hey everyone and welcome to yoga with

Adriene I am Adriene and today we have

an awesome sequence for the upper back I

rarely meet anyone that doesn't complain

about upper back achiness or stiffness

shoulder pain craving neck relief so

this is a sequence that you can

incorporate to your daily routine your

your daily practice you can return to it

five days a week seven days a week so be

sure to favorite the video so you can

return to it easily because I think this

is something that everyone can benefit

from so let's get to it hop on the mat

and let's learn this upper back sequence

okay so to begin we're going to start at

a nice cross-legged position sukhasana

or the pose of ease here just pressing

into the sit bones and slowly

lengthening up through the spine

I'll bring the palms to the knees here

and jumping right and I'm gonna inhale

loop my shoulders draw my shoulder

blades in together and back as I lift my

heart now I don't have to crunch the

neck here youch I'm just gonna keep it

nice and open but I am actively drawing

my shoulder blades in and together and

down shoulders away from the ears take a

deep breath in here long belly tops of

the thighs draw down and then on an

exhale I'm gonna slowly draw my chin to

my chest draw my navel back allow my

shoulders to round forward kind of get a

little booty massage here as I roll

through the buttock and allow the way to

my head to drop over now I'm gonna hang

here for a couple breaths catching the

weight of my palms to the knees here and

really just breathing feeling that upper

bar poor body upper back stretch

creating a little bit of space here with

each inhale and each exhale

and then rolling back up I'll loop the

shoulders rolling through pressing into

the sit bones again lifting the heart

drawing the shoulder blades in together

and down and really creating space

between the ears and the tops of the

shoulders take a deep breath in smile

relax your jaw and then send it back

down I like to call this mr. Burnes

posture here but we'll put a positive

spin on it here and breathe some space

into that upper back I'm in inhaling

back up to Center head over heart heart

over pelvis

okay sitting up nice and tall I'm gonna

send my fingertips forward like I'm

swimming crossing them over swim around

and then I'm gonna interlace my

fingertips behind the back again good

marker is to keep the head over the

heart center of the sternum the sternum

over the pelvis just to notice whether

maybe you tend to sit back like this

which is normal or maybe you're

overcompensating and shifting the heart

forward let's try to stack it nice and

tall I'm gonna interlace the fingertips

and then I have a couple options here if

I can let's run to the side here so you

can see I can bring the palms together

check that out if that's a little too

intense at the moment I might keep the

wrists nice and square but I'm actively

drawing the shoulders down away from the

ears shoulder blades together kind of

wringing it out in the upper back here

getting rid of that achiness kind of

massaging that area of the body and what

will help with that is of course taking

a nice juicy deep breath in and a nice

soft sigh out

let's do one more deep breath in

notice my neck is getting a little

involved here it feels good and slowly

release and palms come back to the

thighs

okay so now I'm gonna come to a extended

Child's Pose for a couple breaths so I'm

gonna open the knees nice and wide big

toes are gonna kiss together here we can

pad the knees if you need to here if

this is too much extension

hyperextension in the knees you can put

a little blanket here between the knees

little cushion and then I'm gonna sit up

nice and tall inhale reach the arms up

towards the sky and then exhale keep the

spaciousness in the side body as I dive

forward into this extended Child's Pose

fingertips are gonna reach towards the

front edge of the mat palms are gonna

spread wide notice I'm still looking

forward here drawing my shoulder blades

in together and back shoulders rotating

externally away from the ears breathing

here and then slowly bowing forward

opening up the shoulders melting the

heart to the earth forehead kisses the

mat and the arms don't go limp here or

lazy I kind of stay active here reaching

fingertips towards the front edge

connecting hasta bandha that hand earth

connection shoulders are alive as I

breathe into the upper back and then

breathe into the mid-back then send a

nice deep breath to the lower back

and then slowly when you feel satisfied

drawing a line with the nose looking

forward and then using the palms to walk

it back up okay so now we're gonna come

to all fours here tabletop position and

I'm going to walk my right palm in

towards the center line here and on an

inhale send my left fingertips all the

way up towards the sky now I'm not going

to collapse into this right shoulder

here no way I'm gonna press up and out

of the right palm keeping the

spaciousness that I've built in this

little practice all along breathing into

the upper back here maybe the arm goes

all the way up maybe it only goes to

here just seeing where that space is

today taking a nice deep breath in and

then exhale coming back to Center left

palm replaces the right right fingertips

reach up let's do the side really fast

inhaling you can move at your own pace

drawing that shoulder away from the ear

breathing nice long deep breaths and

then exhale back to Center we're gonna

do it one more time this time keep the

palms a little bit wide and instead of

drawing the right palm into the center

I'm going to keep it right where it is

as I inhale open the left palm up take a

deep breath in and this time I have the

needle I'm gonna take my left fingertips

under the bridge of the right arm and

come to rest on the outer edge of my

left shoulder left ear it comes to the

earth and I begin to breathe into the

upper back here particularly the left

side for more leverage I can tent the

right fingertips here maybe bend that

right elbow up to find a little bit more

in that upper back the toes are going to

want to come together I really don't

mind that but if you like you can just

keep a little integrity here by keeping

the tops of the feet pressing into the

earth and for more leverage or for a

little bit of a deeper stretch you can

also add extending the right leg just

kind of using the right toes here again

to press a little bit deeper into the

posture but I say start here and then

work your way up to here so be

really mindful in the shoulders here to

come out of the posture I take a deep

breath in then exhale out following your

breath back to Center and planting the

left palm again this time we're not

walking into the center but keeping it

nice and open as I inhale right

fingertips reach up towards the sky and

then exhale diving through right

fingertips under the bridge of the left

arm as I come to the outer edge of my

shoulder here hello and breathing here

each side will be a little bit different

I can use my right excuse me left

fingertips here to tense the palms bring

that left elbow up another option though

sometimes offer students is to come

palms together here and just kind of

gently extending those right fingertips

how that feels nice another option to go

a little deeper again is to extend the

left leg curl those toes under breathing

into that upper body that upper back and

then following your breath to come out

of the posture moving nice and slow

and mindfully here and back to all fours

okay so now we're gonna come on to the

belly for a little cobra sequence gently

coming on to the belly drawing the palms

underneath the shoulders here I'm gonna

keeping the feet just nice and hip width

apart here pressing into the pelvic bone

looping the shoulders the elbows are

coming in nice and close to the side

body go ahead and rest your forehead on

the mat and then we're gonna move nice

and slow here inhaling and exhaling

pressing into the pelvic bone pressing

in your foundation drawing the shoulder

blades in together and down as we slowly

look up not a big move here at first

just a nice gentle thing and then exhale

back down forehead kisses the mat moving

with the breath now whether you rise up

on the exhale or the inhale is totally

your choice

I say for a sequence like this that's

therapeutic and about getting into those

dark nooks and crannies it's just about

following your breath you might start to

find a little more space but we're

moving at a nice be nice and mindful

notice lots of space between the ears

and shoulders and then if you want from

here you can build this into upward

facing dog we're not gonna do that today

but if you're already have a practice

and you're ready you can begin to take

this into a nice upward facing dog when

you feel satisfied you can send it to a

downward facing dog or just a nice

little counter pose here as we come into

extended Child's Pose swimming the

fingertips forward up and back and then

resting the forehead shoulders melting

forward as we breathe into the back and

rest okey doke so that was yummy

sequence for the upper back this

actually was a request from a viewer so

if you have other things that you're

craving some relief or you want some

yoga knowledge or advice on leave me a

comment below leave your requests

questions always welcome subscribe to

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will see you next time namaste