Chest, Shoulders, Upper Back Yoga Class - Five Parks Yoga

hi I've had a number of requests for a class emphasizing work in the chest shoulders upper back with a nice long slow warmup so it's going to be a shorter class but we're going to warm up for a good length of it and then the poses that we're going to do are going to be focused on our upper body and then of course we'll get you know the whole package - as we do in all yoga classes so we'll do some work in the hips and legs as a bonus so come into Child's Pose connect to your breath and connect to your space as you sink your forehead down toward the floor and just come into the present moment find your ujjayi breath breathe in and out through your nose start to regulate the passage of air in and out with a gentle constriction to the back of your throat you'll start to hear your breath as you move from your regular breathing into your ujjayi breathing stay connected to this breath so right away we're stretching into our hips as we rest in Child's Pose and if you have your arms extended long fingertips reaching toward the front of your mat you're going to get a nice stretch in your shoulders we're going to increase the stretch in our shoulders now by coming into on a hot asana or heart-melting pose so bring your hips over your knees I'm going to move back toward the back of my mat so I have a little more space and then keeping your hips over your knees start to walk your hands forward and just to the edges of your mat so get a nice long stretch of your hands forward and then sink your chest and your forehead down toward the floor hips stay up so this gets us deeper into our shoulders sinking our chest toward the floor take two more breaths in and out through your nose in on a hot asana and now walk your hands back and come into tabletop position start moving breasts to movement with your ujjayi breath inhale through your nose release your belly down for cow face cow pose lift the crown of your head and then as you breathe out round into cat pose drawing your tailbone toward the mat and lifting and separating your shoulder blades to feel that stretch in your upper back and your neck keep going back and forth at the pace of your own breath and let your breath be your guide as you move through your postures so if the breath starts to get ragged slow down or back off talk all ten toes under and then sit your hips back to your heels four toes pose okay so we're going to going to get into our feet as we continue to stretch our shoulders so we're going to do a little heat building here in the shoulder so extend your arms out to the side palms face down and then rotate your palms so they face up and then see if you can continue to rotate your pinky fingers toward the sky or the ceiling and then rotate all the way down thumbs face the floor keep going maybe your palms face up in the other direction and then again open it up so try to avoid rounding or hunching your shoulders so stay upright as you just move from your shoulder sockets continue to breathe as the intensity builds in your feet and you should start to feel some heat in your shoulders now come back palms face up we're going to come into Eagle arms so bring your right arm underneath your left bring the palms of your hands to touch and then draw your shoulders down now if you can't bring the palms of your hands to touch just cross your arms and reach towards your shoulders this might feel like a great stretch for you so draw your shoulders down and your elbows in so you're feeling a stretch along the tops of your shoulders and your neck unwind your arms and then switch left arm underneath right bring the palms of your hands to connect if you can otherwise touch opposite hand to opposite shoulder hope you're feeling your toes now I know I am continue to breathe and Eagle arms stretching the tops of your shoulders and your upper back this is really nice stretch to do and we're just taking the balance out of it by not doing our full standing eagle pose so just really focusing here on the shoulders and upper back okay release your arms and come down onto the tops of your feet give them a little bit of a shake first to get the blood rushing back into your toes and the tops of your feet and then set your hips on your heels and if you are have some no injuries and your ankles or no pain gently rock back to stretch the tops of your feet in the and your shins this is causing you any pain in your ankles just don't do this pose and then come back forward and back to tabletop position we're going to take a twist here so keep your right hand on the floor lift your left arm up and then left arm is going to slide behind the right and come on to your left shoulder in your left ear keep your hips high deep breath into your belly here exhale out all of your air inhale unwind reach your left arm up and then take a half bind here so bring your left hand towards your right hip and then actively roll your left shoulder open maybe take your gaze up if you have a healthy neck and there is no strain gently release your right ear toward your right shoulder that feels good to me but if it doesn't feel good to you keep your head upright this is just an extra stretch for the left side of your neck okay unwind and release on the other side lift your right arm up slide your right arm behind your left come onto your right shoulder and your right ear hold here breathing deeply into your belly so your belly is going to expand like a big balloon and then as you exhale you're going to draw your belly button back toward your spine on your next breath in unwind and then take a half bind on this side so left hand comes or right hand comes toward towards your left hip and then actively roll your right shoulder open if you have a healthy neck and you don't feel any strain gently release your left ear toward your left shoulder this sides a little tighter for my neck so I'm just going to keep my head a little more upright so I already feel the stretch in the right side of my neck unwind and release just take a little bump of your hips to the left and look toward your right toes to try the stretch through your left side and then bump your hips to the right and look to your left toes stretch through your right side bit breath into your right ribs right lung and come back to Center and then bring your right leg off to the right take your right heel behind your right toes for an inner thigh stretch tuck your left toes under hips to heel walk your hands forward we're just going to be here for one breath so inhale and exhale come back up and left leg to the left heel the hind toes tuck your right toes under hip to heel walk your hands forward just one breath here inhale exhale come back tabletop position let's make our way to downward-facing dog tuck your toes under release your heels down toward the mat let your head dangle and then find some movement here peddling through your legs that's my ankles popping there one more deep breath in and out through your nose in downward-facing dog we're going to do some standing poses emphasizing some shoulder stretches in these poses so take your right leg high bring your right knee or start your right foot between your hands and your left knee on to the floor lift your arms up overhead and then encircle your left wrist with your right hand in a side bend to the right stretching through your left ribs your left shoulder and then come back to Center side bend to the left so we're getting the hip and quad stretch and the shoulder and side stretch as well come back through Center if your toes aren't tucked under keep tuck them under and then just gently lift your knee off the floor so you're in Crescent lunge now hold here for another breath now plant your back heel onto the floor take your hands behind your back interlace your fingers press your fists down toward the floor and then bring your right knee to the inside of your right or your right shoulder to the inside of your right knee look back toward the back of your mat for a chest expansion press the palms of your hands toward one another continue to squeeze your right knee toward your right shoulder rise up release your hands come into Warrior 2 and just hold warrior 2 for one breath and then we'll take cowface arms so bring your right arm up and over your left arm behind reach for the clasp you can't reach the clasp take your left hand on your right elbow or if you have a strap or a shirt you can hold on to the shirt or strap behind you okay this is going to be a pretty subtle movement but once you have your arms in position I'm just going to side bend to the left this is going to increase the stretch in your right side come back to Center release your arms back to warrior two and then reverse warrior up and back hands to the floor step back to plank pose and then lower all the way down onto your mat for another chest expansion take your hands behind your back interlace your fingers press your fists towards your heels you can keep the tops of your feet flat on the floor if you'd like or you can lift them up off the floor so spine strengthener here and bonus shoulder opener as well so really emphasize pressing your fists back toward your heels to open your chest and keep the back of your neck open so you're not throwing your head back okay keep your spine long and release down onto your mat bring your left hand underneath your left shoulder and extend your right arm to the right roll to the right bring your left leg up and over and plant it on the floor and then rest your right ear on the floor to mess around with the stretch just feeling it in your own body you can walk your hand up toward the front of your mat or back toward the back of your mat just feel the difference this is a pose you can practice standing against a wall as well and come back to Center extend your left arm to the left and roll to the left right foot comes up and over your left ear will rest on your mat and again play around feeling into your body in this stretch by moving your hand around until you feel that spot where you feel like you're getting the maximum stretch for your shoulder come back to Center bring your right arm in and make your way back to downward-facing dog take your left leg high and step through low lunge release your back knee down onto the floor lift your arms up overhead and circle your left wrist with your right hand and side bend to the right come back to Center switch out the grip side bend to the left come back to Center extend both arms up overhead your toes aren't tucked under tuck them under and then lift your right knee off the floor Crescent lunge hold here release your right heel down onto the floor interlace your hands behind your back for a chest expansion press your fists down toward the floor and then bring your left shoulder to the inside of your left knee press the palms of your hands towards one another sure that you're not holding on to any tension in your neck or shoulders come all the way back up extend your arms into warrior two and hold warrior two for a breath and left arm up and over right arm behind for cow face arms so you might be a different variation on this side and that's fine just find the variation that works for you so that you can keep your head over your shoulders and your shoulders over your hips so don't take the clasp if you find you're doing this or hunching forward or creaking your neck and then very subtle movement here you're going to side bend not back then side bend toward the back of your mat so just stretching through your left side come back to warrior to extend your arms long and then full reverse warrior right arm down your back leg and low lunge step back plank and then lower all the way down extend your arms back by your side palms face down and then lift everything off the mat so dry your shoulders away from your ears fingers reaching towards your heels and other spine strengthener here keep the back of your neck open extend your legs a little bit wider arms all the way off to the side bring your legs together bring your arms forward toward the front of your mat hold and release press back to Child's Pose rest in Child's Pose and come all the way up for your feet underneath you and come to a seat I'm going to keep your knees bent take the soles of your feet flat to the floor and bring your hands a little bit past your hips fingers are going to point toward the front of your mat so we're going to do another chest expansion we're going to build a little core strength here so another little bonus move we're going to open the hips in the front side of the body in Reverse tabletop so plant down through your heels and lift up once you're lifted make sure that your heels are underneath your knees and that your wrists are underneath your shoulders and you're not locking out through your elbows so once you're in position then press your hips further up bring your head into alignment with your spine and then roll your shoulders open open your chest open your shoulders so we're opening and strengthening at the same time and here will be your little bit of core work for this class just bring your hips to hover between your hands bring my hands a little bit wider to accommodate my hips and then lift up tabletop and hips between your hands just flex your toes back as you come back again and then set your hips down on earth sitting modes down on the floor cross over your ankles and come to kneeling we're going to take a more dramatic big chest opener heart opener in camel pose so when camel pose you can have your feet flat to the floor or you can tuck your toes under hips right over your knees keep your hips over your knees bring your hands to your low back fingers point down draw your elbows back and then start to lift through your chest bring your chin off your chest start to look up and then maybe reach your hands back towards your heels keep your head in line with your spine and then really roll your shoulders open as you lift imagine that you have a string coming out of your sternum straight up to the ceiling and it's pulling you up back up wrists your hips down on your heels hands on your knees three big breaths here in and out through your nose see you if right away you can come back to your controlled and steady you je breath we're going to take a stretch now for our upper back this is a pose that rounds us forward so I'm going to stay facing this way so you can see if you've never done rabbit pose so in rabbit pose you're going to take a grip onto your heels and then you're going to round from your head down so bring your chin to your chest first and then round your shoulders forward so you feel this nice stretch in your upper back you're working toward bringing your fort or the crown of your head down toward the floor in the near forehead toward the knees it's okay if you're not in this pole position we're just working in this direction if you have a grip on your heels you can gently press into the crown of your head and lift your hips working toward stacking them over your knees now there's some weight in my head but as I hold the pose I can move my head around so there's not a lot of pressure be mindful of your neck but just emphasize the stretch in your upper back this is one of my favorite favorite stretches it feels very good if you hold on to tension in your your upper back which I often do so it's a nice stretch for that and release your hips back toward your heels and make your way to a seat so we're going to take one more round of cow face arms this time we're going to add the legs to it because this is such an excellent stretch for our shoulders bring your left knee to face the front of your mat stack your right knee on top of your left and then ground both sitting bones down onto the floor right arm up and over left arm behind see if you can take the clasp behind your back but again don't hunch forward to get the clasp so back off if you need to taking your hand onto your elbow hold here and breathe if your hips are open and you'd like to you can always hinge forward this is just an option if you're sitting in cafes legs and you don't really feel it or you can kind of scoot your feet a little bit closer toward the front of your mat the same adjustment you would make in Pigeon to deepen into the hip stretch one more breath in Cal face and stay seated in your leg position but just bring your right arm across the center of your body across the front of your body and stretch lower your shoulder away from your ear bring your left arm across the center of your body there the front of your body left shoulder away from ear and release now extend your legs long toward the front of your mat we're just going to take inverted plank pose now so another chest opener similar to our reverse tabletop so hands in the same position you're going to keep your legs straight lift your hips up press your toes down toward the floor and once again once you're in position really actively lift your chest and roll your shoulders down towards your mat away from your ears and lower down so we're building strength and flexibility at the same time the beauty of yoga bring your right knee toward the center of your mat facing forward left knee stacks on top left arm up and over right arm behind hold here so same thing on this side make any adjustments that you need to to get your head in line with your spine and then you can take any variation on the legs to increase the stretch if you'd like moving your feet forward or hinging forward your choice and we'll just hold it here and release and same thing stretch your left arm across your body draw your shoulder down and stretch your right arm across your body draw your shoulder down and come back come all the way over your ankles and stretch back to Child's Pose keep your right arm extended and slide your left arm underneath your right and come onto your left shoulder left ear to the mat one breath here send your left arm forward slide your right arm underneath your left one breath here and extend your right arm forward one last stretch back so that was just focusing the backs of our shoulders our deltoids and then come all the way through we're going to take fish pose before shavasana so extend your legs long bring your forearms onto the floor and once again stay active in your legs start to lift your chest and this time we're going to lower our head all the way back down toward the mat last breath in and release onto your back and take a spinal twist before shavasana hug your knees into your chest release your knees to the right and gaze to the left continue to breathe all the way down into your belly as you inhale and just a slight contraction of your core as you exhale pushing out all of your air come back through Center and bring your knees to the left gaze to the right back towards Center moist your chest and shavasana extend your legs long arms rest alongside your body palms face up close your eyes and now release your breath come back to the natural rhythm no for cert move into a place of complete and total relaxation in your body and your breath in your mind in your thoughts invite you to rest in your shavasana for as long as you have time for at least another five minutes if you can thank you so much for joining me for this practice today have a wonderful day today as you go forward may you have peace in your thoughts and your words and your heart namaste

Channel: Five Parks Yoga w/ Erin Sampson

Views: 354,451

Keywords: Yoga, Costa Rica, yoga class, chest workout, shoulder workout, upper back workout, chest stretch, shoulder stretch, back stretch, upper back stretch, yoga for shoulders and upper back, five parks yoga, yoga upper back, yoga chest openers, upper back yoga, chest opening yoga, yoga for chest, yoga shoulders, yoga for upper back and shoulders, yoga chest, yoga for back and shoulders, yoga shoulders upper back, yoga for shoulders, yoga for upper back, yoga back shoulders

Id: bYOaYLQJ71E

Length: 31min 17sec (1877 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 21 2015