Hello there,

We got this email recently and wanted to share it with all of you, because we have a feeling she's not alone:

Thank you, Jenifer, for writing this, and for continuing to show up for your practice through something genuinely frustrating.

A shoulder that limits you in a pose you love isn't just a physical inconvenience; it touches the practice itself.

We want to be honest with you: we can't tell you what's happening in your shoulder, and if the pain is persistent, someone who can actually look at it, like a physiotherapist or a sports medicine doctor, is worth seeing.

What we can offer are three poses that work gently into the connective tissue and surrounding muscles without loading the joint directly, which is what tends to aggravate the kind of intermittent pain you feel.

This practice targets the connective tissue between the shoulder blades and the backs of the shoulders through a slow, passive hold rather than active stretching.

Nothing is being forced. The shoulder joint is completely unloaded. If anything in your shoulder practice feels like too much on a given day, this is the one to come back to.

The instruction you'll hear is to let the chest melt toward the floor, but if one shoulder is uncomfortable (the right one in Jenifer’s case), don't melt evenly.

Let the left side release a little more and keep a small amount of support on the right, even placing a folded blanket under that shoulder. You're not avoiding the stretch; you're giving the shoulder permission to participate at its own pace.

Also worth noting: keep the arms active enough that the weight isn't dumping into the shoulder joints. Fingers spread, a gentle press into the mat, just enough that the shoulders feel supported rather than collapsed.

This one sounds almost too simple, but how you do it is everything.

Most people rush shoulder rolls and get nothing from them.

When you slow them down enough that each roll takes an entire breath cycle, you give the joint space to move through its full range without any muscular gripping.

For a shoulder dealing with fascia and ligament tightness, this kind of unhurried, rhythmic movement is often more useful than a deeper stretch; it brings circulation into the tissue without provoking it.

Three poses are a starting point, not a programme. If your shoulder has been limiting your practice for a while, what it needs is consistent, targeted attention over a few weeks, not occasional stretching when it flares up.

Earlier this year, we published a shoulder mobility assessment as part of our mobility series.

If you haven't done it yet, that's the right place to start. It takes about three minutes and tells you specifically where your shoulder is restricted: overhead reach, external rotation, internal rotation, or all three.

Knowing which direction is limited changes what you work on.

→ Shoulder Mobility Assessment → read it here

Once you've done the assessment, here's a simple two-week plan built around what you find:

After two weeks, go back to the shoulder assessment and retest.

You will notice a shift if you've been consistent, not necessarily full range, but something that wasn't available before. That shift is the signal to keep going.

If your shoulders have been carrying more than they should lately, these three are worth ten quiet minutes today. And if you did the shoulder assessment back in January, now is a good time to revisit it and see what's shifted.

Please always work within your own range. If anything causes sharp or increased pain, ease out and skip it.

With care,
The Yoga Daily Team

P.S. Before you go, we're curious about your relationship with yoga beyond the mat. We're working on something for you, and we want to get it right.

Tell us more. What would make it easier to find and book a yoga event that's actually right for you?