André Foisy plays guitar in Locrian and is a certified yoga instructor who teaches in Chicago, including a monthly candlelit yoga event set to dark ambient metal. You can find his yoga teaching schedule and more information about him on his website, Facebook page, and you can find past instructional videos on his YouTube channel.
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This post is about a pose that feels like a massage that just about anyone can do just about anywhere: shoulder shrugs.
People that sit at desks a lot, drive a lot, or carry heavy amplifiers around often round the shoulders forward, which tends to weaken the upper and mid-back muscles. [If you look at metal band promo photos, then you’ll probably notice a lot of people that round their shoulders forward.] When the upper and mid-back muscles get weak, then people tend to get neck pain and tight shoulders.
Shoulder shrugs will gently strengthen the upper and mid-back muscles and help to to increase shoulder mobility and release tension in the shoulders, neck and back.
Watch this video to learn how to do the pose properly.
Tips:
• Don’t push the head forward; keep the back of your skull bones over your sacrum;
• Keep the chin parallel to the floor, so that the neck doesn’t strain;
• Keep the arms relaxed so that this pose isolates the upper back and shoulder muscles;
• Don’t round the shoulders forward between rounds
Do this a lot and notice how you feel. Specifically, if you do this frequently, then notice how your range of feeling and movement changes over time.
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