I have limited mobility in my shoulders and have trouble with poses that have you lifting your arms straight up and moving them back (for example, crescent lunge). Having my fingers interlinked with palms inside out is even harder.
Is it more important to keep my arms straight in these poses, in which case my arms will be 6” in front of my body, or to try to move my arms behind my ears, which I can only do if my arms are either bent or angled quite far out from my body?
Thanks,
Tina
2 Likes
Hi Tina,
This is a great question! Shoulder mobility is something that comes with time and practice. The best thing you can do, is to do what you can. Take yourself to the edge of mobility and touch any discomfort as lightly as you can with your breath. Don;t think about pushing farther, but rather waiting on the edge and softening around it. Using a strap between your hands in crecent and pulling the hands outward will also help with mobility and stability. Keep working on it and watch those millimeter miracles take place month by month.
Fiji
1 Like
I have same issue, even down dog is hard since I can’t straighten my arm. Yoga has been pretty impossible over the last year but I’m trying to do a limited, VERY modified, practice.
Thx for the question
3 Likes
Is your shoulder mobility issue arising from an injury or has it been an ongoing challenge? There are a lot of reasons why we have limitations in our shoulders and understanding what is stems from can help you make progress by choosing the right approach. There is skelatal variation in the way the joint is set up which will make it very challenging for some people to take their arms full over their head and straighten their arms, essentailly what you are doing in down dog. Injuries and scar tissure can also be a consideration and in that case phisio in addition to yoga would be something to consider.
1 Like
I also have limited mobility in my shoulders, wrists and elbows but it is very gradually improving with gentle yoga. Have you tried Melissas Beginners' Yoga for Shoulder Strength | DoYogaWithMe.com or Davids Yoga for the Hands, Arms and Shoulders with David Procyshyn | DoYogaWithMe.com - YouTube I found these two particularly useful. Trish
1 Like
Thanks for the suggestions, @trishmail. I’ll try these. My shoulders are super-tight: my down dog looks like a hunchbacked plank, and inverted L pose is next to impossible. Like @tina.wirth, if I straighten my elbows with interlinked fingers and palms inside out, I can’t get my arms much above horizontal. I’d love to find more classes above Beginner I level that still accommodate those of us who have limited range of motion.
I was thrilled to see and try the Yoga for Stiff Guys challenge, but many of those classes were still too intense for my limited mobility. Perhaps the next one could be Yoga for Impossibly Stiff Guys 
1 Like
Hi Georgedstuart. I like your suggestion for Impossibly Stiff Guys 
I would have needed a similar girl one! Random question, do you eat gluten? My doctor suggested I play around with my diet this year to see if I am reacting to stuff. When I went off gluten (amongst a lot of other things) the stiffness and pain in my joints decreased significantly.
2 Likes
Interesting thought, @trishmail. Our situations may be different. I don’t have any joint pain; just tendons that are short and stubbornly rigid, not very responsive to mobility exercises. My partner is an integrative medicine nutritionist. Her advice has improved my diet in several ways, but gluten avoidance hasn’t been among her suggestions.
I have to say it took me completely by surprise. I have always been stiff, as a child I could never sit cross legged comfortably and my calf muscles are like rocks. I have been working with a physio to improve my flexibilty as I get older. Its definitely genetic as my father and grandmother were the same so I wasn’t expecting any change to my flexibilty when I went off gluten!
Great insight, this was something I learned early on too. I am gluten intollerant and it my reaction shows up in my joints too.
1 Like