Unwind your neck and shoulders

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How did the neck get so stiff? This lesson moves the spine between the shoulder blades and helps you find a use for the ribs. Find out how the ribs can carry the head and neck. The “ah-ha” moment when the upper back discovers something is worth it.

This is the “ear to hand” lesson, turning head one way and putting ear down, then sliding the head forward and putting it down again. Many variations of moving the ribs and spine between the shoulder blades help soften tension across the back.

For more like this, see:
212 Ear to hand
215 Sphinx, sink spine, slide shoulders.

For general neck lessons, see Help for the neck.

I love this lesson because it wakes up all the places I didn’t know I was holding in the the mystery zone between the shoulder blades. The arms are overhead, sliding side to side. This invites movement in the upper back and spine. You do many variations of the head toward and away from the arms, connecting the mid-back to the position of the arms.

Then, you make a “hoop” with the legs by touching the soles of the feet together. Sliding the legs side to side will flatten out the back and shoulders, helping you let go of tension all across the back.

Note: If you can’t reach the floor with your arms interlaced overhead, raise the floor with a blanket. There is no benefit in forcing the arms to the floor, and even less in holding them up. They need to be supported and resting comfortably.

For similar lessons to unwind the back, see:
49 Hoop arms
81 Arms, legs, torso bending

This lesson puts a rolled blanket or towel under the tips of the shoulder blades. Then you tilt the knees left and right, feeling how the ribs, hips, jaw, breath, and belly can let go. Eventually, you experiment with levering the head into the air by pressing down on the roller. The lightness of the head is a shock!

As you play more and more with allowing the ribs, head, and neck to be responsive, the movement becomes less an act of inhibiting the ribs and more an act of allowing force through the bones, a lovely, soft, light, easy sensation of flow and connection. One of my favorite lessons I give to many of my students for the crunchy back syndrome from working on the computer.

For more in this functional stability series, see:
230 Release the neck on rolled blanket
46 Low back on a rolled blanket
89 Dipping hips on a rolled blanket

(Ruthy Alon, Mindful Spontaneity, magic roller series)

Side bending and rolling wakes up movement in many planes, leaving your habits by the wayside as you can’t hold onto them when movements are so novel. This is a gentle lesson with a big impact. It kind of sneaks up on you as you go through it.

For more like this, see side bending.

(Mia Segal/Gaby Yaron, 1977-78 evening classes #7)

Crazy slow, even slower, will serve you well in this lesson. It’s about eliminating interference, and to do that we have to sneak under the radar. When we use the attention to create slow, smooth action, the whole system gets on board. You might feel a lot of letting go.

For lessons similar to this, see:
120 Hip and shoulder circles
456 Imagine hip and shoulder circles
4 Release the neck and shoulders
44 Loosening up to run

Here the arms are in a position where you have to move the upper ribs. Usually we move the arms on their own, forgetting they attach to the rest of us. This lesson integrates them into your middle.

Done with ease, the lesson invites a significant shift in the way the arms and shoulders hang. Of course, anything done with effort creates more effort, so don't head that way.

For more like this, see the “Errol Flynn” lessons:
171 Rolling long arms
454 Rolling arms, sensing chest (a very deconstructed, slow version)
10 Rotate arms to wake up the shoulder girdle (Esalen version)

And the “Egyptian arms” lessons:
210 Intro to arms, shoulders turning, 29 min
210 cont. Advanced arms, shoulders, pelvis, and legs turning, 39 min

(AY18, The candle holder lesson)

A slow movement to connect the arm into the torso bone by bone, through the collar bone, shoulder blade, upper back, and ribs. Often we don’t think about the skeletal linkages, we just move through our day. This lesson highlights those links, making it easier to move the arm when your whole self participates.

I give this lesson to just about everyone who has twinges, knots, or the impending sense of a frozen shoulder.

Tip: Go slow. Do not crank on yourself. Feel each bone moving in turn.

For more like this, see the whole series: Reaching like a skeleton.