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Can anyone suggest some poses that are good for making the shoulders more open and flexible? I really avoid these and I think that I need to do more of them, they are stiff as. Any ideas apart from downward dog which is the worst !

If you hate dog pose, that probably means that you need to do more of it . Something similar but different. Try standing facing the wall, feet apart. Place you hands on the wall about shoulder height with your arms straight. Bring your torso down so that you're 90 degrees to the floor. The draw back your gluts to the middle of the room and try not to arch your back. Keep your back in this table top position and you should get a real nice openeing in your shoulders and armpits. It's a great pose to open up the chest and heart as well as your shoulders.

The "clock" pose at wall is also fantastic to open the shoulders. I am always amazed when I finish one side that my released arm is longer that the other that I have not worked with yet!
Stand at right angle to a wall, about 8 inches away, with feet hip-width for greater stability. Extend your arm up the wall like the hand of a clock pointing to 12. Stay there breathing and then extend the arm back to one o'clock. Stay again for a couple of breaths and then keep moving on imaginary digits until 3 o'clock. Then let your arm swing down. Feel the difference between the two arms and do the second side.