SHOULDERS

Discomfort in the shoulders & the surrounding area have become a very prominent complaint for many people these days.

Contemporary lifestyle is without doubt to blame.  Most of us sit at a computer all day, then make stressful commutes home either in a car or an over crowded train or bus.  Additions like over sized bags habitually carried on the same shoulder do not help either.

Here are a few tips:

• Be aware that the shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint made up of 3 bones: the arm bone (humerus), the shoulder blade (scapula) and the collarbone (clavicle).  The correct position of the entire shoulder girdle is integral in order to obtain healthy shoulder placement.  
• Observe your upper body by standing in front of a mirror.  The collarbone should lie like its smiling, nice & open across the chest. Stand profile, the acromion bone (the little pointy bone at the end of the collar bone/on top of the shoulder) should roughly be below the ear lobe.  The shoulder blades are obviously impossible to view unless you ask someone to take a picture.  The only thing I can suggest is just to feel & sense your way around this tricky bone.  The shoulder blades should sit like the bottom sides of an anchor.  So think of them spreading wide across the back, away from the spine & ignore the diection you might have heard "Pull shoulders back".  This advice is unhelpful & actually weakens the surrounding muscles around the shoulder blades.
• The upper body isn't the only area that affects the position of the shoulders.  Take a moment to observe the placement of the rest of the body.  For example; are the knees, pelvis or feet aligned?  They might be far from the shoulders, but misalignment has a funny knack of spreading itself!

If you can try & implement some of the above, you will begin to notice a difference.  As always try to be mindful of your shoulder placement during the day, & perhaps do a few shoulder rolls at your desk to keep the joint lubricated.
 
Have a lovely weekend & I remember those poor shoulders!