–For my Monday LA Fit students xoxox
In Side Angle Pose think SPACE. Do not dump into your shoulder!!! I showed the bad and good way twice so you can literally see that it looks like you’re “hanging out” lazily in the pose when done incorrectly. Press into your forearm to create SPACE between the shoulder/trapezius muscles and your neck/ear. No slumping or crunching please.
After teaching posture in a seated cross-legged position in my classes, I warmed up their bodies with cat cow, and sun salutations. I mixed in plank pose where your knee touches your nose, then the same elbow as knee, and then opposite elbow to knee to warm up the core and shoulders.
AFTER heating up their bodies, we worked through these BIG shoulder openers at the end of class.
Rolling over your shoulder.
Thread the needle for the shoulders.
In both of these poses, do not push!!! Go very very slowly into the poses, and come out of the pose just as slowly. Give your body a few seconds to neutralize before doing the other side.
–For anyone who has chronic back/neck pain or wants to correct their posture
–And for my Monday night LA Fit students and Tuesday 930AM Fitness Compound students xox
In the image below, the first shows how many of us start in class when I say “start in a seated position on your mats.” The back is rounded and slumped over lazily, and the neck is crunched. This is also how a lot of us sit at our 9 to 5 jobs in the office. Sitting like this can cause back and neck pain, and reduces oxygen to the brain by not allowing the stomach’s full capacity to expand in and out as your breathe.
I guided my students to gain correct posture so there is space to then open up the shoulders and neck later in class.
Start in a cross-legged seated meditation. Close your eyes, feel your breath, and notice the state of your body today.
1. Literally use your hands to move the flesh of your bum out to create more space
2. Root down into your sitbones, let your spine and head rebound up but keep the chin level with the floor!!
3. Engage the core
4. Spread wide across the collarbones
5. Roll the shoulders back and down
6. Lift the sternum up slightly
7. Soften the frontal ribs down
A friend of mine who was many herniated vertebrae once told me,
“The more you keep your vertebrae aligned throughout the day, the less pain you will have.”
After I received whiplash to my neck, I took his words to heart and really focused on always maintaining correct posture. Stay aware of your posture, it’s something we all have to constantly work on 
We covered A LOT in my Thursday night class at LA Fit in Chatsworth!! However, we went really into depth about zipping those inner thighs together when doing standing postures!!
ZIPPING THE INNER THIGHS (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!)
Prepare yourself for Warrior 2 but do not the bend the knee yet. Imagine drawing the inner thighs together without actually moving your legs. It’s a subtle action, but you should definitely feel those inner thighs working!!
Slowly, as you exhale begin to bend your knee for Warrior 2. It should be a fight to bend that knee while your inner thighs are engaging!!!
Stay in the pose. Breathe. Your legs might be shaking by now.
Inhale, slowly, fight to straighten the front leg, and the moment you’ve fully extended your front leg, begin to bend the knee again.
Move your torso forward, place your forearm on the your the thigh of the bent knee, and lift your back arm up for Side Angle Pose. Still visualize your inner thighs drawing closer and closer to each other!!
WHY IS THIS ACTION IMPORTANT??
1. Your legs will become so much stronger and toned
2. Balancing in poses will be easier.
3. Hip injuries from Side Angle Pose will be avoided because zipping the inner thighs together prevents us from dumping all our weight into our hips.
xo
-shan
For my Chatsworth students, here’s a review of many of points we covered in class I’ll eventually have articles posted in depth about all of these topics.
1. The action of the inner thighs coming toward each other in standing poses such as Warrior 2 and Side Angle. This creates space in the hip/torso to avoid crunching
2. Plank – engaging the legs/core not the arms/shoulders
3. Ankle – Flexing, not sickling !! Why is it important???
4. Hyperextension of the arms – Why to not hyperextend, How to teach the arms to not hyperextend.
5. Twists – http://yogaismymedicine.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/teaching-focus-how-to-properly-twist/
6. Puppy Dog to teach form for Down Dog