David

I recently purchased the First Series video. It is wonderful. I enjoy my practice and look forward to each day's practice. I just developed soreness in my left shoulder - the front part. I'm pretty sure it comes from over doing things as I do the opening sun salutations. Do you have any advice to calm it down? I think skipping the sun salutations is the wrong thing to do, but I don't want to keep aggravating it.

Sincerely,

D

Dear D,

Thank you for the message. I am sorry to hear of your shoulder soreness. Pain is a warning sign from the body and should be listened to. Without seeing your practice directly I am unable to give specific advice. Shoulder soreness can come from a variety of things. Chataranga Danadasana and the transition from there to Upward Facing Dog is a likely place as well as Downward Dog. In Chataranga do not roll the shoulders forward toward the floor. That will cause undue strain on the shoulder joint. It is best to keep the shoulders rolled down the back and the elbows close to the sides of the body. Distribute the weight along the muscles along the sides of your torso and the back of the arms so it is not all resting on the shoulders. When in downward dog keep the shoulders rolling away from the ears. Also avoid pushing the chest deeply toward the feet. Maintain awareness on your breath and keep it full and rhythmic without strain. Find a way to use the least amount of effort while moving through your practice. We all tend to overexert ourselves and use muscles that are not necessary. If the shoulders are still bothering you in down dog then drop your knees to the floor and sit back on your heals allowing the head to rest on the floor. You may also try practicing fewer sun salutations and also leave out some of or all of the vinyasas in the seated sequence. The main thing is to find out what position is aggravating the shoulders and change it. You may also need to give the shoulders a rest and soften your practice until you figure out how to approach it without straining that area. Again I cannot know specifically what the cause may be without seeing you in person so I hope that this general information is of some use.

Thank you again,

David