Former yoga teacher in Wellington New Zealand
Last week I talked about using the muscles of the back and shoulders to pull your shoulders down as a way to stretch the neck. This not only stretches the neck but helps to strengthen the muscles of your core
I regularly give the cue of relaxing the shoulders down. Not only do we tend to hunch the shoulders up, but some movements of our shoulders and arms cause them to lift up which can compress the neck – an
This variation on the traditional lunge helps stretch the hamstrings, hips and buttocks.
Sometimes it’s hard to find more than 5 minutes in the day to sit down and stretch. So if you only have 5 minutes, or even just two, here’s a couple of options for stretching and releasing your shoulders and
Just after my recent talk to the NZ Alpine Club on yoga and functional movement, I found myself talking with a fellow climber about activating the muscles in your back when climbing to protect your shoulder. Last week’s dolphin pose
There are many ways to build strength in your shoulders, arms and upper back. Using static yoga poses can be less demanding on your shoulder joints and gives you the opportunity to think about which muscles you’re using. These are
We often use bridge pose at the end of class to open the shoulders and chest, build a little strength in the lengths and counter core strengthening poses. There are many variations of this pose, but I rarely have time
Lots of people have been asking for ways to stretch the neck recently. So here’s a simple approach. Although releasing tension in the neck is often much more about stretching the shoulders, back and chest. Find a comfortable seated position.
Balancing on one leg is a good way to work on balance and it strengthens the muscles in your feet (especially when barefoot), ankles and legs. To keep it interesting, add variations or try closing your eyes. This pose is
A key factor in finding a healthy and relieving spinal twist is keeping the twist in your spine, versus twisting your hips. Sometimes this can be easier to do while seated because your hips stay in a fixed position. A