## Yoga For Shoulder Injury
A shoulder injury can be one of the most limiting and challenging injuries to work through. Not to mention frustrating, given the amount of everyday tasks that your shoulders are responsible for.
Fortunately, yoga is one of the best activities you can engage in to both prevent and manage shoulder injury, strengthen and stretch your shoulders and surrounding muscles, and increase flexibility. Some of the benefits of yoga for shoulder injury include:
**Strengthening**
Yoga can help to strengthen your rotator cuff and external rotators, which in turn provide greater stability to the joint. Many yoga postures also require use of your arms and will increase strength over time.
**Stretching**
Through many poses and movements, yoga works to continuously stretch and lengthen the muscles of the shoulder, increasing range of movement. Even if you identify that your shoulder tightness is causing your pain, frequent and regular stretching will be beneficial.
**Mobility**
Yoga helps to increase the mobility of your shoulder joint, as well as the surrounding muscles. This increased mobility can help to provide better balance and improved coordination.
**Stability**
One of the main benefits of engaging in yoga is that it can help to increase the stability and balance of your shoulder muscles. Common shoulder injury comes from overstraining a muscle, stretching too much or too fast, or walking away from a too rigorous workout. Stable shoulder muscles are better prepared for all these activities.
### Identifying What Yoga Poses Are Best
When starting a yoga practice for shoulder injury, it’s important that you identify the poses that are best for your body and your potential issue. You will want to discuss with both your doctor and your yoga teacher what poses they recommend, and pay attention to both your doctor and your yoga teacher’s advice.
For shoulder issues, there are a few poses in particular that may help to improve your shoulder pain.
* Cat/ Cow Pose: These two poses, combined together, create a gentle rocking motion of the spine to help increase mobility and ranges of motion in the shoulder.
* Cow Face: This pose helps to fully stretch both the rotator cuff and external rotator muscles.
* Extended Side Angle: This pose helps to stretch and strengthen your shoulder girdle, as well as work on your hip range of motion.
* Supported Shoulder Stand: This pose provides a nice stretch to the shoulders and neck, helps to align the body properly, and ensures that the breath is flowing properly.
In Conclusion
The key to unlocking the health of your shoulders is engaging in regular yoga. Yoga helps to strengthen, stretch, and provide stability to the muscles and shoulders, as well as increase flexibility and range of motion. If possible, consult with both your doctor and yoga instructor to identify the poses that are best suited for your body. Once identified, consistently practice the poses for best results.
I am passionate about yoga and this is my blog. I have been practicing yoga for over 10 years and teaching for 5. Yoga has transformed my life in so many ways and I love being able to share that with others. My hope is that through this blog, I can help people learn more about yoga, connect with other yogis, and find inspiration to live a healthier, happier life.
