Tight shoulders make Gomukhasana tough? Try these variations | Yoga with Rita – Fulcrum Blu

≤15 min. Gomukhasana is a pose that many of use with tight shoulders love to avoid because it is so difficult to grab hook fingers together behind our back. This practice offers some simple ways to coax your tight shoulders in a bit more flexibility. Simply find something (a strap, towel, tee shirt) and hold on to solve the gap between your hands. Here are some alternatives to clasping your hands -- you will find that variations such as moving your hands away from the back of your torso (either in seated position or on your belly) increases the stretch. Gomukhasana has been a part of traditional yoga practices for many many years, and is even found in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika - an ancient text that lays out traditional hatha yoga method and poses. Despite our sense of discomfort and awkwardness in the pose, its value in opening the upper chest and increasing the range of motion in your shoulder joints.