Vinyasa Flow for Tight Shoulders

I have tight shoulders. The key is to add camatkarasana or wild thing and a side plank to transition in your vinyasa. Also, go for slow transition and hold wild thing. Adding a shoulder opening and strengthening pose to my vinyasa flow helps when I get to the more intense final poses, such as wheel pose. I usually do 6 wild thing/side-plank on each side in a 1 hour yoga session. The sequence goes as such: 

1. Downward facing dog 
2. Lift right leg to wild thing (3 breaths) 
3. Side plank (1 breath) 
4. Right foot in between the hands (slow transition)
5. Repeat on the other side.

Variations and modifications

1. Balance: one foot is rooted on the floor, while the other floats. 
2. Weight distribution: Both feet rooted on the floor. This allows you to play with putting more weight on the hand on the floor. 
3. One-armed wheel: the legs are in wheel pose, but only one hand pushes the floor. In Sansdkit, this pose is called eka hasta urdhva dhanurasana (one-armed upward bow pose) 

On Challenging Yoga Poses

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to go slow and hold poses, especially those that are challenging for you. The more you hold the poses, the less you’re going to fear them. When I started using an internal timer to keep track of how long I hold poses, I realized that I don’t hold my backbends or shoulder openers as long as my head thinks I do! That’s understandable, since they are the most challenging for me and it always feels like time stands still when I do them.

When you hold poses longer, you find your sweet spot. One where you don’t fidget, you breath easy, and feel your body opening slowly. I have learned that this happens when I give it about 70%. Staying in a pose for longer with ease yields more favorable results than giving a pose your 100% for a few seconds.

My Vinyasa Flow Sequence

Here is a list of poses for the full sequence.

Remember to repeat both sides. 

• Lunge pose with backbend 
• Vinyasa | Transition 
• Twisted side angle 
• Triangle 
• Twisted triangle 
• Vinyasa | Transition
• Warrior 3 
• Lunge pose with knee on the ground and quad stretch. 
• Vinyasa | Transition
• Split 
• Vinyasa | Transition
• One-legged mountain 
• One-legged chair with a twist 
• One legged squat to sitting
• Cradle leg on the chest 
• One legged forward fold
• One legged squat to standing 
• Mountain pose
• Fold
• Halfway lift 
• Jump back 
• Vinyasa | Transition
• Falling star 
• Wide-legged forward fold 
• Vinyasa | Transition (other side) 
• Wide-legged forward fold 
• Side bend right 
• Side bend left 
• Vinyasa | Transition
• Pigeon 
• King pigeon 
• Forward fold 
• Bridge
• Wheel (2x) 
• Supine head to knee pose 
• Supine twist