Yoga Owner’s Guide for Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders

Featuring Mary Hilliker, RDN, E-RYT 500, Certified Viniyoga Teacher & Yoga Therapist

This is Part 3 in our series on Yoga for Structural Health. See our March and April blog posts to access the full series. 

Part 1 – Feet, Knees, Legs

Part 2 – The Spine

As the weather gets warmer, chores and beloved activities call us into action.  The very things we have to do or love to do can impact the upper back, neck and shoulders.  Whether it’s a job that has you sitting at a computer, doing farm chores, landscaping, outdoor chores at home, or getting back into biking, hitting the links, or gardening, the upper body will benefit from a yoga practice that strengthens and helps unwind tension.

What’s Making My Upper Back, Neck, and Shoulders Hurt?  

• Structural vulnerabilities in our body can set anyone up for upper body pain. Any activity that is repetitive can set up patterns of tightness and tension that are felt in the upper back, neck, and shoulders.  Some activities, like raking leaves, golf, or racquet sports, can create lopsided or one-sided patterns of tightness.  
• Biking and gardening might create patterns of forward rounding in the upper back and neck and tightness in the front of the chest and shoulders.  
• A job that has you stuck to your desk with a computer and phone can create all kinds of tension in the upper body.  
• Your sleeping position, mattress, and pillow can affect the upper body.  
• Past injuries or surgeries may be impacting your range of motion and movement patterns.  
• Tightness and tension in the upper body that isn’t tended to can increase pain over time and lead to other issues like headaches and jaw tension.  

How Does Yoga Help the Upper Body?

Yoga is a whole-body activity that works to unwind tension in chronically contracted muscles and strengthen muscles that are weak.  When muscles are strong but resilient, they support the joints, including the spine which is a long line of smaller joints.  

When I work with a client one-on-one, I often observe the condition of the upper back to determine if there is neck tension and pain. If your upper back is weak, your posture reflects a rounded upper back and forward head position.  This posture pulls the normal curve of the neck into a more flattened position.  That creates a lot of tension for the muscles on the front and sides of the neck.  A rounded upper back and forward head position can also create tightness on the front of the shoulders, impinging on the nerves that pass through the shoulder area from the neck.  

If muscles around the shoulder blades are weak and tight, there is often dysfunctional movement in the arms and shoulders and knots of tension, especially between the spine and the shoulder blade.  

Every one of us is unique.  We all experience our own sense of interconnectedness in the body.  One of the truly great gifts of yoga is the development of your awareness that is channeled through paying attention to the breath and movement in postures as you move in and out of them.  A stay in a posture gives the body time to create more targeted effects in specific areas.  

You can become your own inner teacher noticing what’s tight and what’s weak on any given day of practice.  Working with a teacher will help you gain more tools in your toolbox to impact your own condition.  

Where Does One Begin?

If you are a hard charger through everything in life, you may not want to hear this.  Slowing down, approaching your tension and pain gently, and guiding movements with breath is typically the best starting place.  

There is no one-size-fits-all in terms of yoga practice. If you are working with a Yoga Therapist or a Yoga Teacher trained in using posture adaptations and intelligent sequencing, a practice is developed based on an assessment.  Taken into consideration are things like when you would practice, how much time you have to practice, where you are experiencing tension and pain, and your personal goals.  

Starting with large movements that impact the chain of spinal muscles is often a good starting place.  Then focusing on several key postures that impact the tension patterns and working with adaptations of those same postures can be very fruitful in terms of a small-time investment for big relief over time.    

Refined movements can come later in the practice once you’ve melted away some of the tension.  Here’s an example: Doing a lot of neck movements early in practice is less fruitful than if they come later when large muscles are warmed up.  Doing something early in practice may help your awareness but staying in a posture and impacting the neck area in a very targeted way is better later in your yoga practice.  This is the gift of intelligent sequencing of a yoga practice.  

My Top List of Postures to Explore {this content of postures could be used only for the blog—newsletter readers could link to this on the site}

Dvipada Pitham (Bridge Pose)

There are many adaptations of this posture that can target the upper back (arms overhead), shoulders (hands 12” away from the hips, palms up) or neck (one arm up on inhale, lower arm and turn head opposite on exhale).  

Vajrasana (High Kneeling Position into Child Pose)

This is a sweeping arm movement from a high kneeling position into child pose.  There are several different ways to work with the posture to release tension in the upper back, neck, and shoulders.  If you have time for only one posture each day, this is a good one to consider since you can impact the upper body and stretch your low back all in one posture.  

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

This is a posture that is easy and allows you to work with different shoulder movements.  It’s a great posture choice at work, one that is even possible in a cubicle.  This adaptation:  Move arms forward and up on the first INHALE.  EXHALE and lower arms wide to the sides halfway.  INHALE and move arms wide to the sides and up.  EXHALE and lower arms forward and down. 

Virabhadrasana (Warrior I Pose)

There are many adaptations of this popular yoga pose that provide different impacts to the muscles around the shoulder blades and the front of the shoulders.  In this adaptation, INHALE and come into the posture with elbows bent, palms up and upper arms moving back until you feel a squeeze around the shoulder blades.  As you EXHALE, push arms forward with palms up as you come out and straighten the forward leg.  

Cakravakasana (Table to Child Pose)

This all-purpose, everyday posture can be adapted in different ways to the entire chain of spinal muscles.  

Sukhasana Parivrtti (Easy Seated Twist Pose)

This easy seated twist can be adapted for what’s called opposition.  You twist one direction but look in the opposite direction to impact neck, face, and jaw muscles.  Standing, kneeling, and supine twists are also good considerations.

Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (Extended Arms and Legs Pose)

This posture is done on your back.  My favorite adaptation is to use contra-lateral movement.  When the right arm goes overhead, the left leg is extended foot to the sky.  Alternating between the opposite pairs can often be helpful for anyone who has uneven use of their body at work, through activities or because of scoliosis.  

What Else Should I Consider? 

• Working with your breathing can be key for helping reduce stress.  When stress is up, muscle tension is up.  A short breathing practice of 5 minutes per day can have profound impacts overall.   
• Relaxation, meditation, and rest positions can be quite helpful.  Vibration and sound can be incredibly healing (See Katie Ruiz’s Sound Healing events on the class schedule). 
• A warm bath or shower might be just the thing at the end of the day to encourage muscles to relax.  
• A regular therapeutic massage provides on-the-spot relief but also helps you become more aware of your tension patterns.  By doing regular yoga, you can target the areas that are chronically tight.  
• Addition of some strength training calibrated for your needs can be helpful once you have released some of the tension patterns.  If you add free weights, bands, or use of your own body weight to strengthen, consider doing these movements in a yogic way.  Slow, conscious movement patterns guided by breath are a way to make strength training helpful vs. something that adds to tension.  My friend and colleague, Bill Miller, has a Video on Demand program of Yoga-Infused Strength Training, to help you get started with strength training that is adapted for a variety of individuals:  https://www.5koshasyoga.com/video_on_demand/vod-yoga-infused-strength-training-with-bill-miller-ryt-500/

DIY or Talk to an Expert?  

There is a time for DIY (Do It Yourself) and a time to get expert help.  If you have significant pain with any movement, a significant loss of range of motion, and/or numbness or tingling down the arms, you should see a health care provider for an evaluation.  

Ready to Get Started? 

If you are interested in a 30-minute yoga practice targeted for upper back, neck and shoulders, log into your Punchpass account and you will see a practice in your Content Library for the month of May.  If you don’t have a Punchpass account with 5 Koshas Yoga and Wellness, set one up for free at this link:  https://5koshasyoga.punchpass.com/

Consider working with a Yoga Therapist or Yoga Teacher for private sessions to get a truly individualized approach.  

Our weekly class schedule can be found here:  https://www.5koshasyoga.com/yoga/yoga-class-descriptions/.  Teachers in our studio are highly trained and experienced in adapting to each individual. 

Need a video-on-demand program?  Check out Your Body’s Owner’s Guide for Structural Health, which features 10 short practices and 14 hour-long practices targeted for different areas of the body:  https://www.5koshasyoga.com/video_on_demand/vod-yoga-owners-guide-to-the-body/