Today we are working with another yoga move called Thread the needle or Parsva Balasana. That’s why we call it thread the needle. It’s a restorative stretch that relieve tension in the upper back, shoulders, and neck. It provides a mild spinal twist.

Start in tabletop position or if you don’t speak yoga, on your hands and knees. Reach your right arm high into the air as you inhale. As you exhale, slide your arm underneath your left armpit with right palm facing up. Slowly rest your right shoulder and right side of your head (temple and cheek) to the floor.

Once set up there are lots of things to do with your left arm. It can stay where it started or moved closer to your face, you can extend it our forward, or you can switch to a “bound” position where you wrap your arm around your lower back.

To release, put your left hand on the floor, and inhale to un-thread and reach your right arm up to the sky. Return to tabletop and repeat on the other side.

I do yoga stretches before ever arriving to the gym. This is one of them. When I do this, I hold 90 seconds to three minutes per side. It really gives my shoulders a nice stretch and eases the tension in my neck caused by so much arthritis.

Today’s workout:
WARM UP
2-3x
2 up/down dog
3 cat/cow
thread the needle with 5-6 deep, slow breaths hold/side
CIRCUIT
2-3x
3 PVC overhead squat
4 bench dips
5 no rope jumps
rest as needed

I find these very relaxing. The one way to mess them up a bit is to let your hips sway to one side. Try to keep your hips unmoving throughout. They do tend to shift a bit.

I hope you have fun with this. Yoga is a great way to loosen tight muscles. It is, however, not always exactly prim and proper looking. There’s just something weird about sticking your butt up in the air that is a bit amusing.

Video on Facebook.
Stay balanced.