Phase 2 · Alignment, Strength and Control

Part of the 9 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Neck and Upper Back Tension

Fifteen Minutes of Shoulder Strength

The short practice for the middle of the program

Fifteen minutes, standing for most of it, and unlike the ten minute floor practice this one asks for effort. Cow Face arms to open, then four standing poses that keep the arms away from the body long enough to count as work, then two minutes on the floor. It is short because the poses are held rather than repeated, and because a shoulder girdle responds to being asked often more than to being asked long.

15 min · Level 1

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When it helps

Somewhere in weeks four to six, on a day when the long practice will not fit and you would rather keep the strength work going than skip it. Fifteen minutes. A strap for Cow Face arms if the hands do not meet.

Physical effect

One opener and four loaded standing positions. The arms stay out at shoulder height or overhead, which is the demand that matters here.

Function

Short enough to actually happen on a working day, which is the only property a supporting practice really needs.

Mental effect

Fifteen minutes of holding your own arms up is a useful reminder of how little of that a normal day contains.

Open first

Two minutes sitting, so the shoulders are not cold when the arms go up.

Sukhasana

1 min

Easy Pose

Sit up on something, twenty breaths, shoulders dropping on each exhale.

A short check of where the shoulders actually are before you load them.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Gomukhasana

45 sec per side

Cow Face Pose

Arms only, strap between the hands if needed.

Cow Face arms takes both shoulders to the end of their range in opposite directions, which is the cheapest way to prepare for everything below.

Learn more about Gomukhasana

Four standing poses

Arms away from the body throughout. They get harder as the block goes on, which is the point.

Tadasana

30 sec

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, weight even, five slow breaths.

Mountain Pose is thirty seconds of checking in. It tells you which of the poses below needs more care today.

Learn more about Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

45 sec

Upward Salute

Arms overhead, ribs down, shoulders away from the ears.

Getting the arms overhead without arching the lower back is the whole exercise, and it is harder than it looks.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Virabhadrasana II

45 sec per side

Warrior II

Arms wide at shoulder height, and hold them there for the whole forty-five seconds.

Warrior II is endurance work for the muscles between the shoulder blades disguised as a leg pose.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Utthita Parsvakonasana

45 sec per side

Extended Side Angle Pose

Forearm to the thigh, top arm over the ear, chest turning open.

Extended Side Angle adds rotation to the load, which is the movement a stiff upper back has stopped doing.

Learn more about Utthita Parsvakonasana

Virabhadrasana 1

45 sec per side

Warrior I

Back heel down, hips square, arms up, head neutral.

Warrior I is the hardest pose here and it comes last. Arms overhead with the pelvis level, held, at the end of a block.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana 1

And down

Three poses, no effort.

Adhomukha Shvanasana

45 sec

Downward-Facing Dog

Knees bent, press the floor away, let the head hang.

Downward Dog takes the arms overhead one last time with the floor helping instead of gravity fighting.

Learn more about Adhomukha Shvanasana

Anahatasana

1 min

Heart-Melting Pose

Hips over the knees, chest to the floor, arms long.

Heart-Melting Pose reaches the front of the shoulders right after they have worked, which is when it gives most.

Learn more about Anahatasana

Balasana

1 min

Child's Pose

Knees wide, forehead down, arms alongside the body.

Child's Pose with the arms back lets the shoulders roll forward and rest.

Learn more about Balasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Palms up, towel under the head.

Two minutes so the effort registers as something the body handled.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 2 · Weeks 4 to 6

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Alignment, Strength and Control, the second phase of the 9 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Neck and Upper Back Tension. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

One or two of the days between your core practices in weeks four to six. Soreness between the shoulder blades the next day is expected. Sharp neck pain, or anything travelling into an arm, is not, and that belongs with a doctor.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

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