Shoulder Alignment
Let’s figure out how our to stabilize our shoulders to prevent neck tension!
Just like we align our pelvis, lumbar spine, and thoracic spine (with its attached ribcage) to prevent tension, so too do we align our shoulders. You’re more powerful than you think! Once we find our neutral shoulder positions and get in the habit of showing our shoulders some self love by not crunching our upper arms up to our ears or forward to our computer screens, we’ll notice how much more range of motion we’ll have over time, not to mention ease of movement.
Feel your bones
Take a moment to feel the width of your collar bones with your fingertips. Now give your upper arm a squeeze, working your way from the end of your collar bone, down to your elbow. Now, try to reach behind your back, and feel the corners of your shoulder blades. These three bones make up your shoulder joint!
Common Issues
It’s pretty common to see both habitually rounded shoulders and elevated shoulders.
In the case of rounded shoulders, the tissues of the shoulder joint are compressed and tighten at the chest area, and lengthened at the upper back area.
With elevated shoulders, the shoulder joint is lifted up toward the ears, and the upper traps are shortened.
It’s okay to round our shoulders and elevate them, but when we habitually hold our shoulders away from neutral we might begin to experience body tension. That’s why in Pilates classes you’ll often hear advice about finding your “Neutral Shoulder Position.”
Neutral Shoulder Position
Sometimes we can’t find our neutral shoulder position, because the tissues connected to our shoulder joints have changed over time, making it uncomfortable to draw our bones into a neutral alignment.
So, it might be best to take some time elevating and depressing your shoulder joints and finding a position in the middle of your range of motion, without tension.
The same goes for protracting your shoulder blades forward and retracting them backward. Try protracting and retracting for a little bit, then find a position in between your range of motion that you can stabilize without tension.
Just the act of moving your collar bones, shoulder blades and upper arm bones will bring awareness to your shoulder joints and work toward increasing your joint stability.
Practice
Arm Circles
Try circling your arms overhead and back down to your hips without moving your ribcage. Lie on your back with a head-pad for comfort. Find your neutral alignment. Rest your arms by your hips on your mat with your palms facing up.Â
Inhale:
Reach your arms to the ceiling and then over your head. Feel your abs connecting your pelvis to your ribcage. Feel the muscles wrapping around your shoulder joints.
Exhale:
Circle your arms out to the sides of the room and down to your hips.
Repeat 5 times each direction. How do your shoulder’s feel after a few Arm Circles?
Wall Pushups
Try wall pushups to gradually develop strength around your shoulder and arm joints! Just stand two feet away from a wall. Find your neutral spinal alignment. Place your palms against the wall. Try to stay wide across your shoulder girdle and neutral at your neck.
Inhale:
Bend your elbows and bring your torso closer to the wall while counting to 3 slowly.
Exhale:
Straighten your elbows.
Repeat 3 times each day. Explore how different shoulder alignments feel and which alignment feels the easiest or hardest.
With this increased shoulder awareness, you’ll be one step closer to protecting your joints!