Not all yoga poses are good for posture, and likewise not all posture exercises are yoga. For instance, last week, I wandered off the yoga for posture reservation with an exercise I learned from a Neuro Muscular Transmitter therapist; the chin tuck.
Imma do that again, with the upright shoulder release stretch. You can do this bad boy standing or sitting (or even as an actual yoga posture).
One of the main postural problems is rounded shoulders, which comes from a combination of weak back muscles, and tight chest and shoulder muscles. I’ve done scorpion twist to stretch the pectoral muscles (major and minor), but you also want to stretch the rest of the shoulder.
Begin by sitting, or standing, upright with a neutral spine:
- Reach your arms behind you, hands at the level of your lower back
- Interlace your fingers, palms together
- Straighten your wrists and elbows
- Gently push your hands away from your low back
- Do this while keeping your wrists and elbows straight
- Keep your back straight and your chest proud
- Hold for 30 seconds
This will give you a marvelous release for your shoulders, helping to reduce any problems they have with internal rotation.
I mentioned you can do this as a yoga posture. It’s a little bit more involved (not much), but I’ll save that for next time since that one is prone, and this one is upright.
