Exercises from Neck and Shoulder Class Number One

Garu Circles

Stretch your arms straight forward, parallel to the floor, and spread your shoulder blades wide across the back of your torso. Cross the arms as high up on the arms as possible in front of your torso so that the right arm is above the left, then bend your elbows. Snug the right elbow into the crook of the left, and raise the forearms perpendicular to the floor. The backs of your hands are touching each other, or cross at the wrists so that the fronts of the hands are touching.

Drop your shoulder blades down your back and reach your elbow away from you.  Lift your hands toward the ceiling and hold for a few counts, relaxing across the shoulderblades.

Next, circle the elbows counterclockwise.

Scapulae Circles

1) Draw shoulder blades toward the spine (retraction), keeping them pinned close to the spine drop them down the back (depression), then draw them towards the sides of the body (protraction), and finally keeping them protracted lift them up towards the ears (elevation).

2) Draw shoulder blades around the edges of the body so that they are as far apart as possible (protraction), keeping the rhomboids as wide as possible drop the shoulder blades down towards the floor (depression), then draw them in toward the spine (retraction), and finally up along the spine towards the ears (elevation).

Scapulae Pushups

Come onto all fours with the shoulders directly over the wrists and the hips over the knees.  Draw the creases of the elbows directly forward so that they are parallel to the wrist creases.  Holding the lumbar spine in neutral position, draw the shoulder blades together (retraction) and apart (protraction).  Try not to bend the elbows and keep the shoulder blades moving away from the ears.  Continue for 20 repetitions.

Scapulae Walking 

Inhale, the chest wall lifts away from the floor as the shoulder tops point down into the ground.

Exhale the shoulder blades round down into the ground and the shoulder tops lift slightly off and away from the floor.

Try to leave the low back as relaxed as possible and concentrate the slow lifting and dropping motion in the shoulder blades, in the upper back.

Now alternate lifting one chest wall at a time, as if you were walking on your shoulder blades.

As you continue, begin to round the down shoulder blade into the floor as at the bottom of the rocking movement.

Arch the up shoulder blade away from the floor, and rock the down shoulder blade into the floor.

Prone T  

Lie on your stomach.  Draw your shoulderblades toward your pelvis (depression) and squeeze toward the spine (retraction).

Take your hands directly out to the sides, not letting them lag toward your waist.

Draw your hands into hitchhiker fists with the thumbs pointing up to the ceiling and lift your hands and hold.  Repeat three times.

Prone Y

 Lie on your stomach.  Draw your shoulderblades toward your pelvis (depression) and squeeze toward the spine (retraction).

Take your hands in a Y shape  out to the sides, at a forty-five degree angle between your head and shoulder tops.

Draw your hands into hitchhiker fists with the thumbs pointing up to the ceiling and lift your hands and hold.  Repeat three times.