Last weekend was Andrey Lappan’s workshop at the studio. He is the founder of another form of yoga called Universal Yoga. Based on the feedback from several yogis who went, his workshops had a lot of theory, pranayama ( super tough I heard ) and some asanas. And then, there were the shoulder stretches which I heard…
Though I did not attend, I got a chance to do his shoulder stretch during one of Heebs’ class when he introduced it.
I heard it was painful, torturous and yet extremely GOOD shoulder stretches.
Yep, I had a taste of one of them and it was intense!
This is what I call the “floor rock climbing pose”. ( like you are on the rock wall with one hand on a rock and the leg on the same side going to step up on a rock to lift yourself higher… btw, not a very smart way to do rock climbing 
)
Here’s how to give your shoulders a good stretch :
- Lay on the floor on your stomach.
- Put the left arm in a right angle with the side of your upper arm along your body and the lower arm perpendicular. So you will end up with a “L” shape. The other arm is in “chaturanga arm” with the elbow sticking towards the ceiling.
- Then move your left leg up with the knee resting on your lower arm.
- Next start to turn your body towards the right side by using your right arm to lift the body.
- Repeat for the other side.
The next one is what a fellow yogi described to me – “Chicken Wing” stretch :
- Lay on the floor on your stomach.
- Bend your left arm with the left hand on your ribs. In effect, the elbow of your left arm should be pointing towards the ceiling. Just like a piece of chicken wing. ;P
- Slowly, roll to your left side with your left arm in chicken wing. ( at this point of rolling, you probably can FEEL the intense stretch. If you have bad shoulders, please be very careful and if you are not sure if your shoulders can take it, do not do this stretch! )
- Repeat the other side.
Do each stretch slowly and carefully. Always listen and respect your body.
and have a GOOD STRETCH 
… OM~
February 1st, 2008 at 8:12 am
Another one …
sit on mat, bend at knees. Arms also go into chicken wings .. hee hee.. BUT, the elbows is pointing front and hands are at waist with palms facing sides. Elbows are between the knees.
Then, use the knees to push the elbows in.
One of the Pure teachers asked why is it we have to do this? ‘Cos its a stretch that involves shoulders rotating inwards, whereby people who are working in offices are already having a bit of hunch back.
Andrey said … even though it may not come in use … BUT … you will use it one day … just like the 26 in the alphabet. Even though there are some alphabets that we seldom/rarely use, but we will use it one time or another. So, its the same with this. It is good/best to know the full spectrum.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Another one taught by Nanci, easy but can be quite intense.
Standing beside the wall, right shoulder and side of the body lean against the wall, right palm on the wall. Right arm straight, slowly use right palm to draw a circle on the wall, clock-wise (imagine the shoulder on the wall as the center of the clock). Then repeat on left.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:08 am
My body still not flexible to do stretching… I still do not know why my back still hard to bend down..