Yoga Poses for Shoulders

Oh, the shoulder. It’s one of the joints most prone to injury, and the muscles are often tight and inflexible, reducing range of motion. Do you carry all your tension in your shoulders? You are not alone! When we’re stressed in other areas (mentally and physically), the shoulders are likely to creep up towards our ears and tighten. In addition to just plain not feeling well, tight shoulders can results in hunching and a closed chest, limiting many other yoga poses.

Yoga to the rescue! There are a variety of yoga poses that work the shoulder joint and stretch out the muscles surrounding it, including the pectoralis major (pecs), latissimus dorsi (lats), and the rhomboids (see the anatomy lesson below for more info). Stretching these muscles can help improve your shoulder flexibility. Activities such as weight-lifting may strengthen the muscles, but repetitive movement in one direction can also shorten them, causing inflexibility.

Quick anatomy lesson: The pecs are the large chest muscles stretching from the collarbones to the outer upper arms (humerus). The lats are large, flat muscles on the back that start from the pelvis, lower and middle spine and go all the way up to attach at the inner humerus. The rhomboids are located between the spine and shoulder blades and work to move the shoulder blades together.

So now we know we have tight shoulder muscles, and we know specifically what those muscles are, so what are we to do about it?

Pecs:

Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

Purvottanasana (Upward Plank Pose)

Lats:

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Hand Pose)

Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose)

Rhomboids:

Garudasana, arms only (Eagle Pose)

Balasana (Child’s Pose)

So next time you feel particularly tense in your shoulders, try one of these poses. Some don’t even require a mat! Also, never underestimate the power of a few good shoulder rolls to the back and front. Happy stretching!