The Mistake Many People Make When "Relaxing" Their Shoulders
/Relaxation isn't actually an action. It's the absence of tension.
I was working with a client who has chronic tension in their shoulders. It took us years to figure out that not only did they have tension between their shoulders and neck, but also under the armpits on the rib cage.
This is a great example of how we tend to "force" our bodies in to relaxation by tightening opposing muscles.
There are two ways to bring the shoulders down from the ears.
One way is to pull them down with the muscles in your armpits and rib cage. This give the visual image of the shoulders dropping. The effect is immediate and the appearance is one of relaxation.
The disadvantage is that you haven't actually turned off the tension in the top of the shoulders, but instead added tension in other muscles creating a tug of war in your upper body.
You can also teach the muscles of your upper back and neck to release the tension and drop the shoulders.
An easy way to do this is to first exaggerate the tension by pulling the shoulders all the way up to your ears as if you were trying to squeeze a penny between the top of your shoulders and your neck. Then on an exhalation, let it all go and drop. (The technical term for this is post-isometric relaxation).
We often don't even know we're holding tension in a place in the body. By making the tightness conscious and even stronger, we can sense the lack of it as we let go.
Remember: The purpose of relaxation is to actually let your body relax, not to force it into looking relaxed on the outside by creating tension somewhere else.
Give it a try:
First, pull your shoulders down using the muscles of your armpit and ribcage. Notice how that feels in your upper shoulders.
Then, try to relax your shoulders by tightening them first and then letting go as described above.
How does each feel different?
Which feels more relaxed to you?
