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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Thanks. I love the Pranic bath for my own shoulders. My only trouble is that most of my students (I teach seniors) don’t have the range of motion to be able to do it. I tend to break it up and just use pieces of it for them, but I’d love to hear about how others modify it, or if anyone has a similar sequence in a less demanding plane of movement.
I love to do this exercise slowly to really connect to the shoulder joint and imagining showering myself with prana.
I just finished studying ,sitting for 2 hours at my desk.i did the organic bath and feel much better.
I love ‘Pranic Bath’. It is such a great total workout for the shoulders. When I teach this in my classes students are amazed at how much their shoulders get a workout. Many of my students have low vision, including some with total blindness, and they manage to follow this exercise quite easily. Best exercise for the shoulders if short on time as it incorporates all DOMs.
A great warm up for those with limited external rotation in flexion. I plan to integrate this into my own personal practice.
I love doing it on a chair with flexion and extension of the spine as I inhale and exhale.
Interesting how one directional dynamic movements like this are usually rather simple for students to follow, no matter which direction the movement is, but when the movement is reversed, students struggle to coordinate the motion. Contrast -> confusion -> coordination -> clarity
I am in love with this movement. I have been practicing this movement for a about 2 minutes each day since learning it and am still amazed at the amount of heat, fluidity and openness it creates in such a short time. Every muscle in the shoulder girdle, arm, upper back, lower arm, hand is being worked through and gently massaged in a safe & happy way. I cannot get enough of it. My students will be doing this at the start of many classes going forward.
Yoga Tune Up Pranic Bath is so helpful for everyone and anywhere. I like the physical benefits of the movements to tone our arms and increase juicy fluidity in the joints, but the brain-balancing, breath and coordination does so much as well. I love the name of it so that it can help orient one to the bigger Pranic picture as well. We are moving energy inside and outside of ourselves so those “blind spots” can clear up and be seen.
Been integrating this great pose since i started teaching yoga. With so many desk workers coming to class this is a nice little add up to any sequencing that will warm up and stretch all cuff rotators : infraspinetus, teres minor often lock long and subscapularis lock short from internal rotation of the shoulders , the supraspinetus squeeze and chronically contracted from bad posture and elevated shoulders. Recommend many clients to do the pranic bath on pose to rebalance their shoulders !
This is one of my favorite moves. It works the entire shoulder, and I am also relaxed after just a few times.
I just followed along with this video, and I have this great sensation of ease running around my shoulders and upper back. What an effective, yet not strenuous exercise!
This is very effective in a non-threatening way so accessible to a greater audience!
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.
[…] Read our post about “How to get Olympic Inspired Shoulders.” […]
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.
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).
Love this!! You are a genius! It’s especially nice that I can do this anywhere – no props needed.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
[…] Get Olympic Inspired Shoulders With a Pranic Bath! […]