Vinys
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Shoulders, upper back, neck and lower back

Thread the Needle: Classic

Improves upper-body mobility and rotational control while supporting healthy movement through the shoulders and spine.

Spinal Mobility40 to 80 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Start on hands and knees with hips over your knees

    Hands under shoulders, knees under hips. Note where your hips are, because they need to stay there.

  2. 2

    Slide one arm underneath you and across

    Thread the arm through the gap between your other hand and knee, palm facing up, and keep sliding until your shoulder and the side of your head reach the floor.

  3. 3

    Keep your hips stacked over your knees

    Do not let them swing away to the other side. Staying over the knees is what keeps the turn in your upper back rather than your lower back.

  4. 4

    Press the top hand down to steady yourself

    Leave it planted, or set it on a block if your shoulder feels squashed. Keep the neck relaxed with the head fully supported.

  5. 5

    Hold for 20 to 40 seconds each side

    Come out by pressing the top hand down and sliding the threaded arm back. Rest for a breath before the second side.

What to watch for

The hips swinging sideways and doing the turning for you. Keep them directly over your knees so the rotation stays high in the back, and take a smaller turn rather than letting them drift.

Ways to adjust it

  • Reduce shoulder loading
  • Smaller rotation
  • Block under the supporting hand
  • Reduce rotation
  • Shorten hold
  • Keep the head supported or maintain a neutral gaze instead of rotating the neck fully
  • Keep the pelvis relatively stable
  • Reduce rotational range

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.