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| I've been practicing yoga for some time now (about 6 years), but for the life of me, I just can't seem to get the hang of shoulderstand.  I've tried it both with and without blankets; I prefer the former because I feel more unstable using the props, but I'm really not crazy about the pose either way. Not only am I missing out on the great effects that people seem to get from this pose, but also I often wind of feeling sore the next day, usually in my lower to middle trapezius muscle.
Any advice on how I can improve my practice of this pose? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Hi Beth - have you worked with a teacher or on your own? Maybe both  I have endless troubles with shoulderstand and I have been at this thing for 10 years. I blame the tightness in my shoulders which makes it hard for me to get enough lift to keep my legs from falling toward my face. Can you send us some photos? We have lots of teachers here who might be able to help you out. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Beth,
When shoulderstand is done improperly, the lower and middle trapezius get stretched-sounds like you need to learn to support yourself on your shoulders, so that the thoracic spine gets to extend (straighten) slightly-the thoracic spine is where the above muscle's origin lies. Too many students weight-bear on the thoracic spine, rather than on the scapulae, resulting in excessive curvature of the thoracic spine and a pushing of the scapulae away from the mid-line.
Nick |
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| I like using a strap around my upper arms to keep the elbows from splaying. I try to visualize my shoulderblade points being my sit bones in this position, and that the thoracic spine can then sit up tall away from them. I also work on trying to arch my heart forward, again stressing the "sitting up tall" posture while upside down. Having blankets underneath you really helps, 2 or 3 especially, then folding the bottom edge of your mat up over the blankets, so your upper arms can still grip. If you're flexible enough in plow to take your legs all the way to the floor behind you, try coming close enough to a wall behind you, so that you can press your feet into the wall for resistance (with straight legs). Keep the legs parallel to the floor, so you toes won't be touching the floor anymore. As your feet press into the wall, feel the wall press your hips back away from it (same sort of feeling as the resistance created in ardha uttanasana with hands at the wall), and that can teach you to lift up out of your thoracic spine better. Ideally, your upper back should be vertical in plow as well, not caved in like a forward bend, but more of a backbend action as the heart arches forward. Think of making sharp angles rather than soft curves at the hip and shoulderblade junctions, then use your belly strength to fortify the lift of the spine away from gravity. Then once you unbend the hips to go back up to shoulderstand, keep feeling as if you have that wall for your feet to press into still. I don't know, maybe my lowback and hamstring flexibility is better than most, so maybe this variation might not suit you. But I really found that the action of the feet pressing into the wall in halasana really helped me know what to look for in shoulderstand, which was a big issue for me for a long time. |
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| OrangeMat, thanks for the idea about using the wall--I can get my feet on the ground behind me in plow, so maybe using the wall for SS will help me to raise more vertically.
Nick, do you have any additional tips for making sure that I am on my shoulders rather than my spine? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Feet on the wall is great. I teach it a lot. Getting the distance right is a bit tricky, but once you have figured that out, you can do a very nice ekapada sarvangasana (one leg up at a time) and work on getting nice length from the mat to your toes. |
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| I suggest researching the action in Setu Bhandasana Sarvangasana (Bridge posture).
Interlacing the fingers different ways and feeling the action of bringing the shoulders under one at a time.
the other research posture would be parivrtta namaskar. Drawing the palms together in reserve prayer
Doing these kinds of openers will help you understand the how to hold the shoulders back and what it takes to do the entire posture.
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| More solid props (not blankets though they are "okay" when nothing else is available) and the shoulder opening preps would be helpful. All beginning students go up in this pose at the wall (in Purna Yoga) and sometimes it is beneficial to take intermediates up at the wall to "remind" them of the actions.
The props are important so that the cervical curve is protected. |
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| There's also the folding chair version.
I forget how to get under the chair the right way. Anyone know that one? |
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Location: London, England | Hi Beth,
Well, this is a difficult one without knowing where you are restricted in your range of motion. For instance, how far can you pull your arms back behind your torso? The normal range of motion is anywhere from 15-50 degrees-a huge spectrum, but one that is perfectly normal. I would say that not everyone is capable of doing shoulderstand with a vertical body, not without making compensations for lack of shoulder extension (the movement described above) by allowing the thoracic spine to flex.
My favourite is to use the wall, but with the wall behind the torso, rather than in front of it, as described elsewhere. Start with your bottom up against the wall, knees bent, feet on the wall, then climb your feet up the wall. This will make up for any lack of shoulder extension.
Also, try looking straight up towards the ceiling, so the skull presses into the floor-this also helps to distribute the body weight onto the shoulders and arms. The chin should not be tucked into the sternum (breastbone), but should actually be pulling away from it.
There's more, I'll get back to yuo, experiment with that, and let us know how you get on.
Nick
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| Nick, there's a variation of shoulderstand with the wall by your head? I hope you weren't referring to my explanation of halasana with the wall... no matter which pose, shoulderstand or plow, the feet would be at the wall. Or said better, for plow, the head is closer to the wall; for shoulderstand, back of the body is closer to the wall. Sorry if I inadvertently confused anyone! |
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| Nick, as far as the arm extension goes, do you mean hands folded behind my back, arms out straight, and simply raise them up? Just tried that in the mirror here at work, and it looks like I can go a little more than 45-degrees, maybe 50-55. If it helps tell you more about me, I can do cow face arms with the right arm on top and, with practice, have gotten to the point where I can just touch hands with the left on top.
Looks like I will have to try working on some wall variations. I also have the book Cool Yoga Tricks, and I'm sure she has some ideas in there as well. Thanks so much for all the suggestions! |
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Location: London, England | Hi Om,
No,I know the positioning you talk of, which is very common in most branches of yoga-but I was talking about doing it the other way round-I think  Oh hang on-i'm a bit confused-we need to talk further
Nick
Edited by Nick 2007-08-31 6:10 PM
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Location: London, England | "as far as the arm extension goes, do you mean hands folded behind my back, arms out straight, and simply raise them up"
Hi Beth,
I'm not really sure what you mean by 'fold the hands'-I've heard of folding the elbows. But there is no other movement apart from taking the arms back behind you in shoulder extension.
Nick |
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Shoulderstand Woes
