Mat Matters, Episode 13: Four Yoga Poses for Tight Shoulders

Today, on Mat Matters, I'm coming to you with the second installment of our new 4-part mini-series, "Four Poses." This week, we're talking tight shoulders. Ugh. Yuck. Bleh. 

Tight shoulders are the worst.

It seems like these days, almost all of us have crazy tight shoulders (yes, I'm looking at you!). I know this because over the past few years, I have spent most of my days touching many, many shoulders in all of my classes; It's rare that I give someone a shoulder massage and don't feel clenched, hardened muscles, or a tangible change in their level of shoulder hunching when I remind them to relax.

That being said, lets try to relax our shoulders a bit today. If you practice yoga regularly, you probably already know these four basic shoulder stretches--but do you actually do them when you're not on the mat? Do you do them during the work day? Do you use them as a tool when you're stressed out at your computer? If not, you should.

I also want this video to be a tool for the non-yogis in your life. Know someone whose tight shoulders are causing them issues? Maybe send them a link to this post...

Remember that you can watch all of my Mat Matters videos by subscribing to my YouTube channel, and as always, if you have any requests for upcoming videos, please let me know!

Now soften those shoulders down your back, will ya?