Get Olympic Inspired Shoulders With a Pranic Bath!
Some well-honed physiques are currently on display at the Olympic Games in London, and it’s fascinating to see how each sport’s demands craft different strengths (and let’s be honest, imbalances too) in the competing athletes. Kendra wrote earlier this week about her experiences as a synchronized swimmer and the inherent challenges in keeping the shoulder in balance.  Check out this Yoga Tune Up® pose called Pranic Bath below (and on the Quick Fix for Shoulders video) that will systematically stretch and tone the many muscles of your shoulders, elbows and wrists to keep the joints integrated and fully functional, no matter what your sport!
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Sarah Court is an Integrated Yoga Tune Up® Teacher, also trained in Anusara and Jivamukti Yoga, who draws from all of these styles in her teaching. She teaches weekly Yoga Tune Up® and Vinyasa classes at various locations in Los Angeles, and trains yoga teachers in anatomy and in Yoga Tune Up® across the country. Sarah is a regular columnist at exercise.com, and both writes for and edits the Yoga Tune Up® blog. She has been featured in the New York Times and is one of nursingschool.net's 100 Incredible Yoga Teachers Who Blog.
Sarah's challenging and inspirational classes reflect a deep desire to support each student in their movement towards true self-awareness, and are tempered by a strong shot of down to earth humor and a deep knowledge of kinesiology, anatomy, alignment and therapeutics. As a graduate of Princeton University she is not afraid to write long run-on sentences.
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[...] Get Olympic Inspired Shoulders With a Pranic Bath! [...]
I suffer from shoulder tension, stiffness, and a rotator cuff injury on my right shoulder so I was glad to see some tune up poses geared towards this common injury. I’ve been practicing Iyengar Yoga using the ropes to help stretch and lengthen my shoulders but am still having quite a bit of pain so I hope this exercise is effective! Its looks simple enough, but after trying it a few repititions I was surprised at how many muscles and joints I was actually working and the full range of motion I was doing in the shoulders, elbows, wrists- it was great! I’m going to keep at it and see how it improves over time- thanks for the tip!
WOWIE! I tried the pranic bath and it does more in two minutes than a whole class focused on the shoulders. I could not believe how much heat was created using this method of shoulder work. Every muscle in the shoulder girldle was getting a massage. I love that the exercise takes some practice also. It makes your mind focus. When we have something to focus on it puts us right into our bodies and out of the incessant mind chatter.
It is amazing how this YTU pranic breath exercise stretches the muscular groups of the shoulders and arms, thus allowing easier movement. It’s a “brain gym” set of movements that totally do take your awareness to every movement of the teres major, minor, biceps, and triceps of the arm. It’s especially fun to do the movements in reverse! Now, I just need to faithfully practice the “sleep set-up” to protect my wonderfully mobile and elastic shoulders and arms!
I find all the shoulder warm up techniques from YTU to be very effective. I regularly assign pranic bath as well as shoulder flossing to my clients with shoulder injuries especially those post surgical. They are great tools for increasing active range of motion and encouraging nutrient exchange to all the healing tissues surrounding the joint.
This is something that every desk worker should do at the desk. It can improve posture, keep the blood flowing to you head, and make you feel amazing. Thank you Sarah for writing about this.
Love this!! You are a genius! It’s especially nice that I can do this anywhere – no props needed.
A little note to cue your students well so they don’t stick out the xyphoid process ( like Prem (-; ). I find that when we work with shoulders, it is a very common this that keeps coming up. New trend? You will notice this a lot in people who lack flexibility in the muscles that flex the shoulder (ex: deltoid, pectoralis, latissimus dorsi).
I enjoyed this article because this exercise is accessible and effective for everyone. This is the way I want to teach yoga to my students, thank you.
[...] Read our post about “How to get Olympic Inspired Shoulders.” [...]
We just did the pranic bath yesterday in our Yoga Tune Up training, what a wonderful exercise, not only for flexability and strength, but for ballance and symmetry in the shoulders and upper back. The added bonus with pranic bath is the incredible grounding feeling that comes with the breath work.