Lucinda Hollands: Alright, I think we're ready.
Lucinda Hollands: So today we're going to focus a lot on shoulders as I was reading one of the last discussions or assignments. There were quite a few students who said they were really tight.
Lucinda Hollands: So a lot of focus on a few exercises to help stretch out those shoulders, of course, when you're doing that, you're also stretching out the back in
Lucinda Hollands: The chest and even your neck. So as we're going through these really concentrate on your shoulders.
Alright.
Lucinda Hollands: So go ahead and close your eyes.
Lucinda Hollands: Finding your space.
Lucinda Hollands: Bringing yourself into the present.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing your mind any obligation to have later on today or anything that's been happening.
Lucinda Hollands: Yesterday for this let those thoughts disappear.
Lucinda Hollands: Close your eyes.
Lucinda Hollands: Let the ground support your way.
Lucinda Hollands: Begin breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Lucinda Hollands: Each breath, make it a little bit slower than the one before.
Lucinda Hollands: As you're breathing following your breath through your body noticing any places that traveled attention. You might be a little bit sore or stuff or even places that feel good today.
Lucinda Hollands: slowing your body
Lucinda Hollands: slowing your mind.
Lucinda Hollands: slowing your heart rate.
Lucinda Hollands: Ceiling your lips.
Lucinda Hollands: Breathing in and out through your nose.
Lucinda Hollands: Last class we started some alternate nasal breathing. So go ahead and do that again today.
Lucinda Hollands: So what's your right hand.
Lucinda Hollands: You can either fold the pointer finger middle finger in or you can place those on your forehead.
Lucinda Hollands: That leaves us thumb. That's going to be plugging up the right side of your nose, the ring finger that will be putting up the left side of your nose. So this is done completely through the nose. So you will seal your lips.
Lucinda Hollands: Breathing in through the nose.
Lucinda Hollands: and out through the nose.
Lucinda Hollands: And then again in through the nose does tie sealing the right nostril off as you exhale through the left
Lucinda Hollands: Inhale through the left
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and release the right nostril close off the left and exhale through the right
Lucinda Hollands: inhaling through the right
Lucinda Hollands: Closing the right and exhaling through the left
Lucinda Hollands: inhaling through the left
Lucinda Hollands: Closing the left. Exhale through the right
Lucinda Hollands: Continue.
Lucinda Hollands: This alternate nasal breathing.
Lucinda Hollands: Think of trying to take a moment to pause before you inhale, or xel
Lucinda Hollands: Close your eyes and concentrate. Let's go ahead and start with 10 complete rounds.
Lucinda Hollands: You will complete the cycle by breathing out the left nostril and then really senior hands.
Lucinda Hollands: Will take three breaths.
Lucinda Hollands: And opening your eyes spinning the bottoms of your feet together.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's go ahead and let the nice
Lucinda Hollands: bounce up and down.
Lucinda Hollands: And then pulling the belly button into the spine, rounding through the back dropping that
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling arching and lifting the chin.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling and rounding
Lucinda Hollands: Arching and lifting
Lucinda Hollands: we're rounding
Lucinda Hollands: And with Dan arching
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling sitting up round new forward walking your hands forward releasing through the bat.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling and exhaling, and as you roll up
Lucinda Hollands: Take a twist over to one side.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting through the spine looking behind you.
Lucinda Hollands: inhaling, exhaling as you go to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling rotating your shoulders over one knee and round over that knee.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing through the side of your back down the spine.
Lucinda Hollands: Over to the other. He
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling over
Lucinda Hollands: sitting up nice and tall dropping the chin to the chest X scaling.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling lifting up
Lucinda Hollands: Working through the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling down
Lucinda Hollands: And let's
Lucinda Hollands: Coming center looking over one shoulder and then the other.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming center and then your to shoulder with keep it moving.
Lucinda Hollands: Si, si
Lucinda Hollands: And letting it drop over to the right head circles, dropping the chin over the left lift the chin as you go to the back.
Lucinda Hollands: changing sides.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming center.
Lucinda Hollands: Can take one arm up. The golfer into the site, then letting that
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping both of your sits bones attached to the floor. We're going around over it could change it over that me and then inhale arch back and open much just
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling over the front
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling issue.
Lucinda Hollands: Take that to the side again.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting up
Lucinda Hollands: Other side. Reaching up and over.
Lucinda Hollands: And then rounding forward. Exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting up
Lucinda Hollands: Over to the side.
Lucinda Hollands: And lifting
Lucinda Hollands: Circling those shoulders forward, back,
Lucinda Hollands: And reverse
Lucinda Hollands: Sensor.
Lucinda Hollands: You can sit anywhere you are comfortable. Go ahead and find your towel.
Lucinda Hollands: Starting low
Lucinda Hollands: You can have a strap or tackle anything you can hang on to starting with arm slow keep the elbow straight pull out on the towel so there's tension on the towel and then lifting up
Lucinda Hollands: Only as far as you can go with that the shoulders, wanting to come up
Lucinda Hollands: And then go down. Allow yourself to take a few times before your arms like go completely overhead.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling up
Lucinda Hollands: And exhaling down
Lucinda Hollands: And if you have the flexibility start taking that towel behind your head.
Lucinda Hollands: And this time taking this out right over the top of your head.
Lucinda Hollands: And then start circling arms. The key being the head of the middle. The only thing that's working is the shoulders, you're trying to get a big circle over your head, keep tension on the towel.
Lucinda Hollands: And releasing the other direction.
Lucinda Hollands: And go ahead and release those arms down. And again, doing some shoulder circles.
Lucinda Hollands: And release in the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Keep the towel close by, where you're going to do the towel. One more standing. I also keep that close by. Take it right up to your back.
Lucinda Hollands: So you can be a part needs to gather if you're comfortable there, you can always take it open to that butterfly position. But again, working with the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: lacing hands, keeping a pulse together as much as possible arts as straight as possible and start with your breathing.
Lucinda Hollands: Taking the arms only as far as they want to go above your head so that you're not pulling the chest up off the floor or the shoulders are running to really come up torture eaters. So give yourself time to relax their shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: And finally, letting the hands rest above your head, keeping it straight. Remember, if you have tight shoulders. You can take a pillow or block and put them up your pants. So did you can completely relaxed right here.
Lucinda Hollands: Really expanding to the chest.
Lucinda Hollands: And then releasing the hands, opening the arms into a V. Palms up.
Lucinda Hollands: Press the arms the back of their shoulders into the math contracting
Lucinda Hollands: reading through the bench action.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhale, and really
Lucinda Hollands: Crossing your arms over your chest. Start with the right elbow on top.
Lucinda Hollands: Now we're going to breathe with this taking those elbows up to the forehead and back though.
Lucinda Hollands: If this movement is easy for you.
Lucinda Hollands: You can take your hands into the evil close hands so crossing that right elbow on top, finding your palms and then go ahead with your breath stretching the fingers down towards the floor above your head and back down. If that's painful, though he been here.
Lucinda Hollands: About
Lucinda Hollands: Five or 600 will switch to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: Trying to keep the elbows right on top of each other up there just crossed
Lucinda Hollands: And just go ahead and expand those arms out
Lucinda Hollands: Palms up. Give a little pressure into the floor injection
Lucinda Hollands: And over to the other side. Left elbow on top.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping it all goes Christ or trying to take it into your ego position lifting those elbows and pulling them down.
Lucinda Hollands: The movement does not need to be fast.
Lucinda Hollands: Once again, arms out to the side, palms up, press those arms into the map into the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: And release.
Lucinda Hollands: Really lover.
Lucinda Hollands: Moving on to your hands and knees.
Lucinda Hollands: And then placing your elbows where your hands are great hundred nice little shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Pulling the palms together and pressing the forearms and dance into the map.
Lucinda Hollands: Right here.
Lucinda Hollands: working back and forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Concentrating again on the shoulders. How much movement. Can you get both directions.
Lucinda Hollands: bringing that to center placing your hands back on the floor, unless the through three rounds of cat cow.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming to neutral attacking your house, taking it into bed need downward facing dog. Then in a nice way upon two toes push your tailbone up into the sky pushed back into the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing the backs of your legs peddling heels down one at a time to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Dropping birth heels bending the knees walking the hands back towards your feet.
Lucinda Hollands: And slowly rolling up
Lucinda Hollands: Again, circling through the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Big circles back
Lucinda Hollands: And then placing your hands on your shoulders circling your elbows.
Lucinda Hollands: Trying to make the circles around. Sometimes you'll get a couple of square spots.
Lucinda Hollands: And then big arm circles reaching back as far as you can.
Lucinda Hollands: Buy your size circling the shoulders, the other way. So back up forward down
Lucinda Hollands: placing your hands on your shoulders circling only the album.
Lucinda Hollands: And then releasing the day long arms.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching way back way.
Lucinda Hollands: by your side.
Lucinda Hollands: So taking the arms in front of you. Elbows will be at
Lucinda Hollands: shoulder height and then open them up.
Lucinda Hollands: And open the hands up.
Lucinda Hollands: We're going to go from center right here and then taking those arms back as far as they'll go without either lifting or dropping the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Like a goalpost
Lucinda Hollands: Move forward.
Lucinda Hollands: And back
Lucinda Hollands: We're going to take them the other way. So again, start with those nice flat arms. Keep the Most High wanted drop and then you're going to pull the arms down, be careful that you're not elevating your shoulders. You want to keep them down. You're trying to keep those elbows as high as possible.
Lucinda Hollands: shoulder rotation. Yes, if you if you need to stop per minute. Remember, listen to your body, maybe don't go as far
Lucinda Hollands: Shape that out.
Lucinda Hollands: I'm straight out to the side really pushing the shoulders down. So you want to think almost rolling back and down.
Lucinda Hollands: And pulling the shoulder blades. So when we're pushing down you feel like you're actually pushing on something and you feel right back here and your back just must Dorsey sit down and release down release will do eight down
Lucinda Hollands: For
Lucinda Hollands: Us in the back using it, you're feeling it right under your armpits.
Lucinda Hollands: One more.
Lucinda Hollands: And then it trick. Also, if you've got a lot of pain in the front of your shoulders, instead of completely to the side with additional Jewish, you can always take them slightly in front
Lucinda Hollands: That will relieve a lot of pain in the front of adulthood. So that's something you might want to do if you have type children's there, but otherwise.
Lucinda Hollands: We're going to pop up still pressing down no shoulder is connecting to your back and I said you're pressing something up and release really pushing
Lucinda Hollands: gauging those different muscles that help support their shoulder got muscles move back
Lucinda Hollands: And it's really hard to things very heavy
Lucinda Hollands: Tour.
Lucinda Hollands: And again, just let that go. The net go
Lucinda Hollands: Again, your towel, a strap also works.
Lucinda Hollands: Some people like doing this if they have a static and loop it and they hold them to the loop instead
Lucinda Hollands: I find to tell works just fine.
Lucinda Hollands: So we'll start
Lucinda Hollands: With it behind your back.
Lucinda Hollands: You can decide how close you want the artists together and it started out a little bit wider.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping those shoulders down, lifting
Lucinda Hollands: And release.
Lucinda Hollands: Lift and readings. Be careful, you're not using much of the other part of your body, you really want to be using the backs of their shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: And release that lock your hands together, just a little bit more, or even touching them.
Lucinda Hollands: And do a few more right here.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping your neck up, keep in the back, engaging your abdominals to really focusing
On the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: So like the tricep stretch that we do a lot
Lucinda Hollands: You're gonna put see your right arm overhead. And then down here, you're going to grab this hand and then inch those hands together.
Lucinda Hollands: So this might as soon as you feel at first point of tension. You do not want to go to pain and it's never good.
Lucinda Hollands: But then start thinking, you know, where's your shoulders that should be down away from the ears. Can you put your head up straight.
Lucinda Hollands: But the nice thing about having the towel is now you can do some of your directions and releases so but pulling the bottom can down you can give that top arm a little bit more stretch push back with the head. So you're pulling down
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing back with that.
Lucinda Hollands: Day. That's your contract in the other arm can getting it ready for a stretch. Also, releasing that this time we're going to live up with the right and let that background of your back.
Lucinda Hollands: Up.
Lucinda Hollands: Holding
Lucinda Hollands: And go ahead and release again give yourself a nice little have any video direction.
Lucinda Hollands: So over to the other side. So, left arm overhead.
Lucinda Hollands: buying your towel inch arms together a little bit. Is your fingers and hold it there for a moment, fixing
Lucinda Hollands: Your posture dropping your shoulders lengthening through the neck gentle press 15 the chin.
Lucinda Hollands: And then pulling down with the right arm left arm codes for
Lucinda Hollands: Pulling down
Lucinda Hollands: A couple breaths right here.
Lucinda Hollands: And then release lifting up with the top arm.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping elbow behind your back and lifting
Lucinda Hollands: Trying to relax and gently press the shoulders down, pulling
Lucinda Hollands: Release that go ahead and shake it out yourself. Uh huh.
Lucinda Hollands: Um, there are
Lucinda Hollands: Yoga poses that will have you doing
Lucinda Hollands: Where you're taking your problems. But if you're back. I'm trying to press those palms together and then you're trying to get those
Lucinda Hollands: My hand right between the shoulder blades.
Lucinda Hollands: And so that's something if you're starting to get flexible, you can start
Lucinda Hollands: pushing those together with them. Really looking those hands. I have no flexibility in front of
Lucinda Hollands: The other ones. One. Two.
Lucinda Hollands: Is where you're trying to find your fingers.
Lucinda Hollands: And hang on.
Lucinda Hollands: And most people will find especially that one you are really lopsided like once I will never make it. The other side will but that tells really good ways to start opening yourself up for that kind of flexibility.
Right.
Lucinda Hollands: Well, they're great tools for you, especially for arms.
Lucinda Hollands: And so
Lucinda Hollands: You always want to make sure that you have weight on your feet. So you're never going to be leaning in or out of this because remember our shoulders are pretty small, really. And if we put too much weight into it. We can cause some damage.
Lucinda Hollands: So if you stand next to a wall, put one hand on the wall behind you so that man, and then you can start doing where you're just pressing
Lucinda Hollands: The shoulder forward, making sure you're on top of your feet and you have your balance and as you get more flexible, you can get a little closer to the wall.
Lucinda Hollands: And this is really good. You can do
Lucinda Hollands: The contractions where you're pushing the hand into the wall.
Lucinda Hollands: And releasing
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing
Lucinda Hollands: And releasing
Lucinda Hollands: It back here, or just holding that forward.
Lucinda Hollands: And then you can do depending on
Lucinda Hollands: Where you're flexible and also just to get part of the chest involve you can do the starting low
Lucinda Hollands: See me I'm starting low
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing and releasing and then slowly moving that are up. But remember, again, you're not going to press into the wall with your body. You're going to press the hand into the wall. So you're not leaning into their shoulders if if we already have injuries. We don't want to make your words.
Lucinda Hollands: Until you take it all the way up.
Lucinda Hollands: This is a great one because it really goes down through the whole chest
Lucinda Hollands: And you can push
Lucinda Hollands: And release.
Lucinda Hollands: And take it to the other side. So yeah, completely side the wall. When I reached out. What happens is my shoulder vertical back towards my arm. So the first thing get that the shoulders. So, there again, in line with the rest of your body.
Lucinda Hollands: Feeling that whole stretch
Lucinda Hollands: chill it pushing the hand into the wall not leading and releasing
Lucinda Hollands: And those kind of stretches
Lucinda Hollands: We could literally spend the whole class just doing that. So just some ideas. Make sure if you were doing those with me that you do them on both sides, and then this is the
Lucinda Hollands: Good kind of the puppy got that we were just doing on the floor where we're on our knees and elbows. You can do it up against the wall. So if you reach really high.
Lucinda Hollands: And it will depend on your shoulders. If you're going to be kind of white or if you can start pulling the hands closer together.
Lucinda Hollands: You're going to have to figure out where your feet are going to be. I like to have a pretty wide stance.
Lucinda Hollands: And then you keep your butt out so you're not going to arch the whole body into the wall. You're just going to try to put your chest and the well looked up so hips. Go back throughout them.
Lucinda Hollands: You're really an arched in that upper back looking it up.
Lucinda Hollands: Hold it as long as you can, you can always shake it out and then just try maybe has a little closer together or a little wider it's going to feel different.
Lucinda Hollands: There's another one. That's nice. Do not take yourself to the point of pain. Do it gently you patient flexibility will improve.
Lucinda Hollands: When we're wall.
Lucinda Hollands: You can take the hands behind you. And again, you're going to find out where you need your feet. You want to be able to have your balance on your feet. Take those hands up behind you, as close together as possible.
Lucinda Hollands: And then when you kind of find this far as your arm scope I lift the chest. Look in front of you and you can even begin the new US to open up through the front of your shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Making sure that the weight is on the feet. So you have complete control of how much stretch you get in your shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: You know, sometimes it's hard to even get your hands back there.
Lucinda Hollands: But once you get them if you can walk them up the wall a little bit
Lucinda Hollands: And get make sure the weights, I repeat, look that look that chin and then
Lucinda Hollands: Then the nice
Lucinda Hollands: Let's go.
Lucinda Hollands: Ahead and just take a big breath Swan ideal.
Lucinda Hollands: Stretched in the back to the legs, you can grab your elbows. Release the body. Take a couple breaths.
Lucinda Hollands: Putting your hands on the ground. Go ahead and step back
Lucinda Hollands: Now we're going to take it into your final Relaxation Pose. Corpse Pose.
Lucinda Hollands: rolling back
Lucinda Hollands: Sending the legs out
Lucinda Hollands: I'm seeing the adjustments you need to make
Lucinda Hollands: Well, I know shoulders away from your ears.
Lucinda Hollands: closing your eyes.
Lucinda Hollands: And take
Lucinda Hollands: A minute to release and relax.
Lucinda Hollands: Begin deepening your breath.
Lucinda Hollands: wiggling your toes fingers say ankles.
Lucinda Hollands: Are above your head. One last long stretch
Lucinda Hollands: Your side.
Lucinda Hollands: Before you push yourself up.
Lucinda Hollands: And take a big breath.
Lucinda Hollands: Through heart center. And thank you for coming to class today. Have a great day. Namaste.