Neck, shoulders and upper back, 3: Negotiating with your body
by josefine | Jun 8, 2025
A Micro Pause where we practice viewing our relationship to our bodies as a negotiating one.
Body Intelligence is about treating your body as an ally, not an obstacle, and with allies we negotiate, we do not demand.
Demanding of your muscles to release their grip and extent into their full length (by applying a hard pull) is not very useful. Negotiating with them to do so is much more efficient.
Why? Because thats how the nervous system works. The muscle need to feel like its safe to extend (in the sense that it won’t cause it to break and/or not being able to contract again) in order to let go of its grip. On the level of the nervous system this can be accomplished by a continuous action of gently pulling and releasing.
A yoga eagle for your back
A Micro Pause to release tension and create space in the shoulder and upper back area. Using the yoga asana Garudasana, and with a somatic focus and small negotiations with the body.
Half yoga gombukhasana
A Micro Pause with a strong shoulder exercise. Using the yoga asana Gombukhasana to build strength and mobility in the shoulder joints.
Easy twist with cactus arms
A Micro Pause to create a sense of spaciousness through the upper body. Rotating the spine using only the muscles of the upper to activate without using too much force.
