to the floor inhale gaze forward left leg points back front leg bends top of the back foot hits the mat look up exhale roll over the toes of the back foot step back dog pose two breaths here inhale slowly spine rounding exhale hips and shoulders soften arms and legs lengthen one more slow inhale slow exhale holding the breath out come forward into plank still holding the breath halfway down inhale roll over the toes upward dog exhale halfway down roll over the toes press back downward dog inhale lunging forward with the left foot roll over the toes of the back foot look up exhale back foot steps forward straight legs release your head and shoulders inhale standing curling the spine up head last look up exhale lower the hands bending the knees fingertips to the floor keeping the legs bent inhale the arms up palms together bring the arms forward if you can take the hands over your head head back chin sinking toward your throat neck resting in the trapezius each exhale soften the collarbones press the hands higher sink your hips lower with an exhale drop the chest to the thighs releasing your head and shoulders slowly straighten your legs take your feet hip width apart slowly come down into a squat let your armpits rest on your kneecaps feel the fullness of your breath through the back skin spreading the full length of your torso each exhale soften deep into the crease hip crease and groin release your collarbones and then release sitting on the floor lay down on your back lift your legs vertically upward move your legs away from you so your legs are past vertical and you feel the weight pressing your sacrum flat not your lumbar and now tiny circles with your legs keep the weight on your sacrum change direction massaging the sacroiliac joints back to the center keep your left leg vertical lower your right leg one inch off the floor you can bend this top leg if it's too extreme extend through the heels slowly change legs keep the heels flexed keep the weight on your sacrum slowly change legs change change change change change change keep going swing your legs heels flexed and now feet together both legs one inch off the floor hold and lift your legs knees bent interlock your fingers behind your head elbows resting on the floor shin bones horizontal thighs vertical move the feet away from you a little again keeping the weight heavy on the sacrum not the lumbar tiny circles with your knees change direction back to the center inhale slowly exhale right leg one inch off the floor lift your right elbow try to touch the left knee inhale down knees together elbows resting on the floor exhale left leg straight left elbow up inhale down knees together exhale right leg straight right elbow up inhale down knees together last one exhale left leg straight left elbow up inhale down exhale both legs straight heels flex lift your head pull the elbows in hold gaze at your feet good and release all right the end is in sight grab the bolster pull the bolster against your buttocks so you feel the head of your hamstring supported knees unsupported rest your hands on the floor palms turned up lift the outer shoulders away from the floor spread the skin across your shoulder blades so you feel that broadness of skin across the back and then relax your shoulders let them drop extend your fingers once keeping the fingers extended slowly remove the effort so as you release effort in the fingers there's a little less curl than before until you've completely released effort in your hands close your eyes consciously slow your breath down breathing through the back body like the floor is part of your lungs the full length of your torso each exhale release the sphincter muscles feel the genitals drop release the diaphragm abdominal organs drop soften the top of the lungs heart drops three to four second inhale three to four second exhale keep the sound of your breasts off the texture of your breasts smooth feel your bones at rest organs at rest so if you're naturally breathing now three to four second inhale three to four second exhale I want you to double it that means not breathing deeper just breathing slower so shoot for a six to eight second inhale six to eight second exhale if you think about it it's like inhaling one molecule of oxygen at a time how slow is that keep you're turning your attention to your breath from the tip of the nostrils up through the nasal passages down the back of the throat back of the heart back of the belly back of the pelvis into the pelvic floor each exhale top the lungs softens heart drops throat softens thyroid drops diaphragm softens abdominal organs drop sphincter muscles soften genitals drop in your own time slowly roll to your right rest your head on the right arm pull the bolster in between your legs in line with your shin bones so you feel that upper knee and foot supported on the bolster upper arm resting on the side body keep your breathing slow again in your own time keeping your eyes closed make your way up to sitting sit cross-legged pull the flesh of your buttocks away from your sit bones rest your hands on the knees palms down head upright release your collarbones release your belly lift your spine gently from the back of the skull breathe into the front side and back of your lungs bring the same quality of stillness sitting as you had reclining without the spine collapsing top of the hip bones gently pressing forward without leaning forward back of the skull gently lifting through the crown chest shoulders and belly dropping simultaneous effort and non-effort in your hands to the heart in your mind's eye think of something in your life that you're grateful for and let that awareness of gratitude fill you to the boundaries of your physical body radiating gratitude thank you for sharing your practice namaste