A Deep Release for the Shoulders and Neck
Beginner II
This gentle, slow, hatha yoga class guides you into a series of poses that thoroughly stretch the muscles around the shoulders and neck. It moves gradually toward deeper stretches, allowing the body to warm up and prepare for a deeper release of the tighter muscles in your body. Your neck and shoulders will feel wonderful after you're done.
Equipment:
Strap Videos
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Comments
Existing Comments
I wouldn’t think some of these poses are for beginners……
This is an incredible class! Exactly what my neck and shoulders needed. Thank you David for your spot-on cueing and pacing.
I am recovering from a concussion and this routine is medicine for me. THANK YOU
When I did one of your older shoulder lessons, wow what a lesson - it released tightness in my shoulders that I had been working on for a fair while. So I knew that I was in for another treat. As always, your lessons are amazing. Instructions are always spot on and the pace perfect. Thank you.
Love this class. I have repeated it many times and tell all my friends to do this class. I always feel lots of relief through my upper body afterwards. This one and "deep release for the low back, hips and legs" are my two favourite when I am feeling tight and sore from sports and work.
These are some powerful stretches wow Working wonders after a long day behind the computer. Thank you David for the excellent guidance
This is exactly what I needed, thank you. I am recovering from a two-day migraine and had a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. These stretches with your calm and thoughtful guidance made all the difference. Namaste.
I'm new to the yoga with me. Excellent class . Thank you.
Thank you for the class David! Maybe it is because you are male, but sometimes I find that you use the descriptive words in a way that makes me subconciously overdo things. For example when you say push or squeeze extensively I find myself doing it to an extent that I normally wouldn't. I enjoyed this class though, maybe it's just because I am not used to it.
Yeah, I get that. I think about the words I use a lot - a bit obsessively, in fact. I often want to encourage people to put lots of effort into an action, but I do my best to encourage soften withing the action as well. It can be tricky and sometimes I could express it better. Thanks for the feedback.
with wind chill it was -30 outside the window I looked out as I did this familiar class. appreciated the bird sounds more than ever!
An excellent class. Thank you very much. Just what I needed! I've bookmarked it and will return to it in the months to come.
Perfect Christmas morning class. <3
Thank you for the release in my neck and shoulders...I feel so much better. Namaste
That felt amazing. Thank you so much. I will come back to this class regularly.
Thank you, everyone, for such kind words. I'm so happy that you're enjoying this class!
You’re the best David,
Love this class David!!! I have been doing this class for at least five years and it is my go-to class when I have tension in my upper back and neck. It always leaves me feeling refreshed, any small aches are totally gone and I feel HAPPY!!!! Thank you for this and all of your wonderful classes! And thank you for all you do for humanity!!!! (more than you know!!)
I have bookmarked this class and keep coming back after tiring week. What a great relief it always is!
This class is perfect with the calm and soothing voice of David :)
Great as usual David. Looking forward to moving on in this beginner to inter. program. I see there's lots of Melissa's ocean side restorative in this program and I will probably do those in the evening. Where the rest of the practices in this program I will do in the morning.
I felt great afterwards though it was a pretty hard beginner practice. I wish you gave more modification choices as I had to make up my own which was fine since I am not a true beginner I knew what to do to take care of myself.
Absolutely wonderful!
David's hip and back relaese classes are the best therapies for me! Bookmarked -
gracias,gracias David just what I needed.Thanks
Some great stretches for the shoulders and neck, just what I needed today.
Thank you David, I love your style of teaching.
As a side note, there are a couple of downward dogs but other than that no standing poses in this class.
Thanks David. I think Ill move into a nice restorative practice now on this rainy day.
I've been a yoga teacher for the best part of 10 years and been practicing for almost 20.
This is far and away the best sequence for neck and shoulder I have done.
Thank you.
This is an amazing neck and shoulder release class - perfect after a day of zoom meetings! Thanks David!
The best shoulder/neck stretch sequence I've ever experienced! Thank you David!
This is the best release/relief I’ve ever had for my extremely tight shoulders and neck. I feel like a new person after doing this!
I found this challenging at times, as my shoulders and upper back are so tight the muscles get tired really quickly, but I really appreciated the clear detailed instruction and enjoyed the results even though some stretches challenged me. Thank you David,
That class felt sooooo good for my neck and shoulders. I have this tightness or knot somewhere between right shoulder and rib cage, that cause a lot of neck and shoulder pain, and these stretches really helped. Thank you!
Hi David! This is a beautiful class as all in your deep release series. They have been my go to for years. Just a short question: why icould it be that my arms hurt a LOT when I extend them out to the sides to push the invisible walls with the fingers outstretched? It seems so unsuspectingly straightforward but it is almost unbearable. Of course, the pain does get better as I stretch every few days, but do you think it is just tension? Or am I doing something wrong? Thank you kindly. Cecilia
Hi Cecilia. Thanks for the great feedback! I'm happy that you like this class. It's a great stretch for the upper body, isn't it?
The answer to your question needs two different angles - one, the balance between effort and release. In trying to lengthen your arms, if you are tensing too much that could hurt or cause discomfort. The other is the stretch. If you're tight in the shoulders, chest, arms and wrists, that position can be difficult to do and hold for any amount of time. The discomfort could be from the tight muscles and/or the effort needed to hold the arms in that position.
Namaste :-D
Many many thanks!!!
Beautiful release \0/
Thank you David - this is a fantastic class and brilliant for anyonewho does a lot of physical work - bending and lifting etc.
I work full time as a gardener and suffer a lot from neck and shoulder pain I find a lot of the poses challenging as my muscles are so tight but I always work through the entire class and always - guaranteed - feel 100% better after doing it.
Thank you !
This is the one.
I've done this class a few times before. Found myself with a very sore neck the past few days from sewing masks, working on crochet and puzzles. Nothing would ease the pain, (BioFreeze, CBD oil, Motrin, etc.).Glad I came back and found this class again. Thank you so much for your relaxing voice and gentle but very effective movements. Ah, a sigh of relief. :)
Holy moly! I really wanted to give up after the first 10 minutes.
Great Class, Really needed to release some stress that I was carrying in my shoulders and neck. Thanks
Great class. Whole body feels great after this class. Thank you once again.
Thank you David. Just came back from a bit of traveling--getting scrunched in car seats, carrying heavy packs over my shoulders and dragging suitcases, etc. Not to mention general tension. This was just what I needed to release some of the tension and rebalance back into home life.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but by the end I'm actually feeling a little discomfort on the right side of my neck. Perhaps I stretched too much... The class was a little more intense than I expected, and in places I had trouble keeping up - especially when stretching arms up and back. A couple more minutes in Shavasana would have been nice at the end, and perhaps a relaxing child's pose somewhere in between. All that said, I'm feeling quite proud that I pushed myself through it and survived :)
Namaste stillsacred. Have you done the "Integrating the Breath and the Bandhas" classes? From my perspective, I feel I would be doing this class incorrectly if I hadn't practiced those classes first. The Bandhas help ensure the alignment. Engaging the core helps everything stay in line so that the neck can be nice and long before dropping the head to the side, staying upright as best I can has improved this class and is one of my favourites.
I have a wireless mouse I can use to pause from my mat which gives me time to explore each component of the pose more, this has been helpful, and gives more time to be careful with your precious neck. I'm a beginner too, I hope this helps. Oh, and I don't think this class is easy either, there is so much potential for some magnificent hard Yoga work here:)
This was a wonderful class, thank you! Should say that David's style is my favorite. It has a moderate tempo that allows me to sink into each pose deeper and let my body explore itself, while the soothing voice is gently guiding you through the class enriching it with meditative-like experience. Simply beautiful :)
Hi David, thank you so much for this programme. It is really helping me with sore back, neck, wrist and shoulder pain. I am very grateful for DYWM, and for this programme in particular, I feel like it is better than PT. I'm amazed at how some of the stretches find "the spot". Thank you for the amazing work you do to help our bodies and minds. Xx
Every time I rediscover this video, I am blown away by how much it blows out the cobwebs in my shoulders and neck. Glorious. Found it this time via the 30 Day Empowerment Challenge for beginners as I try to start challenging myself again. Thank you for it.
A friend had me do a 3 hour workout today - weights - including a lot of shoulder exercises.
This was so needed after that workout. Thank you!
David, Your patience in explaining each pose is admirable. I am grateful for your calm and descriptive class.
I have had very tight shoulders and upper back for years, and now I have a shoulder injury. I managed to do this class by taking it easy, and knowing when to pull back, or just do what I could when pain, as opposed to stretching kicked in. A good class that I hope to do more often.
That was much more intense than I expected, I'm still amazed at how the tiniest movements can cause the most intense sensations! After three days of surfing my whole upper body was incredibly tight and uncomfortable, and this class instantly helped me regain my normal range of motion, and then some. Thank you!
I just love all of DYWM’s classes and this is no exception. However, students should know the stretching is vigorous.
A couple days after experiencing some atypical shoulder pain while swimming, I took this class.
I’ve always had tight shoulders and back even when I’ve been quite flexible in other places, and I really tried not to let myself feel pain during the class. For the first couple hours after, I felt much looser but after that my shoulder became quite painful. I really worried that I had permanently damaged it though it feels somewhat better 24 hours later.
I do think anyone else with possible shoulder impingement should be made aware that this could make symptoms worse if you are already at all sore. I would not recommend this class as a recovery stretch.