I recently featured a deep active stretch for the shoulders that also stretches the muscles of the chest and sides of the body. However, my favourite way to stretch these muscles is through a restorative yoga backbend. Restorative yoga is
Getting a better hamstring stretch by moving your tailbone
I often talk about tipping your tailbone up or down in my weekly yoga classes. As I’ve written before, this cue is a way of helping you think about how to move your pelvis. For this post I’m focusing on
Deep shoulder stretch [video]
The muscles around the shoulders can feel chronically sore and tight – particularly across the upper back and along the neck. This can result from posture that’s slumped forward (often from sitting too long), as well as overuse of the
Other options for yoga poses not on the hands (strengthen the shoulders too)
These past few weeks many of the tips have focused on stretching the wrists and how to put pressure on them safely in yoga. It’s also good to give your wrists a rest. Sometimes not working the joints can allow
Stretching hands, wrists and elbows with gentle movements [video]
This simple movement, just like last week’s stretches, uses the fascia tissue connecting the hands and wrists to stretch the elbows and arms. Because this stretch tensions the nerve be gentle. Look for a mild feeling. On a scale of
Simple stretches for hands and wrists (for rock climbers and everyone else) – [video]
Wrists, elbows and shoulders can get chronically tight when we overuse and over-strengthen (like rock climbers) or when we repetitively use or just don’t use (anyone who spends too much time sitting) our hands and arms. There are a number
How to put weight or pressure on your hands [video]
There are many poses in yoga where we put pressure or body weight on our hands. Depending on how you do this, different muscles are used or not used. This will affect what muscles get stronger and weaker. And if
Taking care of your wrists in yoga – even when it’s not weight-bearing [video]
A typical yoga class involves putting weight on your hands and that can aggravate the wrists and even the elbow and shoulder joints. But your hands and wrists can get sore from yoga even when you aren’t putting weight on
How to do sphinx pose (salamba bhujangasana) 101
Many yoga poses in the sun salutation sequence put weight on the hands and wrists. This includes down dog, plank, chattaranga (lowering to a press up position) and even cobra pose. That can be demanding on the wrist joints. This
Yoga@work stretch for the thighs or quadriceps [video]
Stretches for the quadriceps (quads) or thigh muscles are becoming more common in my classes. In part because these big muscles are so essential for running, cycling and tramping. When they get a good workout, we often feel the soreness