with Monika Munzinger

The way is the goal – Shoulder girdle stability -2

The way is the goal – Shoulder girdle stability -2

On your way to an asana

‘The Way is the Goal’ is a saying attributed to Confucius. I think this saying describes the topic better, therefore the oncoming series of posts will be renamed from ‘The importance is, how you practice’ to ‘The Way is the Goal’.

 

Shoulder Girdle Bones

Look, a girdle formed by the collar bones and the shoulder blades.

The shoulder girdle muscles

Comprises of 5 muscles: trapeze, levator scapulae, pec minor, rhomboids and serratus ant

Even pull stabilizes

Each muscle pulls into another direction, and like this fixates the shoulder blade

Shoulder girdle stabilized

Serratus anterior turns the shoulder blades to the sides, the rhomboids and middle trapezius pull towards thoracic spine, pectoralis min pulls forward and down, while levator scapulae pulls up and lower trapezius pulls down

Caturanga dandasana with all muscles fixed

If serratus anterior is weak and not engaged, the rhomboids and middle trapezius muscles will pull the shoulder blades too much towards thoracic spine. Practicing caturanga with a weak serratus anterior muscle can result in neck issues.

Exercise to strengthen serratus ant

Hold 1 block between your hands and 1 between your elbows. Raise arms and hold the block with your elbows tightly. Keep your back straight by moving the front lower ribs in towards your body.

Shoulders have a great range of movement

There are many muscles moving the arms around allowing a range of movement of an almost 360 degree radius: rotator cuff muscles, shoulder joint muscles and shoulder girdle muscles. All of them work together and give the shoulder stability.

Not all joints get their stability through muscles, the knee joint is mostly stabilized by ligaments and the hip joint mostly by bone. Important is that all work together in harmony, because imbalance results in injury and pain.