“My shoulders are too narrow.”
“My shoulders are too broad.”
“I feel like I’m carrying the world on my shoulders!”
“No matter how many times I shrug and release my shoulders, they never seem to relax!”

A couple of weeks ago I led a teaser workshop for my upcoming four-class series “End Chronic Shoulder Tension Forever.” Together we explored the top three totally wrong ideas most people have about their shoulders:

NUMBER ONE WRONG IDEA: MY SHOULDERS SHOULD BE WIDER
This idea makes people try to widen across the front of their chest, which means that muscles in the front of their shoulder joint are being overstretched and weakened, often resulting in shoulder joint injuries. The muscles in the back between their shoulder blades then become hyper-tonic, no longer able to let go and release the shoulder blades away from one another. This can also cause difficulty breathing freely because your ribs can’t move well, and problems with balance because when your shoulder blades are held rigid, they can’t slide around in the back as they are designed to do, aiding delicate shifts in balance. Postural mal-coordination then gets held throughout your musculature all the way down to the soles of your feet.

NUMBER TWO WRONG IDEA: MY SHOULDER BLADES SHOULD BE LOWER
This idea makes people push their shoulders down and away from the neck and head. This also causes compression of the entire spine and thorax, difficulty breathing because of immobility in the sternum and ribcage, and also affects balance on down through the whole body.

NUMBER THREE WRONG IDEA: MY SHOULDERS CARRY MY HEAD AROUND
Number three is usually variable or highly individual and particular to one person. In this past workshop, it was the idea that our shoulders carry us, and our head, around. It’s very easy to disprove this one, because all you need to do is look at the incredible structure of the human body to see that the shoulder girdle (the collar bones, shoulder blades, arms and hands) is beautifully draped over the ribs. All 24 ribs are supported by the spine so that they can move delicately with each breath, causing a sliding of the shoulder girdle as it easily rides this wave of motion.

The weight of the head is also carried through the spine, passing over the arch of the sacrum, across the pelvis and down through the big sturdy leg bones through the feet into the earth. So as your feet press against the earth, and that spring passes up through your legs, hips, and spine, it supports your shoulders and head! Not the other way around.

I think what happens is that we loose our active relationship to the earth cause we sit all the time. Our legs get kind of deadened and we don’t feel that springy push against the earth traveling up through our spinal column.

Do you wonder if some of your shoulder tension is caused by wrong ideas? My next workshop is for you if:

– you are ready to let go of having sore, tight shoulders all the time
– you are ready to let go of limiting ideas about what you are supposed to look like and how you are supposed to “be”
– you want to feel energized and supported in your body all throughout your day
– you want a practical, provable, and innovative way of making yourself feel better

To experience the amazing motion of your shoulder girdle, check out my latest video.

Information about the upcoming workshop is below!

Peace and love,

Clare

WAYS TO CONNECT:

////// END CHRONIC SHOULDER TENSION FOREVER: WORKSHOP SERIES
Saturdays, March 11, 18, 25, April 1, 2017, 12:30 – 2pm, $160
Go here to register and see more details.
////// FLOWER POWER SESSIONS:
Do you, or someone you know, want relief from chronic shoulder, neck, back, or jaw tension and pain without drugs or surgery? Bring me a flower (yes, really, just one beautiful flower!), and I’ll give you 30 minutes of time in which to discover your innate ability to free yourself from chronic patterns of tension and pain.

Click here to book your session.

PRIVATE LESSONS //////
– 1 hour 15 minute first consultation
– 1 lesson at a time, no commitment needed
– 5 lesson package
– 10 lesson package
– 20 lesson package