The Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Balls massage sequences bring awareness and blood flow to muscles. In addition they break up adhesions and as a result offer significant relief to pain and associated restrictions. The Upper Body Therapy Ball Series is helpful to release the rotator cuff muscles, as well the accessory muscles such as the trapezius, levator scapula and rhomboids, which could be overworked as a result of rotator cuff imbalance.
The Yoga Tune Up® shoulder exercise sequences provide opportunities to move the shoulders through their full range of motion. Pranic Bath is one example: a rotator cuff and shoulder exercise that stretches and strengthen muscles from shoulder to the hands balancing the weak with the strong, the overused with the underused. Here’s the Pranic Bath below, also available on the Quick Fix for Shoulders video:
Doing this shoulde mobilization with both arms together puts a spotlight on right and left put a spotlight on body asymmatrieswhich can have implications throughout the body not just the joints we’re mobilizing
I love using this as a warm-up for any sequences that really challenge the shoulders. It offers the shoulders so much variability in movement while highlighting any blind spots that are present. I am always amazed at how my shoulders feel after completing the pranic bath exercise and how challenged they feel as well!
I love the fact that the Pranic Bath exercise is so simple and works the shoulders, elbows and wrists all at the same time. Still working on reversing this movement!
I love pranic bath and how it helps facilitate a full range of movents in the joints of the arm as well as in the rotator cuff muscles. This excercise bring great warmth and energy to the rotator cuff muscles as well as to sticky regions of the upper back. This movement along with epaulette arm circles, propeller arms and reverse crucifix really work to give me freedom in the shoulders.
At my work, we train a lot of baseball players and overhead athletes. Thankfully, my boss is all about caring for their shoulders for the long term. Avoiding overuse injury to the shoulder joint, rotator cuff muscles, and neck are huge. Proper body mechanics helps a lot and that is one of the things we focus on. Arm care is also a huge part of their training and this would be a great addition to what they already do! Thanks 🙂
This is my favorite way to release shoulder tension after working extended periods of time at the computer! Taking the arms through their full range of motion is a treat for wrists and forearms too. It’s a great prelude to vinyasa flow, your sport of choice or just as a time out/wake up during your day.
We just learned this exercise in Level 1 YTU class. At first I found it awkward! After reading your blog and watching Jill demonstrate it, I am seeing how it can be smooth and energetic.
Combined with the balls and trigger point therapy, this is magic for our shoulder joints and the girdle muscles.
The flow of the Pranic Bath is amazing as a warmup for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike preparing for overhead work. Dynamically addressing so many joints and ranges of motion is such an effective and efficient way that can keep even the ‘busiest’ person engaged.
I love this sequence because it gives me such a clear picture of exactly where my limited ROMs are in my shoulders. From there, I can explore which muscles need rolling and releasing, and which ones have been forgotten and need to start pulling their weight! Love it.
Fantastic sequence to, warm, open, stretch & energise all the rotator cuff muscles. Once done with alignment, you can increase the speed, or do it super slow & really feel the benefit, then reverse to challenge even more. I love that is bite sized that anyone can include it in their daily life, waiting for kettle to boil, before getting into the shower in the morning or do a whole sequence at class & include it in other lower body sequences, like Yoga Tune-Up® Prasarita lunges.
the warmth in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists after doing this exercise is really noticeable. I really appreciate the elbow and wrist joint movement with out creating a heavy load on the body.
After practicing many shoulder movements today in class, this movement helped relieve some of my sore spots through stretching, in a fluid way, the entire area.
I suffer from chronic shoulder pain, and now I have scapulo-thoracic bursitis so to find this post was like finding a treasure. I’ve been doing it for the past 3 days and have even shared it with other friends that I know who also suffer from shoulder issues. The full range of motion involved in the Pranic Bath leaves my upper body happy and open. I’ve been starting and ending my day with it because it’s such a quick and easy warm-up that you can do almost anywhere. It’s also helped alleviate my upper back pain. You know the pain.… Read more »
Oh my goodness. I did several repetitions of this pose, in both directions, and boy did I feel it the next day. My entire upper back and especially my med trapezius and rhomboids were filled with new awareness – and blood! It is definitely one pose I will add to my repertoire, it really hits the nail on the head. .
For chronically tight shoulder blades, I love how the pranic bath introduces full range of motion for the shoulder blade and rotator cuffs. I also love the visual associated with it, the washing, cleansing yet reenergizing and refilling the depleted reserves of prana throughout. It’s a lot harder than it looks as well; deceptively simple on the outside with its grace and fluidity of movement, but after a while, the shoulders feel it.
When practicing the Pranic bath for the first time I actually heard crunching around my scapula. I backed up a bit on my range of motion and as I warmed the area up was able to gradually increase the motion. This exercise allowed me open my shoulders and back to a healthy balanced position
The warmth in the shoulders that this movement generates is incredible. Moving the shoulder joint through all of its directions of movement in this way is an effective addition to any class.
Thank you, I love the flow of this posture and how it stretches the full range of motion for the shoulder in a beautiful way. And I appreciate the clear description of the movements and the approach. I’m excited to teach in in the YTUTT that I am in right now!
After doing the shoulder range of motion exercises at YTU training this weekend, I realized how good it felt to loosen my shoulders and how much I can actually increase my range of motion through just a short period of dynamic stretching. I love the pranic bath exercise because it’s so simple and it really opens my shoulders and chest. Awesome!
I was so happily surprised when I found this blog post and video. When I was training to be a ballet dancer, my teacher would teach me one hour every week privately to make me do arm exercises. She thought it was really important for ballet dancers, and taught me a few exercises she told me she had learned at yoga. When I started yoga, I have to admit that I did not really think about those exercises anymore, even though I remember that they always made me feel as if I had more muscles and as if my arms… Read more »
I find Pranic Bath to be a great self soothing practice even though it works my shoulders out tremendously . It reminds me of a Qi Gong practice that I love.
Love the pranic bath! I do it before swing dancing so that there are no surprises to my rotator cuffs on the dance floor (or at least so they’ll be less injurious). But really i should also do it before a long drive or a day doing design on the computer. It really lubricates everything for action – or inaction.
This is one if my favorites because it moves my shoulders in all directions as well as wakes up my coordination!! It is the aerialists perfect warm up!!!
Love the Pranic Bath! Not only does it work out shoulders, elbows, and wrists, but it’s an exercise that doesn’t take too long and almost feels like you’re pampering yourself, just like taking a bath! My shoulders tense up a lot, so I’m definitely adding this stretch to my daily routine.
Who knew? A movement sequence to both warm up your shoulders, test you proprioception and develop coordination. Still working on going backwards!
haha who knew taking a bath would make you so sweaty. I think a few rounds of pranic bath got my heart rate going, my shoulders warm, and my core awakened faster than some sun salutations and I feel so light and open in my upper back and chest too.
Never seen a organic bath before, but i like it!
This exercise is a gem for me because I don’t have as much range of shoulder motion as I would like yet. I tried it after watching her a couple times and I immediately felt a difference.
This move came naturally to me and reminded me of my dance training back in my early years. I realized how much range of motion I have lost. I loved doing it with pace and change the direction. This will be part of my daily practice! Thanks Jill!!
This is one of may all time favorite YTU exercises. It makes my shoulders, chest and upper back SO happy! I do this all the time (watching TV, in the hallways at work, quietly in the back of an auditorium during a training…). People think I’m crazy but I love it!
I have had a recent right shoulder injury and yesterday and this morning I practiced Jill’s Pranic Bath. It is just remarkable the increase range of movement I have had from practicing this sequence two days in a row. I am going to make this a regular part of my yoga practice.
I got rather injured in one of my shoulders (due to hypermobility/muscular weakness) from the way I was practicing yoga. I will try this as I love dynamic movement, yet I still feel tender and somewhat reluctant to move my shoulders up over head so tightly adducted. I am curious to knowing more about this one for sure as it seems to have gotten many people into a more free range of motion..!
Ah, the Pranic bath! What a great opportunity to propriocept where you are and where you aren’t with shoulder range of motion. I have a definite lack on one side and it is improving as I spend more time using the YTU therapy balls and this great move.
These dynamic stretches are essential for any weight lifting pose that brings the bar overhead. I thought I had impingement in my shoulder and a tear, but realized the teres minor, Infraspinatus, levator scapula and trap were all just super tight. Rolling these muscles in conjunction with the dynamic shoulder stretches brought blood flow and fluid to the rotator cuff and now I have less pain during and after workouts.
I really enjoy the Pranic Bath. It was surprising the difference in the range of motion between my left and right side. It really gave me an opportunity to feel how everything truly is connected to everything else. When I do this I can feel the stretch all the way into the muscles of my head. When I incorporated my breath along with the stretch it allowed me to really focus on where my range of motion was limited. Doing it in reverse provided an interesting challenge as my brain tried to figure out where, exactly, my arms and hands… Read more »
As someone with tight/tense shoulders, I am actively searching for the best shoulder exercise for me. I like the feeling of creating full range of motion in the pranic bath as it loosesn up all of my ichy areas from sitting at a computer. My goal is to do shoulder stand one day and I know that will not be possible until my shoulders are relaxed. This along with other shoulder exercises will get me there!
This movement was such a lovely way to discover your range of motion into the shoulders, and realize where your muscle firing patterns are off. I felt adhesion under the left scapula but as the heat increased with the motion of the movement, it became more smooth and fluid. Great coordination routine too, makes you really think,then let go into the motion
Often when I only have time for one shoulder warm up exercise, I choose Pranic Bath. Why? Because it not only moves our shoulders in every conceivable direction, but it also engages the brain when we do it in reverse.
the pranic bath is a great way to warm up a class before getting into something more serious. I was taking a class from Louis Jackson in the bay area and he had us do this, and incorporated prasaritta side lunges while standing tall in the spine. Working out the hips and shoulders at the same time. Super solid, and now I know where he got his influence for warm up, as he is YTU certified. Good good!
I love the Pranic Bath for the shoulders … after doing this in Jill’s training this week, i think I’ll start incorporating into my own personal practice. It was an amazing experience, and the release in the shoulders was almost overwhelming. I have an old injury in the right shoulder (tendonitis in infraspinatus connection) that keeps rearing it’s head once in awhile and I feel like this is going to help, much more than any one strengthening exercise. yay!
What a great exercise the Pranic Bath is! it works the shoulder girdle form all planes, and all while maintaining a tubular core. I also find it to be a great assessment exercise that helps identify imbalances and misalignment. It also increases preconception capability as it demands a good level of movement coordination.
This is one of Jill’s one stop shopping poses: Pranic Bath warms up the shoulders, takes them through their full range of motion, works and stretches muscles in and around the shoulder joint, arms and upper back and chest, brings often unrecognized restrictions, tension and lack of movement into our awareness, and is a cardio workout to boot. What else could I ask for? Pranic Bath is part of my daily routine now.
No matter how simple this exercise looks from the outside, I’m still embarrassed at how winded I can become in moving through it dynamically. Even though as we practice this, we should be isolating the shoulders, the amount of opening across the chest added to the vigor of the pace, I feel like I’ve had my cardio for the day!
YTU’s shoulder opener series is super accessible. I come from a martial arts background where practices often are quite complex and can take a good deal of time to digest. With exercises like the Pranic Bath, it’s easy to see where restrictions can be found and focused on in a digestible balanced fashion.
I thoroghly enjoy this shoulder series opening sequence…I like the how the seqeunce spirals through the shoulder flexion, internal/external positions and has that nice connection to the upper back – the upper back feels so alive after this and the chest and shoulders open as a result!
I really like the simplicity of this movement. It is something I could easily do everyday and always find the time for.
I like the full range of motion and chest opening that is happening. It’s a great shoulder warm up that is appropriate for any style class. I will be adding this to my personal practice for sure.
I think Jill’s exercises in general for shoulders are great!! But I do especially like the pranic bath and it’s so simple! Keep up the great work YTU folks!!