Freedom in the Upper Body

Welcome, nice to be together. This is a gentle yet active practice designed to help create a bit more freedom and mobility through our shoulders and our neck. So we'll start standing and then we'll move through some standing postures and then come down to the floor to close. So take a few moments, come to standing if you're not already there and we'll start with our shoulders. So as you inhale just squeeze your shoulders on up around your ears and then exhale drop them down and then inhale roll the shoulders back and up and exhale drop them. One more time draw the shoulders up exhale drop them. Good and then just roll the shoulders back one at a time and it helps if you really get into this. Feeling into your body, feeling into the shoulders, the ribs, finding this fluid movement allowing the head to move along. A few more moments here. Yeah nice and then we'll reverse. So back up and forward, back up and forward and even lifting the elbows a bit so you can get into the back of the shoulder blades, back of the heart area. Usually by now I start to feel some internal heat building. Nice and then release. We'll stretch our arms out and then just roll the shoulders forward. So finding that internal rotation through your shoulders and then externally rotate. Roll the palms up, feel that opening across your chest and then roll the shoulders forward again. Press through the feet, open. Let's do that one more time. Roll the shoulders forward, press through the feet, external rotation through the shoulders and then come back to the center and then let's press and reach out. So reaching from your hands out into from your heart into your hands. Spread the fingers wide and then draw the fingers and stretch the top of your hands and you might soften the chin down a little bit towards the chest. Good. Press through the feet, lift the head, press one more time out for the hands and then spin the fingers down towards the floor. So you're stretching out through the heels of your hands and then slow draw the fingertips in, draw the hands and stretch the top of the wrists. Saw through the back of the eyes, saw through the back of your knees. Nice. Inhale and then exhale, release the arms, draw the shoulders on up and then exhale, release them down. Nice. Let's reach the right arm out, roll the shoulder forward again and then bring the back of the hand to the sacrum or maybe between the shoulder blades. So hand might rest on the sacrum or maybe, depending on your shoulder, right around the shoulder blades and then we'll soften our chin down towards our chest and then just gently roll the left ear towards the left shoulder. So away from your right elbow and go ahead and pause when you first begin to feel something. You know the neck can be a very tender and vulnerable place. There's just finding that appropriate edge of sensation today in this moment. Now you might stay where you are, you might slowly bring the head and the gaze down towards your left foot and then slowly nodding the head up towards the ceiling and nodding the head gently yes as you look down and up. Just a few more moments here. Notice the quality of your breath. Does it feel a little held or short? Breathing into where you feel the sensation. Now you might prefer this movement, you might prefer a more static hold. So you might find a spot where you want to pause for a few moments, breathing in. Nice. We'll exhale, releasing and then slow. When you're ready roll the chin back of the chest. Let the head come down. Free your right arm and then press through the feet. Feel that length through the spine. Let the head lift. Nice. Let's take a clearing breath. Inhale. Nice. Full exhale. As you're ready left arm reaches out, roll the shoulder forward and then bring the back of the hand again to either the sacrum area, back of the pelvis or maybe you kind of snuggle it up between your shoulder blades. Of course it'll depend on this shoulder and arm and then from here roll the chin down towards the chest and right ear towards your right shoulder. You might notice this side feels a little or a lot different. For me it feels a lot different today. You might stay here, you might slow. Bring the head and the gaze down towards that right foot and then maybe nod the head up towards the right and then nodding the head yes. Down and up. Taking a few more moments here to explore, investigate. You might stay with a bit of movement or you might pause when you feel something and allow for an inhale creating space and then exhale softening releasing any tension. Nice work and then just slow. Roll the chin back to the chest, free your left arm, press through the feet, lengthen up through the spine, let the head lift. Clearing breath. Inhale. Nice. Full exhale out of the mouth and then let's go ahead and pick up a strap. So grab a strap or you might find a towel or a tie whatever you have and we're gonna bring the strap between our thumb and our index fingers and go ahead and bring the feet just a little wider than the hips so it's nice and stable and then from here as you're ready we're gonna inhale from the shoulders, reach the arms up over the top of the head. Go ahead and just press down through the feet as you reach on up through your spine. Now if this feels a lot on your shoulders today you might bring the hands just a little wider on the strap just to give the shoulders a bit more room. If you need to feel a bit more sensation you might try bringing your hands a little closer together. See what it feels like to go down through your feet, reach on up through your spine, pull the hands apart a little bit and then the play here is to draw your front ribs in, draw the navel towards the spine and find that length down through the lower back. Easy up through the neck. Inhale wide into the ribs and then exhale from the shoulders lower down. Let's do that again from the shoulders, inhale arms, reach on up, press the feet into the floor, reach on up through your whole spine, let the chest open but without going into a big back bend find that integrity through the core. So navel to spine, tailbone lengthening, easy up through the neck. Inhale, oh this feels nice. Exhale from the shoulders, slow release. One more, press through the feet, inhale arms, reach on up. This time we'll take a side bend over to the right, so pressing through your left foot, stay long through that left arm, find a place where the neck feels good. Maybe it's looking down or straight ahead. Inhale, reach with your top, arm come up and let's go over to the other side, pressing through the right foot, get long through that right side. Nice full breath into the ribs. Beautiful, inhale back up one more time, over to the right, get long through that left side, inhale up and over to the left, long through the right side. Beautiful, inhale back up through center, bring the hands apart a little bit more on the strap. You might stay here slowly, begin to open the chest as the strap moves behind you. Again, finding that ease through the neck, nice full breath into the chest. Oh and then from the shoulders as you're ready, just slow release down right in front of you and then we'll inhale, squeeze the shoulders on up. Exhale, drop them. Feels nice to drop them. We're gonna fold our strap in half and bring it behind our back. So you're about shoulder-width apart here and then rolling the shoulders down the back, feeling that space through the chest. Now you might stay right here, you might join me in a forward fold. So feet about hips-width apart, roll the shoulders down. Again, you might stay here, you might inhale, lengthen, exhale, bend the knees, hinge at the hips and then just slow coming into your first forward fold. Letting the head release, stretching the arms up out and over. You can keep a soft bend in the knees, a lot of sensation through the hamstrings, the shoulders. Nice head releasing here. Let's take an inhale and to come up first, exhale, just go ahead and drop the strap down to the floor by the heels, forward fold, bend the knees, releasing. As you're ready, we'll roll up to standing. So head last, bend the knees, shoot into the chest. You tap into the strength of your legs as you unfurl the spine. So you're stacking the bones, pressing through the feet and feeling the front of the body, the heart, the shoulders, the head. And just take a moment here to pause with the palms open. Let the blood, let the energy drain back down into the legs and the feet. Feels like a whole new day coming up to standing. I notice for me sometimes I can feel a little light-headed coming up from standing. So just noticing how you feel, make sure you can feel your feet. Nice. And let's step out wide again. We're gonna circle the arms. So pretend like you're finding a breaststroke in the pool and we're gonna do the opposite shape. So we're gonna draw the arms towards us, bring them out wide and circle them back in. And then really circle your wrists. Yeah, twirling your wrists. And then as you twirl your wrists, feel your pinky ring, middle, pointer, thumb, fingers. You're really moving the fingers, moving the wrists, the elbows and the shoulder joints. So we're finding this fluid movement. Nice. A few more rounds here. Usually by now I start to feel some internal heat building. So pumping the blood from the heart into the hands. Relaxing the face and the jaw.

Circling it out. If you want or two more. Nice. Good. And then release and shake it out. We're gonna find a twisting motion. So you're just gonna go side to side and you can lift the heel up and just gently swinging the arms and freeing up some energy in the body. Nice. A few more like this. And for me I noticed one side feels a little tighter than the other. There's a little less movement. I'm just noticing what feels true for you in this moment. Your spine. Nice. And then just slowing it on down. Nice. We'll meet at the top of our mat coming into Mountain Pose Tarasana. Spreading the toes and feeling that length up through the spine. From here we'll find bow and arrow arms. So reach your arms forward and then pull the bow back with your left hand. So the left hand might stay at the heart. As that left hip rolls open, the rib cage rolls open or you might reach the arm behind you. So you're reaching from the heart into both hands. Spread the fingers. Feel that you can lift your rib cage away from the pelvis. I'm finding a place where the head feels good. So for me today it's like right over the heart, right over the chest. Nice. One more inhale and then slow exhale. Let that left arm come down to the floor and reach it back forward. And we'll pull it back with the right hand. Let that right hip roll open. Stay here or stretch the right arm behind you. Again lengthening up through the spine. Reaching from the heart into both hands. Finding a place where your neck feels good. Inhale and then exhale. Right arm sweeps down to the floor and then both arms reach up towards the sky. Press the feet into the floor. Soft bend through your elbows. Feeling this beautiful extension through your whole body, your whole being. And then from here bend the elbows. Coming into a cactus opening through the chest. And find that ease through the neck. Nice and open through the chest. Tailbone drawing down towards the heels. Breathing in. And then exhale, slow release the arms and draw the shoulders on up to the ears. Exhale, drop them down. Nice work. We'll grab our two blocks. You don't need them but they can be nice to raise the floor. And we'll find a few standing shapes. If you have a strap you might just bring it off to the side. We won't be bringing our knee down to the floor in this practice. Okay, finding your mountain pose. Spreading the toes. Let's bring our hands together at our heart. Finding a few half sun salutations. As you're ready, hands at the heart. We'll inhale and circle the arms up towards the sky. Feeling that beautiful length for your spine. Exhale, soft bend through the knees. Forward fold. Just hinging at the hips. Releasing the hands to the blocks or the floor. Release the back of the neck. Now as you inhale, half arch. Lengthen your spine wide through your collarbones. And exhale, bend your knees forward fold. Release your hands. We'll reverse swam dive. So soft bend through the knees. Use your legs. Inhale, circle your arms up towards the sky. Press your feet into the earth. Arms reach up. Exhale, hands together at the heart. Just taking a moment to pause here. And then second round. Inhale, arms reach up. Gather the energy. Enjoy the length. Exhale, hinge at the hips. Forward fold. Soft bend through the knees. Releasing the head. As you inhale, half arch. Lengthen the spine wide through the collarbones. Exhale, empty. Forward fold. Release the head and the arms. Once again, inhale, circle the arms up to the sky. Strong through the legs. Arms reach up. Exhale, hands to the heart. Beautiful. Taking a moment here to pause. Catching your breath. And we'll add on as you're ready. Inhale, circle the arms on up. Exhale, soft bend through the knees.

Forward fold. Releasing the hands and the head. Inhale, half arch to lengthen. This time as you exhale, we'll step our right foot all the way back into a lunge and let the left knee bend. So we won't be putting our knee on the ground in this practice. Just reach back, lengthen forward. Nice and full through the back ribs. Yeah. Feeling the strength through your legs, your hips. Beautiful. You might stay right here. You might ground the right hand on the block or the floor and then begin to turn your ribcage to the left. So you might keep your hand on your hip or you might reach your left arm up towards the sky. Just like bow and arrow through the arms. Energize through the back leg. Reach from the heart into the hands. Really find a place where your neck feels good. That matters. Nice, full breath in and then exhale. Release your left hand down and then just rock and roll on the back right toes. And then with momentum, step the right foot forward to meet the left. Forward fold. Bend the knees. And then inhale, half arch again. Lengthen the spine. We'll find the other side. Exhale, bend the knees. Go ahead and step the left foot back. Right knee bends. Again, wiggle on back through the ball of that left foot. Feel that length forward through your heart. Nice and wide through your back ribs. And you might stay right here. Plant your left hand on the block or the floor. And turning the ribcage to the right. Hugging your right hip in. Hand might stay on the right hip or today you might reach your arm up towards the sky. Yeah, reaching from the heart into both hands. The play is finding that inner ease within the effort of the shape. One more inhale. Exhale, release your right hand down. Shape of the lunge. And again, we'll just rock and roll on that back foot and step it on forward. Nice work. Bend the knees. Forward fold. Release the head. And then strong through the legs. Reverse swan dive. Bend the knees. Inhale, circle the arms on up. Press the feet into the floor. Arms reach up and exhale. Hands together at the heart. Again, taking a moment to pause.

Notice how you feel. Nice. From here, we'll come into a few standing shapes. So you might keep your blocks where they are. You can go ahead and bring them off to the sides. Good. We'll step our left foot back. So we're coming into shape of a warrior one. So the right foot is forward. The left foot is back. We're gonna bend that right knee. And go ahead and toe heel your right foot a little bit wider. So you might find a shorter, wider stance feels more stable. Feels more supportive for your body. Right? And then from here, let's go ahead and bring our hands onto our hips. Root a little bit more through the outer edge of your back foot. Feel that you can turn your right ribs back a little bit. So you're squaring the hips forward-ish. And then draw the tailbone under. That's it. Feel that length up through the spine. Hands might stay at the heart or you might reach the arms up towards the sky. Right? Inhale, lengthening up. Soft bend through the elbows. Finding that ease through the neck. Beautiful. One or two more breaths here. And then slow hands on the hips. And we're gonna step the back foot forward to meet the right. Nice work. Good. Other side. Left foot forward. Step the right foot back in the warrior one. And find a stance that feels right for you. So I like to toe heel the left foot a little bit wider. A shorter stance. It feels more stable. Bending the left knee, tracking over about that second toe. And then rooting through the outer edge of the back foot. Drawing the left ribs back. Tailbone draws under. Feeling the strength of your legs. And then lengthening up through the spine. Again hands might stay on the hips or you might reach the arms up towards the sky. Beautiful. Breathing here. Nice. When you're ready hands on the hips and we'll step the back foot forward to meet the front. Just take a moment. Shake it out a little bit. We'll find that one more time and add on. Just slightly. So right foot forward. Step the left foot back again. Warrior one. And find the stance that feels right for your pelvis, for your legs, for your body. Drawing that right hip back. Hands might stay on the hips.

You might inhale. Reach the arms up. Finding a variation of cactus would feel wonderful today. You might play with that. Nice. Breathing nice and wide through the chest. Good. And then we're slowly gonna bring the hands back onto the hips. Step the back foot forward just a little bit for pyramid. So you're just gonna step the back foot forward. And now the right leg is straight-ish. And that back foot is in a little bit. You might keep your hands on your hips or reach the arms out to the sides. Roll the shoulders forward and then bring the hands either to your sacrum or maybe you're finding your elbows. That's it. Shoulders roll down the back. Nice and wide through the chest. If you're locking that front knee, yeah, it feels just soften it a little bit. You might stay right here. You might inhale. Lengthen up. Exhale. Draw the right hip back. Feeling the connection through the back foot. And then just slowly lengthening. That's it. Yeah. A lot of sensation through the front leg, through the hamstrings. You might stay long through the spine or it might feel good to round the spine and release the head. That's okay too. Nice. As you're ready, strong through the legs. Let the inhale carry you on up. And then release the arms. And then just go ahead and bend the front knee and step forward. Whoo! Take a moment. Notice how you feel. Little legs already a bit stronger. And then last side. Left foot forward, right foot back. We'll find our warrior one stance. Bending that left knee, rooting through the outer edge of the back foot. Hands might stay on the hips or you might. If you draw the tailbone under length in the spine, reach the arms up towards the sky. Yes. Feeling that length. Stay here with the arms long or bend the elbows. Finding that cactus variation wide through the chest. Breathing. Nice. Inhale. Exhale. Release the hands back onto the hips. And then bring that back foot in a little bit for pyramid. Shorten the stance. Steading the left leg towards straight and pulling that left hip back a little bit. Nice. You might stay right here. And you might reach the arms out. Roll the shoulders forward. Back of the hands. Rest the back of the pelvis or maybe you're snuggling the hands around the elbows again with an inhale length in the spine.

This might be the spot where you might slow draw that left hip back as you find that length. Inching forward and staying connected with the back foot. And really let the back of the neck lengthen rather than looking up and pinching. Keep it nice and long. That's it. And you might stay in the extension or you might round and hugging that left hip in a little bit. That's right. Remembering to breathe. Okay. When you're ready, strong through your legs. Press into the ball of the front foot. Inhale. Come all the way back up. And then release the arms and just slow step on forward. Just notice what it feels like to stand on both legs. Nice. Right next to each other. Toes spreading. Finding your mountain pose. Tadasana. Let's open the palms. Just letting everything settle for a few moments before we come down to the floor. Just allow for an inhale. Nice. Full exhale. And then from here, let's make our way down to the floor. So just find your way there. And we'll probably use a blanket. So you might have one near you. And just roll onto your back. And we'll just start by drawing the knees in. From here, bring your feet down to the floor. Let's find bridge pose after all that leg works. The toes nice and wide apart. Heels in line with your sitting bones. Drop down into your tailbone with an inhale. And then as you're ready, exhale, curl the tailbone under. Press through your feet. Lift up into your bridge. Neck is nice and long. And press the palms down into the floor. Just feel all that leg through the front of the body. There's that internal rotation through the thigh bones. That's it. And feel that you can hug the muscles of the legs into the bones. Beautiful. And then exhale. We'll roll the spine down one vertebra at a time. Upper back, mid back, low back. One more round. Breathing in. Exhale. Curl the tailbone. Press through the feet. Lift up into your bridge. Now you might just simply press the palms into the floor, reaching the fingers towards the heels. Or if appropriate, you might roll and tuck the shoulders under the back with all that shoulder work. And then interlacing the fingers around the sacrum area. That's right. Feel the sternum lift up towards your chin. Ah, the chin softening towards the sternum, the chest. Easy through the eyes. Again, this play of finding that ease within the effort. Ah, one more inhale. As you exhale, release the hands. This time we'll stretch our arms up towards the ceiling. Lift the heels up. Come high up onto the balls of your feet. Roll your spine down like a wave to the sand. Upper back, mid back, low back, and pelvis. Clearing breath. Inhale. Nice, full exhale. Nice. It might feel good to stretch your legs out for a moment. Maybe flex your feet. Or you might draw your knees into your chest and to stretch your legs up towards the sky. Nice. From here, we'll come into a spinal twist. If you have a blanket, this is a variation. It can feel really nice to bring a folded blanket between your ankles and your knees, like so. So there's padding, and it creates a bit more space through the pelvis. And then from here, we're going to roll onto our right side, and then go ahead and stack your arms. So stack your shoulders, stack your arms, and then we're going to find a circle with that top arm. So you're going to slowly trace along up towards the top edge of your mat. Soften through the elbow, pausing along the way, and then feel the ribcage turn open. Ah, that's right. And then slowly releasing the arm back down towards the thigh, and then back towards the right, towards the hand. And then you might do this a few times, circling the top arm. If this creates any strain or pain or tingling, you can just simply let the arm release out to the side, and then you might do that for a few breaths. Just inhaling and exhale, softening the belly. It's all about finding a place where the neck feels comfortable. There's space between the eyebrows and the base of the skull. Breathing into where you feel it.

I'm noticing if there's any areas you can soften, if there's any gripping or clenching. All right, allow for another inhale, and exhale. Okay, to come up, we'll lead with our top leg, and you want to grab a hold of your blanket and find a way to creatively come back up, and then reorganize. So the knees and the ankles are in alignment, and then rolling over to your left side, stacking the shoulders, the hands, the hips, and then that top right arm moves up towards the front of the mat, and then feeling the ribcage turn and open. Ah, and then sweeping it back down, across the hip, back to meet the left hand, and then circling up and around, healing the shoulder, the ribcage open. Yeah, and you might continue for a few more rounds. Noticing how each side feels different, right? Depending on what you're working with in your shoulder, and then eventually you might get to a spot where you want to just release both arms reaching out. Allow for an inhale, settling into the spinal twist with an exhale. For me, I'm noticing how much more spacious and open the spinal twist feels after all that shoulder work and spinal twisting. And then when you feel ready, lead with your top leg, and let the bottom leg follow. Nice. And if you have a blanket, you might just bring it right onto your lower belly, and then we'll go ahead and stretch the legs out. Coming into Shavasana, final relaxation, right? So I have the blanket right on actually the kind of the pelvis, upper belly, or low belly area, very grounding, and just letting the arms fully release. Consciously resting in the space you've created in your practice. Aware of what it feels like to be you in your body in this moment.

And with each exhale yielding to earth, feeling the back of the body, the whole body releasing towards the support. You might stay here a bit longer if you have the time. You feel ready, slowly inviting movement back in, your fingers and your toes, and you might feel nice to find a full body stretch. Circling the ankles and the wrists, gradually drawing the knees into your chest, rocking yourself, and then rolling onto a side pause there, and heavy curl up, and take your time to press yourself up towards a seat. We'll take a moment or two to sit together, so you might sit up on something blanket, and finding just a comfortable seat. Breathing in, exhale. And with this, joining the hands together at the heart, namaste. Thank you for your practice. See you soon.