Shoulders – we’ve all got ’em. We’ve probably all had something go wrong with ’em too. Shoulder pain can be a tricky thing because the shoulder joint is so complex.  

Until I started studying anatomy, I was actually always a bit confused about my shoulders. Like, when you say shoulder, do you mean my shoulder blade? Or the top of my shoulder where shoulder pads go?  

Get this. Did you know the strongest joint connection of your shoulder girdle is your collarbone into your breastbone? Have you ever thought of your collarbone moving?

Now if you’ve had an injury here, you might already know all about this. If you’re anything like me, it’s hot anatomy news.  

Your shoulder bones consist of your collarbones, shoulder blades, and upper arm bones. Your shoulder blades, obviously “on the back of me” bones,  actually reach up and over to the front of your body!

As mentioned above, your collarbones form a rather sturdy but still mobile joint on either side of your upper breastbone. You need mobility in your collarbones and shoulder blades to get the most comfortable range of motion out of your arms.  

In class this week we’re going to try out some practical exploration of your shoulders. It’ll be like a live and interactive shoulder owner user’s manual. 

Tuesday in 60-min Active class you’ll take a guided tour of your shoulders and then use your muscles to get moving and stabilizing in all directions.  

Wednesday in 45-min Yin we’ll practice more slowly to safely stretch the muscles in your neck, chest, and back that might be limiting your range of motion.  

Friday in 30-min Gentle, we’ll slink into somatics for a more subtle felt-sense of this all-important joint of yours.