Rise! Live-Online, Oct. 3-Nov. 21, 2025
Rise to New Levels of Core and Shoulder Stability, Strength, Awareness in our 300-Hour Upper Level Shoulder Training Module
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Course Overview
Day 1: Yogic Practices for Developing Internal Awareness, Stability, and Movement: Exploring the Vayus, Shoulder Girdle, Trapezius, and Deep Core Muscles
A dynamic and invigorating journey of self-discovery, inner awareness, and transformative movement. We will explore different aspects of our shoulders, including the gleno-humeral joint, shoulder girdle, trapezius, and deep core muscles, to unlock untapped potential in your overall yoga practice. This class is designed to help you find balance, stability, and fluidity through a series of powerful and energizing postures and movements. Get ready to awaken your mind, body, and spirit as you delve into the concept of Vayu and learn to harness its power to direct your actions towards your Dharma.
Poses / Movements Covered: Lasso-ing to free the shoulder, Movements of the gleno-humeral joint, Trapezius Tune-up, Resetting our lines of pull, Awakening the neck "core"
Class One Curriculum
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Delve into the concept of Vayu or Kriya Shakti in the Yogic tradition, which represents the driving force behind our actions. Through the postures of hatha yoga and meditation, we can learn to work with this force at a subtle level and access our inner awareness. The class emphasizes the practice of selfless service and the deity Hanuman as examples of unlocking untapped potential in movement and meditation, harnessing the power of Vayu to direct our actions towards our Dharma.
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Develop internal awareness while working with the shoulders to prevent injuries caused by their complexity and instability. The class highlights the importance of our shoulders ability to function independently of the axial skeleton, allowing the lateral line muscles to support the head and avoid recruiting adjacent muscles. Through a test and therapeutic movement called "Lassoing," we work towards unlocking 360 degrees of movement while maintaining consistent inner awareness.
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This content emphasizes the importance of exploring the deeper causes of postural misalignment before engaging in trapezius exercises. It outlines exercises for activating deeper postural muscles in the trapezius and suggests testing neck flexibility before and after the exercises to assess improvement.
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This section emphasizes accessing and understanding the deep core muscles responsible for stabilizing our trunk. Through skillful awareness and slow, controlled movements, our yoga postures can be used to activate and rebalance our deep core stability. The section of class also highlights the importance of quieting the mind and surrendering doership to feel and understand our posture and the subtle support from our deep core.
Day 2: Deep Core Muscle Engagement and Scapular Stability in Yoga Practice
Get ready to discover your deep core muscles and achieve scapular stability in your yoga practice! In this class, you'll learn how to engage your transverse abdominus, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and multifidus to support your body in a harmonious way. You'll also become a "shoulder surfer" as you learn about the anatomy and dynamic stability of the shoulder joint, including the rotator cuff muscles, and how to control your scapular movement during yoga poses like Plank, Table, and Reverse Table.
Poses/Movements Covered: Sequences to travel from the deep core to the functional core, Scapular Surfing in table top, plank, and forearm plank, Rotator Cuff stabilization
Topic 2 Curriculum in Detail:
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Dive into a more thorough understanding of the deep core muscles, including the transverse abdominus, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and multifidus. Through a variety of movements and positions of the torso, students will learn how to activate and engage these muscles to provide aligned support for the body. Emphasis will be placed on allowing superficial muscles to turn off in order to re-discover the deep core of support to prevent imbalances and injury. Various yoga poses, such as Parighasana, Anjaneyasana, Vira 1/3, Plank, Table, Lolasana Prep, and Reverse Table will be used as examples to demonstrate how to engage the deep core and functional support muscles.
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The second section of the class focuses on achieving dynamic stability in the shoulders through controlled yet free movement of the scapulas. The scapulas are primarily attached to the body via muscle, forming the skeletal and muscular socket of the shoulder. The shoulder joint, with its two pairs of primary bones, the clavicle and the scapula, and more than 20 supporting muscles, is a complex joint system that requires stability for proper function. The class will cover the anatomy of the shoulder joint, including the clavicle, the acromio-clavicular joint, the glenohumeral joint, and the rotator cuff muscles. Students will learn how to achieve scapular stability through the activation of the rotator cuff muscles and the control of scapular movement during their yoga practice.
Day 3: Scapular Stability and Mobility for Arm and Shoulder Balancing Postures.
Get ready to take your arm and shoulder postures to the next level in this dynamic class! You'll learn how to improve scapular stability and mobility, which is essential for achieving a balanced and injury-free posture. By focusing on key muscles like the mid and low traps and serratus anterior, you'll not only increase your shoulder strength by up to 24%, but also enhance your overall movement efficiency. Plus, you'll explore scapular mobility through specific cues and actions, which will give you a deeper understanding of how to move with stability and ease. Get ready to feel empowered and confident in your body!
Detailed Class Curriculum:
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This section discusses the importance of building stable pathways for arm and shoulder balancing postures. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) states that shoulder strength is increased by up to 24% with appropriate scapular stabilization. Weakness in the mid and low traps and the serratus anterior muscles can lead to shoulder instability or winging. The mid and low traps help to perform the upward rotation of the scapula, while the serratus anterior muscle is equally important in maintaining scapular integrity while moving the arms and using the shoulders. Strengthening these muscles is vital for efficient, stable, and injury-free movement. The section provides traditional exercises like breathing, serratus push-ups, table or plank rests, and dynamic scapular stability exercises to help activate and strengthen these muscles.
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This section delves deeper into scapular mobility, using the mid and low traps and the Serratus Anterior for stability. It clarifies the actions of the scapula, including elevation, depression, protraction, retraction, and upward and downward rotation. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining traction on the ribs and cueing more specific actions of the shoulder joint and scapula, instead of merely rooting the shoulder blades down the back.