You know the awful tightness of the upper back that comes with hunching over your work desk all day? Well, this is fitness guru Shona Vertue
You know the awful tightness of the upper back that comes with hunching over your work desk all day? Well, this is fitness guru Shona Vertue who is about to help you. The Australian-based trainer, former gymnast, and self-proclaimed "badass with a good ass" has a 15-minute yoga and mobility sequence combining passive stretches with active movement, focusing on the mobility of your posterior chain (the muscles on your body's back). If you and your body are having work-from-home fatigue right now, this is the perfect sequence for a midday pick-me-up exercise.
Mobility training is known to help improve posture, joint health, and prevention of injury because it releases tension while working on your ability to move through a full range of movement. The 15-minute sequence of Shona emphasizes the anatomical side of yoga which makes it surprisingly meditative.
She explains every tiny movement in great detail as she guides you through poses, often getting rid of the official yoga pose names entirely to make sure every movement is precise and deliberate. And frankly listening to her talk is in and of itself a meditation. Instead of using the phrases "cat" and "dog," for example, she advises you to "get saggy" and "back away," and uses the words "retraction" and "protraction" again and again until your mind and body become one. It's completely beautiful.
Shona uses two blocks of yoga in this video and recommends finding a peaceful, distraction-free room. Do not worry if you do not have yoga blocks. A solid pillow is a perfect replacement for the yoga-block, and if you are down for a deeper stretch, you can use a stack of books under a blanket (my personal favorite).
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