Shoulder Health: Expand & Release Tension In Your Upper Back

During this lesson today,

We're going to explore the ability of our systems to coordinate the flexor muscles and the extensor muscles.

Please find a comfortable place to lay down on the floor.

Spread out comfortably and remove jewelry,

Belts,

Glasses,

Things in your pockets.

Take a moment to observe the sensation of the front of your body.

How long is the distance between your chin and your chest?

How wide the distance between your left and your right shoulder?

And then shift your attention to the space between your back and the floor.

How wide the space between your lower back?

How long?

Find the distance between your shoulder blades,

Between the shoulder blades and the floor.

And see if you have a way to internalize this sensation as if you were measuring or taking some sort of data of this length and width of your torso.

Take a breath or two and let the air fill the space inside of you,

Observing the direction of the breath,

The movement.

And then as you continue breathing easily and uninterruptedly,

Bend your knees and stand your feet and observe any changes that occur in this length and width of your front and on your back.

Do it a couple times.

Make your legs long again and maybe choose a particular place to attend to so it's a little easier to observe a change.

So for example,

Take a breath and sense your abdomen or observe your lower back as you bend your knees again.

And see if these areas become a little different,

Changing somehow or if they remain the same.

And if you need to,

You can do this a couple of times.

And don't worry about being right or being wrong,

Just make an observation.

Remember,

A lot of these processes are slow unfolding so you don't have to have an answer at the very beginning but be interested in posing the question.

Would you say that the space behind your lower back gets a little smaller when your knees are bent?

When is it easier to breathe?

Now interlace your hands behind your head and place them in the round part of your skull so your head is more or less cupped by your hands.

And now bring your elbows in the direction of one another and lift your head off the floor a little bit,

Just half an inch or so,

And observe the weight of the head,

Then place it down on the floor.

Lift it again and observe any change that you can notice in your abdomen,

In your lower back.

Place it down again.

So as you bring your elbows together to pick up the weight of the head,

Observe overall how easy this is and how does it change your front and back in their length and in their width.

And now make your legs long and pick up your head with the arms again,

Just once or twice,

And feel the difference.

And leave it,

Make your arms long again,

Take a little rest.

See if anything is changing already from these few moments,

Few minutes of moving and paying attention to the movement.

Now bend your knees again and extend your feet and this time cross your right leg over the left at the knees.

So not at the ankles but in such a way that the right leg is hanging off of the left leg,

The knees are more or less together.

So there's very little space or no space between the back of your right leg,

Back of your right knee and your left knee.

And the knees are just crossed and the right leg is hanging.

And now let the weight of the legs take you a little bit to the right.

So you're using your legs and their weight to turn a little to the right and return.

And if you sense your right leg is falling off,

You may just cross them a little tighter.

Make them so both legs can move together easily to the right.

Return.

You may adjust the position of your left foot so you feel comfortable and supported.

The next time you take your legs to the right,

Pay attention to the changes in contact that happen on your pelvis,

How one side of your hips gets closer to the floor and the other side gets a little bit further away from the floor.

And see if as the one side comes away from the floor,

There's a sensation of support that you can find on the side that comes closer to the floor so you can create more space between your arm and that side of the body and let that section of your ribs and your pelvis really come closer to the floor creating more and more support.

Do this movement maybe three,

Four,

Five times and then leave it.

Make your legs long again and rest.

Now,

Bend your knees and keep your feet flat but shoulder width apart and now bring both arms towards the ceiling with the palms of your hands together.

Keep your arms long and your elbows are not bent but they're also not locked so you put the palms together as if you were about to clap or in praying position.

The right palm is touching the left palm,

Thumbs together and the hands are above your head in such a way that if you open your eyes you can see your thumbs.

And now begin to take this arm organization to the right a little bit.

Take it once to the right,

Let it return to the middle.

If you open your eyes you can look at your thumbs,

Let the arms move to the right and return to the middle.

Now do this movement in such a way that your palms remain together and the arms don't bend at the elbows.

If you open your eyes and you look at the shape that you're making you will see that the two arms and your torso make the shape of a triangle.

So as you take this triangle to the right do not let one arm slide or one palm slide over the other but travel the whole arm triangle to the right together.

You will feel invited to lift one shoulder away from the floor more than the other.

Now do this a couple times as you breathe.

Let the arms come to the right,

You can open your eyes and follow the hands as they move to the right.

Maybe your head and neck will be also invited to move a little bit.

Now place the arms long on the floor again and cross your right leg over the left.

Let the legs hang so the knees are close together and the right leg is hanging on the left side of the left leg and now take the legs a little bit to the right just like you did a moment ago.

Let the weight of the legs take the legs to the right and see if it's a little easier.

You can look at your knees with your eyes as you move and let your eyes and head follow the movement of the legs.

Leave it and rest for a moment.

As you rest observe if anything feels different in the length of your back,

The width of it and also in your front.

Now when you're ready,

Bend your knees again and keep the feet flat,

Shoulder width apart standing.

And place both arms together again at the palms forming the shape of a triangle,

The hands above your head.

And open your eyes and look at your thumbs and place your hands a little bit to the left of the middle.

So you take this triangle now to the left.

As you look at the hands,

You can move your head also to the left and make it a larger movement so your right shoulder leaves the floor.

So you can think of it as lifting the right shoulder a little bit away from the floor,

Bringing more contact onto the left side of your shoulders and then returning the triangle to the middle.

Take a little break,

Reset,

Take a breath.

When you do it again,

See if you can make it a little simpler.

You can make it easier somehow.

Take it to the left,

Return.

Be sure that when you return and you're back to neutral or resting position,

Your shoulder blades are in contact with the floor and not raised away from the floor as if you were already in movement.

I'll take the triangle to the left.

Find more contact on the left side of your shoulders,

Your ribs.

Look to the left with your head and the eyes following the thumbs a few times as you breathe.

And then undo the arm organization,

Place your arms on the floor again.

Cross your right leg over the left.

Find where is it easier for you to place your left foot to support yourself and then take your legs to the right one more time,

Allowing the weight of your legs to tilt your pelvis to the right and see if it's getting a little different or easier.

How far up your spine can you sense the rotation?

Your spine turning from the lower vertebrae of the spine,

The lumbar initiated by your legs all the way up the head.

Please leave it and take a longer rest.

Lengthen your legs,

Sense what's different.

Pay special attention to the front and back in their length and their width and anything that feels different.

Now,

Bring your legs up again,

Crossing your right leg over the left,

Making sure that your right leg is really comfortable to hang there and it's not falling or slipping away from the left and that your left foot is comfortable and in a place of support.

And now bring your arms up again in this triangular shape.

So the palms are together,

The arms are long,

But the elbows are not locked.

And now as you take your legs to the right,

Let the triangle move to the left a little bit and move just enough that it feels easy and there's no resistance.

So you just move a little bit away from the midline and then return to the middle.

And you don't move more the legs than you move the arms.

So they move more or less the same amount,

The legs to the right,

The arms to the left,

And the head and eyes are following the arms so the head also moves to the left.

Sense your spine turning,

Twisting,

And see if you can pinpoint which is the vertebrae that allows for this twist.

Which would you say that is the vertebrae that is at the middle of the twist?

The one that is allowing the vertebrae below to turn to the right and the vertebrae above to turn to the left.

Be sure to breathe and keep your teeth not tight.

In other words,

A little space between them as you continue moving.

Maybe five,

Six repetitions is enough.

And then you can place your arms on the floor and just take the legs to the right one more time before you rest and observe the difference.

When you're ready,

Bend your legs again.

And cross your right leg over the left.

Find a comfortable placing for your left foot where you feel supported.

And then take your legs to the right as far as you can easily and leave them there for a moment.

Don't go too far to the right that you feel falling or you need to create a lot of tension somewhere in your body to keep your legs there.

So just barely take them a little bit to the right,

Keep them there and then interlace your hands behind your head and bringing your elbows together,

Lift your head off from the floor a little bit.

And see if you can engage any part of your lower back closer to the floor to make your head lighter.

Your folding in your abdomen,

Picking up your head using your arms and your hands just a couple times.

The next time you place your head down on the ground,

You can bring your legs back to neutral,

Change the interlacing of your fingers so you put the other index on top,

Place your hands behind your head again and do this movement a couple more times but evoke the image of a seesaw.

So as your head comes up and away from the floor,

Think of what part of the seesaw on the other end can go down and lower.

So you'll find some place in your lower back,

Your lumbar spine that can allow the movement of the head to go higher by reaching down in the direction of the floor.

You'll notice that it's easier to do if you let your eyes look at your knees or the space between your legs than if you keep your eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Now please leave the head quiet on the floor,

The arms long and just take the legs to the right a couple more times and see if the movement is changing.

See if it's becoming a little easier for you to turn more and more to the right without any extra effort.

As you do it one more time,

Sense the length of your abdomen and see that you can get long in the front and long in the back as your legs tilt to the right.

Please then leave it and take a longer rest and observe as you rest anything that's changing and becoming interesting to you,

To your attention.

One more time,

Please bend your knees and stand your feet more or less shoulder width apart and now put your right hand under your left armpit on the left shoulder blade and pass your left hand under your right armpit to the right shoulder blade.

And now begin rocking your trunk from right to left,

Forward and back with your right hand lifting the left shoulder from the ground as you go to the right and your left hand rising the right shoulder as you go to the left.

Do not try to help the movement with your pelvis but look for the rocking and rolling of your trunk that you can create by using your hands and arms.

It's almost as if you're hugging yourself as you turn and rock left and right and you can leave your head and eyes free to follow the movement of the arms.

Do it a little faster and find an easy comfortable rhythm left and right,

Left and right.

Now rest for a moment and change over your arms so whichever arm is on top is now on the bottom and reach for the shoulder blades under your armpit on the side that is the hand is under the arm and now continue the rocking and the rolling of the trunk but this time keep your head very still.

So you look for a point in the ceiling where you can fix your eyes and keep your head a little still and continue rocking and moving side to side.

Keep your pelvis still,

Your eyes fixed on the spot,

Sense the difference in the movement.

This time the head is not taking part in the rolling movement and you'll feel a little unfamiliar.

Now continue doing the rocking a little faster and let the head and eyes move with it left and right.

Rest for a moment.

You can lengthen your arms,

Your head,

Your legs.

Now one more time bend your legs,

Cross your right leg over the left,

Place your arms above your head in a triangular shape and take your legs to the right as you take your triangle to the left and see if it's a little easier for you to do this movement.

You can let your right shoulder lift away from the floor and your head and eyes follow the hands.

Now pause in the middle for a moment and then take the legs to the right and the triangle and the head to the right all at the same time.

So move them together in the same direction.

See what is still getting in the way of you finding more and more ease and quality of this movement.

How are your shoulders following the spine that follows the pelvis to the right?

So now keep the legs quiet for a moment and let's just find a little more differentiation of your arms and head.

As you take the triangle to the right a couple times,

Take the head and eyes to the left so you can keep your legs quiet,

Bent or crossed.

But for a moment just explore this relationship between your head and your hands.

So take your arms to the right,

Lift the left shoulder of the floor,

Let the triangle move to the right but your head and eyes will move in opposite direction.

So a couple times you look to the left at the same time as you take your arms to the right and return to the middle.

Reset.

See if you can do a little less anywhere.

And a few times take the triangle to the left and the head and eyes to the right.

Just slowly and easily resting if you need to and returning to the movement when you are ready for it.

And then after three or four repetitions,

Take the triangle once to the left and once to the right with the head and eyes together following the direction of the arms.

And see if it's a little easier for your neck and your upper thoracic spine to move together.

And then please leave it and take a rest.

See if there's any change in your spine as you rest with your arms long and your legs long.

Is it all of it now resting on the floor?

What about your lumbar vertebrae at the lower back?

Now please one more time bend your knees,

Cross the right leg over the left,

Bring the triangle of your arms up and just once or twice,

Maybe three times,

Take the legs to the right and the triangle to the left,

Moving in opposite directions.

And this time let the head follow the knees to the right.

And just move around the middle so you're not making a very large movement with the legs and a smaller movement with the head.

But all these three,

Let's say parts of the movement are more or less equal.

The part of the movement that moves your head to the right,

Your arms to the left,

Your legs to the right,

And then return to the middle.

After three or four repetitions,

Take everything together to the right now,

The legs,

The arms,

The eyes,

As far as you want comfortably and easily.

Then let the arms come down and rest and just take the legs to the right.

The weight of the legs tilting your pelvis,

Which will tilt your chest and your ribs and maybe your shoulders and see what your head and eyes want to do.

They want to follow,

They can follow the movement of the legs.

Do this a couple of times and sense the improvement,

Observe what got easier.

And then rest with your legs bent,

Keep the feet flat on the floor for a moment and pick up your head with your hands one last time and see if it's any different to lift your head away from the floor using your arms,

Bringing the lower back closer to the floor as if in an imaginary seesaw.

And then lengthen your legs as you continue picking up your head and see that you can still do it with the same ease,

The same lightness.

You can remember what it was like at the beginning.

See how different it is now.

Then let go and take a complete rest.

One last time,

Observe the sensation of length and width in the front of your body and in the back.

What's in contact with the floor?

What's elevated away from the floor?

The overall state of your awareness,

Your somatic awareness,

The sense of yourself in space,

The internal space,

External space,

The quality of your thinking,

Your feeling.

Now very slowly find a way to get up and walk a few steps around.

Observe the way in which you roll to come up to stand.

Make it part of the process.

And as you stand up,

Observe the way in which you are carrying your head.

Sense your breathing,

The feeling of your shoulders.

You may sense that your whole body is more upright without additional effort.

The length of your spine,

The sense of grounding on your feet.

Observe these changes and appreciate how much you've improved in such a short period of time.