Do you have pain on the tops of your shoulders? Do you find the more you feel stress the higher your shoulders climb or are you feeling like atlas with the weight of the world on them? This is a common occurrence in this high paced electronic age we are in. The more we invent gadgets to make our lives easier, the more complicated life seems to get. Today’s post is going to offer you a few simple ways to “shrug off” your stress.
When you feel tension and pain in the top of your shoulders that sometimes will run all the way up your neck, one of the main muscle reacting is your Trapezius. I believe the whole body is involved when we exhibit poor posture, but in particular, the muscle we are addressing in this post is a part of the Trapezius called the UPPER Trapezius. One of the functions of the UPPER Trapezius is shrugging or raising your shoulders. When you keep your shoulders slightly raised or as I like to say “wear them as earrings,” this causes an amazing amount of stress on them.
So here are a stretching and breathing exercise you can do to provide upper shoulder
relief:
* STRETCH – To help decrease stress in your shoulders and the sides of your neck, there is a very simple stretch you can do right there in your chair. Put your feet flat on the floor, grab the underside of your chair seat, and slowly tilt your head to the side. Breathe and hold stretch for at least 20 seconds. Remember to stretch both sides.
* BREATHE - Start to bring more awareness to your shoulder posture. Are you finding that they are raised up often? When you notice they are raised, do this simple breathing exercise:
1. Take a deep breath in and raise your shoulders up as high as they can go.
2. Move your shoulders as far back as they can go.
3. Breathe out and drop your shoulders at the same time.
This should all flow in a semi-circular motion.
Both of these tips have helped many of my Seattle Treatment Massage clients decrease their shoulder and neck pain and tension. If they help you or if you have a question, leave a comment. Thanks for reading, PJ Harris, LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/
2 responses so far ↓
Kate // June 5, 2009 at 2:07 am
This is great PJ. You’re speaking right to me. I wonder if I might use this as part of my future newsletter content? Let me know what you think.
Massage New York City // June 5, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I think getting a good, deep massage could definitely help the muscles. Especially if those muscles in your shoulders and neck feel tight, a professional massage can really help loosen it up. Then I agree, stretching and deep breathing would be good for it.