Advanced CORE RESTORE METHOD | Lesson 4 | Shoulder Extension + Rib Cage Stability

Published: Fri, 10/12/18

Hey

In this week's class our focus - almost entirely - has been on shoulder extension.

Let's review what is it that we are after:

In the beginner Core Restore session our focus has been primarily on stability and mobility of the hip girdle. We spent some time - not much, really - understanding the relationship between the hip girdle and the rib cage.

Advanced class' challenge is to connect our stable {or somewhat stable foundation} to a stable, yet mobile shoulder girdle.

How do we do that?

Begin with a test:

1. Stand with your back against a wall; try to bring as much of your back body to the wall as it is possible. You might have to have your heels slightly away from the wall; you might also discover that it is impossible to have the back of your head on the wall.

2. Once you got yourself organized, get a feel of how your back rib cage relates to the wall - can you feel your back ribs touching the wall?

3. Now practice lifting your arms - one at a time - in front of you and then up over head. At which point do you feel your back ribs lifting off the wall?

4. Now picture your arm bone plugged into your shoulder socket, and imagine it rotating freely upward as you lift the arm. Focus your attention on lengthening the muscles of the armpit as the arm lifts - see if these two actions will increase your shoulder range of motion.

Continue with a stretch:

We did a number of different variations for this pose in the last couple of weeks {on the belly, in the child's pose, with elbows on the bolster, and with the core ball} to release and lengthen the muscles around the shoulder and help shoulder extension.

We will keep exploring our options here as we move along.

Prayer Child Pose with Bolster.

You may want to re-test your shoulder mobility after this stretch.

Then get your movement pattern organized:

1. Start with a review:

Rib Cage Dynamics

Bird Dog Workshop

Prone Squat prep requires the same shoulder extension as Bird + Dog and Downward Facing Dog - do a set of 5 - 10 repetitions here, focusing your attention on creating more space between your upper arm bone and your torso as you rock back.

Now Take Downward Facing Dog

Use these cues:

Position your hands at shoulder width (or slightly wider) and your feet at feet width (or slightly wider).

Experiment with the width of hand and feet placement, as well as distance between your hands and feet to find the most comfortable position.

If you are new to yoga, or the backs of your legs feel tight, slightly bend your knees.

Press firmly down into the entire span of your hands and length of your fingers. Bring slightly more weight toward your fingers to avoid overloading the wrists; with a little more weight toward your thumb and index finger to encourage internal rotation of your arms – this will help to broaden your shoulders and avoid feeling bunched up at the top.

Keep your arms parallel to each other, and relax your head down between your arms.

Straighten your elbows. Can you find a position where your arms are parallel to each other, and elbows and wrists are shoulder width apart? This might be possible for some but not everyone, due to their particular bone structure.

Find now familiar sensations of moving your upper arm bones away from the torso, while lengthening through the armpits. Recheck the alignment of your rib cage to make sure that it is still in line with the pelvis.

Press the roots of your index fingers into the mat, while at the same time letting your shoulder blades slide up toward the pelvis. Let the head relax down between your arms. Let your head hang heavy to encourage lengthening of the neck.

Keep your legs firm and active, and press into the balls of your feet.

Lift your kidney area (back bottom ribs) slightly up and tone up your abdominal wall to lengthen the spine and avoid “banana back.”

Experiment with stepping your feet wider and finding a pelvic tilt - can you mobilize the pelvis without loosing the stability of your rib cage?

Play with the dog on your own; we will refine it next week in class.

See you on the mat

Julia + SATORI YOGA TEAM