8 Great Yoga Poses To Stretch Your Arms & Shoulders

One year ago when I was skiing with family, a simple fall onto my ski pole broke my humerus in half just below the shoulder joint, shortening my arm by two centimeters.

Surgery the next day introduced 12 screws and an 8”-inch metal plate into my body. Luckily the surgeon was able to stretch apart my pectoral and shoulder muscles to access the bone, to preserve my muscle tissue. An old friend of mine quipped: “Won't this affect your Downward Dog?” The thought had certainly crossed my mind.

I started physical therapy immediately, and for the first couple of months I focused on swinging my arm like a pendulum, internal and external rotation exercises, and rowing. If I didn’t keep my rotator cuff moving, it could “freeze.”

At about three months, when the pain was finally manageable, I began to reintroduce some yoga moves to compliment the regimen. Whether you've sustained an injury or not, these following exercises help keep the shoulder lubricated, open the chest (pectoral muscles) and strengthen and tone the arms.

Here are eight of my favorite shoulder and chest openers.

Lying on your back with arms in Cactus is the perfect pectoral stretch with external rotation to the rotator cuff.

This pose stretches the rhomboids, the muscles between your shoulder blades. The wrapping is beneficial to try with other poses like Warrior I, Crescent Lunge and Pyramid.

Wrap your left leg over your right, and right arm over your left. Squeeze your inner thighs together as your press your palms together. Think about drawing your shoulder blades down.

Puppy Pose is a safe and gentle backbend that opens the shoulders, without placing any weight on them.

Wheel Pose stretches open the pectoral muscles, externally rotates the shoulders, and releases tension from between the shoulder blades.

Be sure to warm up with Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) and press up from the hips first. I'm not quite healed enough to lift all the way up to full Wheel, so I stay positioned on the crown of my head.

Fun fact: I’ve done more handstands since I broke my arm than I did before! Just the act of putting my hands on the floor and shifting weight to them activates my injured shoulder and gets my blood pumping.

This excellent pose is a great way to strengthen the arms and shoulders. It’s also a lot easier than Handstand!

Lay on the floor on one side and keep your legs straight, in line with your torso. Extend your opposite arm along the floor beneath your ear and parallel to your torso. Bend the elbow to gently rest the side of your head in your palm. Work toward balancing your body in one straight line, from head to feet.

This pose is no different than when you plopped yourself in front of the television when you were a kid. Stretch your legs long behind you and rest your palms under your jaw. Send the elbows out slightly past your shoulders. Smile!