A frequent question that has come up over the years is something like this:
“It hurts right under my shoulder blade; do you have a pandiculation for that muscle?”
While the perspective is slowly changing, the view taken by western medicine is to focus on separate parts of the body that need fixing.
From the somatic perspective we see “the body” as a somatic system (called a “soma – the body as experienced from within”) in which tension in one area creates tension in another.
One of the principles we work from in Clinical Somatics is “it’s never one muscle causing your pain.” You may think it’s just the muscle under your right scapula that is causing the problem, yet it never works that way.
Only by learning to release the pattern of tension that involves the muscles of that shoulder, will you find long lasting relief.
For this reason a regular well-rounded practice is the best recommendation. Here are just some of the movements you could include in your practice:
- Arch & Curl releases the muscles of the shoulders in the front and back and improves coordination with the movement of the arms and head/neck.
- The Back Lift gently releases the muscles of the shoulder and the back on the diagonal
- The Side Bend releases the muscles of the waist and into the back to allow your shoulder to sit more evenly on your ribcage
Just like that baby we talked about in our last email, it’s important to learn to release the muscles of the front, back, and sides, then learn to gently twist and rotate.
This is what PRTM can teach you to do: start at the beginning and move your way, slowly but surely, to the point where your movement is easy, balanced, and coordinated.
You will learn a variety of movements that you can use to build your daily practice including:
- two different movements of rotation
- two different ways to address the waist muscles
- 4 different ways to release the front and the back.
Then once you restore balanced and effortless movement the world is your oyster; reaching, bending, dancing, and everything in between will be more fun.