Hello everyone. Tutu Mora here with the Y
bringing you tools to feel well in your body, mind and spirit.
So, today we're on part three of this back
series and we're going to be focusing on the shoulders and the neck.
So, you won't need any props for this but you will need a mat,
or a soft surface to sit on. So, let's go ahead and sit down.
We're going to be cross-legged if that's comfortable for you.
So, finding your posture, here, to start. Stacking yourself up perhaps at those
shoulders. Just reminding them to descend away from your
ears. Throat is going to be slightly behind
the heart. And so, before we get started, I'll just
show you both of my shoulders, here. We're going to take a nice deep inhale
into the back of our body. So, as if we're going to fill
the back of our rib cage. So, let's find that breath.
And now, with that breath, we're going to inhale.
Bring those shoulders all the way up to the ears.
And as you exhale let them drop. Two more times.
Last time, here.
Letting them drop. Okay. So, we'll find that posture once again if you lost it.
We're going to bring one arm, palm towards the mat, on this side.
So, I'm starting with my left side. Right arm is going to come
up overhead. And from here you're going to get
give a little reach up, using the back of your armpit.
And take this into a little lateral flexion, here, but I want you to keep that
posture. So, see if you can keep that throat behind your heart.
As you find that, keeping that little reach
towards the, or from, the back of the armpit. Breathing into the back of your
body.
Reaching through the back of the armpit. And then, back to center. Let's take that
over to the other side. Right hand is on the mat now. Left arm
comes up and overhead. Find that little reach through the back
of the armpit. Posture. Throat behind the heart. Shoulders down.
Breathing in through the back of the body.
And back to center.
Let's bring that left palm back to the mat. And we're going to do the same
thing. We're going to take a little rotation this time.
So, bringing that right arm back up. Reaching through the back of the armpit.
We'll find that little side over with our posture.
Throat behind the heart. Shoulders down. And breathing in through the back of the
body.
Let's take that little rotation as we
try to reach that right arm overhead. So, it won't reach the
mat - it's more like we just want to reach through the fingertips.
Get that stretch down the side of the body.
Back up and over. And we'll take that same thing to the other side.
So now, right palm is on the mat. Left arm comes up, finding that reach
through the back of the armpit.
Rotation.
And all the way back up.
Nice. Okay. So, for the next bit we're going to stand up.
I'll carry you with me. You're going to find some space where you can stretch your
arm out to the side.
So, you're going to find a space where you can stretch your
arm out and we're looking for that position of the arm where you
start to feel that stretch all the way down the arm. So, let's find
that with your feet parallel. Equally weighted through the
insides and the outsides of the feet.
Perhaps, bringing your arm a little in
front of you, a little bit behind or maybe it's a little bit raised up out
to the side. But wherever that, that sweet spot is
where you feel that stretch, pause there.
We're going to reach through the fingertips. Spreading those fingertips wide.
Letting that shoulder drop. Finding our posture. So, let's breathe into the back
of the body.
And now, we're going to bring that ear
towards that side - that shoulder. Find that reach - deepen
that reach. Let your shoulders sink. Breathe into the
back of the body.
Now, we're going to take your ear towards the opposite shoulder.
Deepening that stretch, but keeping your throat behind the heart.
So, keeping that posture. Breathing into the back of the body.
And now, keeping your ear towards that shoulder - that opposite shoulder - we're
going to take little circles of the head.
Nice and slow.
And then we'll reverse those circles.
Bringing that head back to center, we're going to rotate the head to
look at our fingertips. Deepen that reach.
Drop that shoulder. Breathe into the back of the body.
And then we're going to rotate to look away from our fingertips.
Again, reach.
Breathe.
Drop that shoulder.
Fingertips might be feeling a little tingly, that's normal because this is a pretty big
stretch. And then you can release that arm.
Maybe it feels super heavy and loose. Maybe it feels longer than the other side.
And so we're going to take that same
thing now to the other side.
So, let's find that space.
Feet parallel. Arm out to the side.
And so, whether you need to bring that arm a little bit
forward, a little bit behind you, perhaps, a little bit lifted - find that
sweet spot while still keeping your posture.
And then let's spread the fingers. Reaching through those fingertips.
And we'll bring the ear towards that shoulder. Deepening that stretch.
Ear towards the opposite shoulder. Ooh mega stretch.
Keep that posture. Breathe into the back of the body.
And now, keeping your ear towards the shoulder, we're going to take
little circles of the head. Nice and slow so you can feel all those little stretches.
And feeling into the range of motion
that is most comfortable and needed for you today in this moment.
And then, we'll reverse.
Head back to center. Finding your posture again if you lost it.
We're going to rotate the head to look at the fingertips.
Deepen that reach. Spread the fingers. Drop the shoulder. Breathing into the
back of the body.
And then, we're going to rotate the head to look away from the fingertips.
And breathe.
Head back to center. You can drop that hand.
And so now, last thing we're going to do here,
is still keeping your fingertips spread wide and I want you to feel as if,
specifically, you're reaching through that thumb
and the index finger. So, that "L" of the hand here.
What we're going to do is, finding your posture and still keeping that breath
into the back of your body here. We're going to reach through the thumb
and the index finger. Bringing your arms all the way up. Keep
those shoulders down. Feel that stretch all the way up
and then back down. And again, breathing into the back of the body.
Two more times.
Last time here, perhaps, deepening that stretch,
re-spreading the fingers or re-finding your posture.
Nice. So, feel into how that neck and shoulders are feeling.
Hopefully they feel a little bit looser for you here.
And thank you so much for tuning in. I hope you found this video supportive. If
you liked it, please, I invite you, to like it below.
And I'll see you back here next time on the Y's YouTube channel
with more tools to stay feeling well in your body, mind and spirit.
Take care.