- Hey everyone.
Welcome to Yoga with Adriene.

I'm Adriene and this is Benji.

And today we 
have an awesome yoga

for neck and shoulder release.

So this is a beautiful time
for you to just take a break

from all your tasks 
and tend to your body,

particularly the 
neck and the shoulders

where we hold a lot of 
tension, a lot of stress

from either 
emotional things, mental things,

or from our other 
fitness activities.

So as we're 
gearing up for summer

and we're wanting 
to amp up our activity,

a lot of that can 
sometimes manifest

in the neck and shoulders.

So it's all connected, right, 
the mind and the body.

Here's an 
opportunity to tend to it.

So hop into something 
comfy and let's get started.

(gentle upbeat music)

Alright, my friends, let's
begin in a comfortable seat.

You can do this 
sequence in a chair

or on the edge of your couch.

Or get down nice and low 
into Sukhasana, easy pose.

And I'm sitting on a 
little blanket today.

You can sit on a little cushion

or a little towel 
if you like as well.

But the main thing is you
want to come into a position

where you can find 
length though the spine,

up and down the spine, right?

So if you feel that your 
spinal cord has collapsed,

let's see if we can pause the
video and make adjustments

so we can at least 
sit up nice and tall.

And it will be 
an active lift, so

I just say that 
because a lot of people

are new to the practice.

It's really hard to 
sit up nice and tall.

So I just want 
to acknowledge that,

and that's why 
we're going to work

on the body 
today with the breath.

When you're ready, take 
a moment to close your eyes

and just tune into 
how you're feeling.

And we'll do so by 
noticing the breath.

And as you're ready, 
just taking a couple

of nice refreshing inhales
and exhales, just on your own.

Feel it out.

Great.

Just take a moment to 
kind of clear the slate.

Maybe this image of 
kind of clearing your desk.

So that you can really just
tend to yourself in this moment.

We're going to 
get a great stretch,

a great release in the 
neck and the shoulders.

But you can also take this time

to just do a little 
energetic hygiene, right,

because it's all connected.

Great, then open your eyes.

And after you've 
taken a couple amazing,

beautiful refreshing 
deep breaths in and out.

So don't skimp on that.

We'll bring the 
hands to the heart.

I feel like 
I need to acknowledge

that my voice is 
super low today. (laughs)

Allergies.

Press the palms together.

Active arms here.

When you're ready, 
elbows go out left to right.

Now imagine a 
string pulling you up

from the crown of the head.

So literally use 
your creative mind,

your imagination 
to see the spine,

the vertebra 
lifting and lengthening.

Keep breathing.

Pressing the palms 
together, elbows left to right.

You're wanting 
to create a little heat,

a little prana here.

Sit up nice and tall, 
lift the chest.

Again, imagine that 
string pulling you up

from the crown of 
the head even more.

And then release everything.

Awesome.

Hands come to the knees here.

So if you're on a chair 
you'll go arms out long.

If you're on the floor, see if
you can wrap the arms around.

So this will be 
different for everyone

so that you can 
create a little bit

of leverage here as well.

So arms nice and straight.

And then when you feel 
like you've found that,

inhale, wrap the shoulder
blades around your heart space,

and lift your chest up.

See if you can keep 
the image of that string

just lifting and lengthening

up through the 
crown of the head.

And then from here, inhale in.

Keep the heart lifted.

Just exhale chin to 
chest, nice and slow.

And then inhale, carve a 
line with the nose, look up.

Then exhale.

Keep the heart lifted, 
chest lifted, chin to chest.

So there's a little bit 
of connection with the hands

and the legs here, so you have

that leverage as 
you inhale, look up.

And as you exhale, 
chin to chest.

Inhale, look up.

And exhale, bow the head.

Keep it going, 
a couple more times.

See if you can keep the 
shoulder blades really firm

on the back and 
the heart lifted.

Then if you're experiencing 
any fussiness at all

in the lower back, 
draw the navel in,

hug the lower ribs in 
a little bit to support.

Cool, one more time.

Inhale to look up.

And this exhale chin to chest.

And then continue the journey.

Let the shoulder blades release.

And we're going to bring 
the navel towards the back

of the spine and round 
through the spine here.

Now a lot of us 
in the community,

we've done this 
shape before, right?

Think Cat Pose.

But see if you can 
really kind of sink in,

find more depth here 
today by wrapping, excuse me,

releasing the shoulder 
blades to wrap forward.

And then hug the lower 
ribs in, create more stretch

by hugging the front 
body to the back body.

Then notice if 
you're clenching in the jaw

or in your forehead 
or anything like that.

And soften.

Breathe deep.

Close your eyes and feel it out.

See if you can imagine 
the muscles of the back

and the shoulders 
stretching, lengthening.

Neck

gaining more length, 
more space with every inhale.

And use your exhale to 
soften, release any tension,

any congestion, any stress 
that's been building up.

This manifests in the body.

This manifests through

tight muscles which 
cause us discomfort.

So you've got to 
bring the breath.

Bring nice poignant breath.

Great, then ground 
your tail down to the earth

and start nice and slow

articulating up 
through the spine.

So we start to 
tilt the pelvis back

and we roll up through 
the spine nice and slow,

and the crown of the head is
the last thing to lift up.

And then just see if you can
imagine the natural curve

of your spine, which is
different for everyone, right?

And then when you're 
ready, open the palms,

elbow creases 
up towards the sky.

Squeeze the 
shoulders up to the ears

and then wrap them back.

And so the 
placement of your hands

is going to move 
back, back, back.

Wrap them back.

And then bring the hands to
the tops of the thighs here.

And then again, 
firm the shoulder blades

down the back body.

And inhale, lift from the crown.

Lift your chest.

So you're engaging.

In fact, go ahead and 
lift your hands a little bit,

gentle pulses here.

Back with the elbows.

You're engaging all the 
muscles around the shoulders.

You should be able to 
even feel it a little bit

in the muscles of the arms.

So baby pulses here.

Again, if you're 
feeling any fussiness

in the lower back body 
find support from within.

Draw the navel in.

Connect to your core muscles.

Great, we're here for five.

Breathe deep.

Four.

Three.

Two, reach the fingertips 
all the way up on the one.

Here we go.

Spread the fingertips, 
lots of energy.

Reach for the sky.

Then bring the palms together
and really activate them.

See if you can 
press, press, press.

Notice that the shoulder blades

have kind of released forwards.

See if you can, 
again, bring them together

and firm them 
down the back body.

Great, press the palms
together, create a little heat.

And then here we go.

We're going to take 
the fingertips back,

elbows towards the sky, 
and lift the elbows up.

So the arms 
might be able to create

a little bit of 
leverage for the head.

But you're using your 
core to support the back.

One more big breath 
in here, you got this.

Lift the elbows even more.

And then exhale, 
release everything.

Fingertips come 
down gently at your side.

Awesome work.

Okay, so here 
we're going to bring

the palms back and release.

If you're in a chair then 
I'll give you a variation.

But if you're on the floor,
here's the first variation.

So actually I'll 
give you the chair first.

Chair, if you're in a variation

you're just going to 
cross one leg over the other.

And then do the 
same thing that we do

on the floor with the neck.

So just crossing the legs.

If you're on the 
floor you're going to go

windshield wiper legs.

So bring the feet out wide.

Again, hands come behind you.

Notice if you've already 
started to collapse here.

See if you can 
maintain that integrity

of that length up 
through the crown.

Cool.

Then take a second to 
just wake up your feet.

Dig your heels into the earth.

It's all connected.

You know, I am really 
honored to get to make

these yoga videos, but, 
you know, it's all just yoga.

Yoga for this, yoga for that.

So even though yoga for 
neck and shoulder release

it's like, right, it's connected
to the soles of our feet.

It's all connected, 
one moving part.

All right, that's my spiel.

Let's do the dang thing.

Bring the knees slowly,

so keep the heart 
lifted over to the left.

And then pause.

Just notice the 
sensations of the body there.

And then see if you can find

more length 
through the crown here.

So that might mean making an
adjustment with your hands.

It might mean firming 
the shoulder blades again,

lifting the heart.

Hey buddy.

My assistant.

Yeah, he's good at Pranayama.

He's good at yoga, all branches.

Okay, inhale, lift the chest.

So once you find that integrity

then you're going 
to keep this length

up through the crown again.

Imagine that 
string pulling you up,

very important, very important.

And then keep that length,

and then look away 
opposite direction.

Then breathe a little deeper.

Maybe soften your 
eyes or your gaze.

Make sure you're not clenching

or holding in the 
toes or the fingers.

And we breathe here.

So really reap 
the benefits of this time,

this therapy by 
breathing deep in and out.

And then ground down through
the shoulder blades again.

Firm them up and find length
in that left side of the neck.

Careful not to 
completely collapse right side.

Great, one more breath, inhale.

And then find the 
courage to look back to center.

Okay, great.

Rolling through 
to the other side.

I'm going to take a little break

off the hands here if you need

by coming to Thriller 
arms or rotating the wrists.

And then when you're ready, 
you know what to do here.

Take it to the other side.

Again, if you're on a 
chair you're crossing the legs,

kind of like we would at a desk.

And looking away.

Both of these shapes are
pretty awesome if you ask me.

So in your own time travel
there, listen to your body.

Inhale, lift the chest.

Imagine that string.

And when you're ready, 
do your look away.

Oh yeah, this side's good.

Great, take two 
more deep breaths.

And then slowly be brave,

come back to center, 
face your fears.

Okay, come up off the wrists.

If you're in a chair, bring
the feet flat to the ground.

If you are on 
the ground, let's go

one foot in front of the other.

It doesn't matter which one.

Again, if you need 
to come off the wrists

or work out the wrists, 
listen to your body.

Take good care.

And then when you're 
ready we're going to interlace

the fingertips, 
open palms, open thumbs,

and bring them up 
and over and behind

to just the back of the head.

Thumbs come to the neck here.

And then inhale, lift the
chest, lift the elbows, look up.

Open the elbows 
as wide as you can.

See if you can open them even
wider, even wider, even wider.

Be mindful.

And then exhale 
slow as you can go.

Chin to chest, 
rounding the spine.

And then you're not 
pressing with your hands at all.

Just kind of 
letting gravity do the work.

And the elbows will come in

towards your 
forehead or your third eye.

And you are in control.

And I can see a little 
toothpaste on my shirt.

Real class act, real classy.

Okay, we're here for a 
good amount of breaths,

inviting a release, a surrender.

And also taking a 
moment to just kind of explore

or maybe refine,

if that speaks to you.

Pulling the shoulders 
a little bit back softly.

Relaxing the jaw, the forehead.

Close your eyes, breathe.

Awesome work.

From your core, think 
Uddiyana Bandha, naval lock.

Draw the navel in and up

and let that be your 
cue to slowly roll up.

We're going to 
come all the way up,

crown of the head 
lifts up towards the sky.

Elbows go super 
wide one more time.

Inhale in, and then 
exhale, big stretch.

Have fun with this.

Ooh, maybe you yawn.

Turn your head one way.

And maybe the other.

Make it your own 
here, a little stretch.

Mmmm, awesome.

You're going 
to cross one arm over.

It doesn't matter which one.

Take it into this 
little stretch here.

Plug the shoulders 
down and lift your chest.

Imagine you're a 
marionette string.

And then switch.

Wonderful.

Hands come together, 
Anjali Mudra at the heart.

Sit up nice and tall.

A humble tucking of the 
chin, just a little tuck.

Close your eyes if you like

and listen to the 
sound of your breath.

Acknowledging that the mind
and the body are connected.

Amazing.

Repeat this sequence when you
feel like you need to release.

A friend of mine, 
friend and mentor,

always is talking to me 
about how often neck pain is

not seeing both 
sides, or not seeing

more than one side to something.

So that might be something 
to look into or consider.

And often when we are 
kind of amping up for summer

and workouts we're 
doing a lot more ab work

and just a lot more 
activity fitness-wise.

And that can sometimes manifest

in the neck and the shoulders.

So repeat this sequence 
to find length and release.

Let it be a physical release

but also you can 
take this opportunity

to choose to let go of anything
that's not serving you.

Just release it 
with every exhale.

Here we go, deep breath in.

Lift the thumbs 
to the third eye.

And one last release.

We exhale, 
bowing, head to heart.

I swear Benji just 
sighed right when I did that.

That is amazing.

I hope the mics picked that up.

Alright, 
namaste my dear friends.

Let us know how 
it goes down below.

Questions, 
comments always available.

Subscribe to the 
channel if you haven't already.

Invite your friends, your foes,
your family to do the same.

And I'll see you next time.

(gentle upbeat music)