Leading a class through some upper back ball work one evening recently, I saw several of my clients clenching their jaws because the knots across their backs, particularly in the trapezius muscles were extremely tight. As a result, my people weren’t getting any benefit out of the ball work and in fact it was just making their necks tighter as those muscles tensed in response to the sensation in their backs.
So we started alternating between YTU warm ups and Therapy Ball exercises.
To get heat and circulation into the shoulders and upper back, we did some shoulder flossing and matador circles, then three rounds of trapezius shrugs. That seemed to soften the traps up enough so my students could roll out their mid-shoulder blade area, reach their arms to the ceiling, then lower the shoulder blades down around the balls without muscle tension overflowing into the neck and jaw. We did another three rounds of trap squeezes, then back on the balls for the self hug and squirm. A third round of trap squeezes and then back on the balls at the psychic bra strap line for some goalpost arms with motion, and they were well on their way to soothed, serene shoulders.
See the video below for some upper back YTU Ball Therapy work, also available here.
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It is incredible how connected those jaw muscles are to the traps and upper back muscles! Even with the awareness of my body and where I hold my own tension, I find that I too let the tension in my upper back translate to the jaw and forehead. I love the idea of really warming up that area first and then diving in. The warm up has to increase the awareness as well! The key is to begin with a high degree of focus and intelligence about where the tension lives.
I like the ways YTU allows us to experiment. For example, I try rolling on the balls first, just to gauge how painful it is, then doing something else (like flossing or epaulets) to warm up the area. Then I come back to the balls and see if there’s a change. Students get to really feel the difference and somehow, to me, it seems like we’re proving to them how movement and stretches help with muscle tension. That being said, I do a ton of Shoulder Flossing in my postnatal classes, where the mommies ALL seem to have shoulder tension. And the key directions I give them are about their mandible and their cervical spine. I’ll ask them if they can “leave their jaw and neck out of it.” And of course, contract their abs so their spines don’t flex or extend. Also, I adore the Pranic Bath, but I notice that when I speed it up, my cervical spine can start to tighten. That’s when I know I’m losing control of it, and I should either bring “more eaze less squeeze” into it, slow it back down, or go ahead and reverse it.
It is so interesting to me that upper back muscular tension can contribute to neck pain. Thank you for the exercises ~ easy to do and I can do them lying down ~ even better!
Warm ups are essential for someone with chronic neck and back pain. I have been using the flossing and arm rolls before ball work on myself for 3 weeks now and find it far less painful than going straight in.
I like this series and would also add Pranic Bath in the beginning to begin warming and increasing circulation. I am trying this routine on a woman I’m working with who has chronic neck pain. I will report back on the results. I find the ball therapy helps with the postures and vice versa, so mixing it up is a big hit!
Alternating between ball therapy and shoulder warm-ups seems like a great way to slow down and check in with the client’s individual proprioception, ball placement and trigger point inventory and release. It’s like combining several types of massage techniques into a single session and finding the one that will release the tension.
This is one of my favorite ball series and I am addicted to these movement. It was nice to read how to help others who may not yet have the release and feel a different sensation through their upper back than I do. Great ideas of exercises on how to stretch the traps before doing the unraveling with the balls.
Great idea, trick that sneaky trapezius with a variety of movement! And those very tight, and completely normal, students too. in becoming so accustomed to carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, our trapezius takes the weight. This is great YTU advice of how to observe the students in the moment, and adjust in a way that is not avoiding getting to where you wanted to go. Rather than ditch the therapy ball effort with an unreceptive group, you creatively found a way to get them the release they clearly all needed. Being able to fully relax into the balls is key to receiving massive benefits. Thanks for this tip!
Great strategy for loosing up those with tight upper back and shoulders. I have always been a fan of shoulder warming YTU exercises before rolling out residual tension and adhesion in the upper trapezius all the way down to the rhomboids and lower traps. Im looking forward experimenting with YTU shoulder warm ups and ball therapy and building yummy sequences 🙂
Ah, thank you for answering a question I had about whether to lead with ball work or to save it for the end of a YTU class. I like the idea of toggling between YTU warm ups and ball work to enhance the palatability and efficacy of both.
Thank you for posting these videos! I tried these exercises and they felt amazing. I think YTU balls are my new favorite thing! It’s interesting to notice how one side feels different from the other. Could this be caused by overuse of one side?
I’ve been using the balls for quite some time (others than Yoga Tune Up balls but same principle) but was just kind of experiencing on my own with them. I love that Jill is giving arm movements during the use of the balls. It really made me go deeper into the stretches. My upper back and neck need them badly.
Thank you.
I learned the Yoga Tune Up Therapy Ball work for the upper back and shoulders on Friday and it was very intense at first. I had trouble breathing. I was sore yesterday but the good kind of sore so I knew it was working. Warming up the shoulders and traps with this kind of work is a great idea. My upper back and shoulders are a real problem for me. My traps don’t activate and contract how they should and several other muscle groups compensate to hold me upright since my traps don’t. However that doesn’t stop them from getting knotted, tight and sensitive. I can’t wait to add this the next time I use the therapy balls and really notice any differences over time on how my traps activate (or don’t). Great advice. Thanks for sharing your teaching experience!
I haven’t started to use the balls yet as I do not have them for my classes, but I noticed with some of my friends that have tried them that they can barely stand the pain and are not enjoying a release of muscle tension because they can’t stay with the balls. I will remember to use YTU warm ups before using the balls to help people to release more easily and not tighten other areas that may tighten in response. Thanks for the hot tip!
I have also begun to alternate between YTU® warm ups and YTU® therapy ball moves in my classes. Whenever I notice that ball work is too painful, I move to a warm up and then back to the ball work and find that this makes the ball work more palatable. Sometimes I use the balls to release trigger points before a more active YTU® move. I also like to describe the muscles involved, giving students the opportunity to integrate and embody the anatomy involved from several perspectives.