Did you know the shoulder is the most mobile, easily injured, joint in the body? The joint moves in seven (yes, seven!) directions. Courtesy photo

By JACCI GRININGER MS, C-IAYT, ERYT500
Los Alamos

The shoulders and upper back are so important for doing our day-to-day stuff – picking up kids, grabbing the laundry basket, carrying our groceries and walking on our hands. Wait, what?

Okay, maybe you don’t want to walk on your hands but I’m sure you want strong, stable and mobile shoulders. One of the best ways to get strong, stable and mobile shoulders is to walk on your hands. More about that in a minute.

The shoulder is an interesting joint. Did you know it is the most mobile, easily injured, joint in the body? The shoulder joint moves in seven (yes, seven!) directions – flexion, extension, internal rotation, external rotation, abduction, adduction and 360-degree circumduction in the sagittal plane. Whew!

The joint itself is covered with a number of different muscles that include your deltoid (three parts), rotator cuff muscles (four muscles) and your pectoralis minor and major as well as your bicep.

The join is also held together with tendons and ligaments. This is different from say your hip joint that is also held together by bone geometry (how the bones fit together).

All kinds of injuries show up in the shoulder including: osteoarthritis, rotator cuff injury, bursitis, tendonitis and frozen shoulder to name a few. You might not have any of these injuries, but you might just have tight, stiff or cranky shoulders from sitting at your desk too much. I’ve said before, motion is lotion.

In this case, moving your shoulders will:

• Improve your posture;
• Improve shoulder and back pain;
• Help you gain more control over your entire body;
• Improve your flexibility;
• Improve your mobility; and
• Improve your strength.

Here are some (fun?) movements to try to help strengthen and lengthen your shoulder muscles:

• Table Shoulder Circles (strengthener);
• Come onto all fours into table position;
• Spread your fingers wide and press all your knuckles into the floor (feel that energy move up into your underarm area);
• Engage your abdominal wall by drawing your navel in slightly. Lengthen your neck gazing at the floor below you;
• Inhale and slightly pull your shoulders forward (toward your ears), up toward the sky, back behind you and down;
• Repeat this 6-10x; and
• Now try alternating shoulders 6-10x.

Crawling, neutral head, head up (strengthener):

• That’s right! Crawling is good for your shoulders;
• Start again in table position, engage your abdominal wall and keep your neck long, reaching through the crown of your head;
• Start to crawl around your floor;
• Then, lift your head to look on the horizon and crawl around; and
• Try this for 3-5 minutes per day. (You might even find your neck pain recedes).

Walking Down Dog (strengthener):

• Start again in table position, turn your toes under and press into an easy (knees bent, abs in) downward facing dog;
• Start to “walk” around your room this way, try to keep the shoulders from rolling forward; and
• Try this for 2-3 minutes.

Wall press (lengthener):

• Stand with your right side perpendicular to a wall;
• Place your right hand on the wall, fingers wide and straighten your arm (you might need to move away from the wall a bit);
• Turn your body (including your feet) slightly toward the left; and
• Press willfully into the wall for 6-10 breaths – you might try turning your head toward the wall.

Jacci Gruninger is a Certified Yoga Therapist and Thai Yoga Massage Therapist. She has been teaching for over two decades and spent 12 of those years training yoga teachers for the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts. She regularly helps clients manage the ups and downs of life with yoga, meditation, breathwork and bodywork.

Her Yoga Therapy Center is at 190 Central Park Square #212. For her in person and online teaching schedule and information on her other services, visit her website at: www.yogawithjacci.com.