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Simple exercise: shoulder elevators and depressors SUPINE
EXERCISE: Both Scapula Elevation:
When we tell people the massage will begin face-up, already they know something will be different. When they come back for a second massage, often they say, “Nobody else starts me face up, but I like it better, so I came back to you.” They may not have words to describe the other things they felt, but starting face up will be memorable for them.
While seated at the head of the table, both of your hands reach up, grip the heads of both humerus, your middle fingers curve into the person’s armpit a little, and you pull the arms gently toward yourself, creating elevation of both scapulae. They will relax into it gradually, and you will feel the shoulders gradually come toward you. If you are going to use oil during the massage, put some on the neck now. See how the person tries to depress their shoulders? Maybe she is trying to be polite and give you more room to work. Again, gently pull the shoulders toward yourself. You don’t have to say anything out loud, but you are non-verbally communicating to the person’s cerebellum, “This is a different way than you have experienced before--you don’t have to lengthen muscles anymore. Relax, I’ll take care of the joints and muscles.”
If you are clever, you can hold the shoulders elevated with your fingertips while your thumbs massage the shortened levators and traps.
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EXERCISE: palpate the pec minor on yourself. The pec minor can be easily palpated through the pec major.
Pec Major fibers run NW to SE and the ribs go E to W, side-to-side. The pec minor will be the only thing in this area that has fibers that run up-and-down, N to S. To palpate through the pec major as shown, simply apply a broad E to W cross-fiber motion where you think the pec minor ought to be. |
Cranial motion is the recipient giving only cues for the timing and steering of movement. The giver must power the motion.
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Start with your index finger in contact with the bottom of the clavicle, midway along the length of the clavicle. If you know where it should be within a two-inch margin of error, use two-inch strokes of cross-fiber palpation and you will find it! It feels thinner than a pencil. Once you find it, narrow your strokes until you are right on the ridge of it. Do this finding-palpation a little farther down the muscle, farther and farther from the clavicle. You can follow it down maybe two or three ribs before you lose it. It feels kind of sore, doesn't it?
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EXERCISE: Scapula depression with pec minor palpation.
With your right hand, grip above the person’s right elbow as shown. Palpate the pec minor first with your left fingertips. Once it is located with the fingertips (shown above), switch to use the heel of your hand, the pinkie side (ulnar border), use cross-fiber motions (like sawing a log, or bowing a violin) to find the pec minor:
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Whenever trying to find a small muscle that is deeper under other bigger muscles, if you know the fibers of the small muscle must go North-South, then you must make exaggerated motions East-West, taking the skin and outer muscle layers with you. Like magic, the perpendicular motions will make the smaller muscle appear from nowhere.
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Once you feel the fibers, then you make smaller and smaller motions as you hone in on the fiber shape, size, and density.
With big-breasted women, use the thumb-side of the heel of your hand (thenar pad), so that your hand is not touching the breast. If you switch from fingertips to palm, again you must use cross-fiber motions to find the fibers.
Your right hand pulls the arm down toward the hip (yellow arrow above), depressing the scapula and shortening the pec minor. Wait to feel softening, then allow the arm to slowly return toward neutral.
EXERCISE: Scapula elevation. Grip the person’s arm near their elbow. Push the arm superiorly to make the scapula elevate (see yellow arrow below). See how this also sidebends her neck (blue lines)? This position definitely shortens the levator scapula.
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The speed of returning toward neutral should match the speed of the melting. By matching, we mean if the muscle stops melting, you stop moving. When the muscle begins melting again, continue moving.
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On the first repetition, reach up and squeeze the traps (make sure you are not gripping any scalenes in with the traps). Don’t be pokey, use as much surface area of thumb and fingers as you can, spreading the pressure over a large area. You may feel melting immediately. Melting here means your thumb is getting closer to your fingers. When I ask if you feel melting yet, many practitioners say, “no, just a tiny bit.” A tiny bit is Yes! Any degree of melting is meaningful; it means the brain has decided to reduce contraction. At first, the melting will seem to be tiny changes. But continuous small change, for one hour straight, makes a dramatic difference overall. When you feel the traps melting, begin bringing the shoulder back toward neutral. Not too fast! The speed of returning toward neutral should match the speed of the melting. By matching, we mean if the muscle stops melting, you stop moving. When the muscle begins melting again, continue moving. Neutral is when both shoulders are even with each other.
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Once at neutral, bring the shoulder into elevation again. This time forget the traps and instead palpate the levator scapula muscle, using your middle fingertips: use cross-fiber strokes to locate the most prominent ridge of the levator. This position for pressing does not give you much mechanical advantage, but we are not trying to force the muscle to change. We only need enough pressure to monitor the muscle’s shape, so we will know the moment it begins melting (sooner than you think). If you still are not feeling melting, rather than pressing harder, just make the muscle shorter. Wait just a few more seconds… patience.
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When I ask if you feel melting yet, many practitioners say, “no, just a tiny bit.” A tiny bit is Yes! Any degree of melting is meaningful; it means the brain has decided to reduce contraction.
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If you have been holding here for more than thirty seconds, the pressure sensors in your fingertips have adapted. Move your fingertips slightly to regain your presence of the muscle’s shape.
Now you feel the muscle beginning to soften a little. Even a tiny change is great!
ALTERNATE MANEUVER: While maintaining pressure on the levator, allow the shoulder to depress toward neutral. Once the shoulder passes neutral towards depression, change your palpating hand from the Levator to the Pec Minor. Stay with the pec minor while the shoulder is depressing, while the shoulder is depressed, and while the shoulder begins elevating toward neutral. Once the shoulder passes neutral towards elevation, change your palpating hand to the levator again. While the scapula is elevated you work the elevator. While the scapula is depressed you work the depressor. Do this for three or more cycles the first times you practice. In a full-body massage, one or two cycles is enough. If this shoulder was the chief complaint today, you could do many cycles.
ADVANCED EXERCISE: Following the cranial motion of scapula elevation and depression.
During the previous exercises you were focusing mostly on the muscle. Now we are going to focus attention on the limb’s movement. Make the movement truly cyclic, like the tide that comes in for six hours and goes out for six hours. Follow the elevation and depression through three or more cycles. If you are not sure if you are really feeling it, pretend. When you are playful and give yourself permission to fail, you are more likely to accidentally entrain to the true rhythm.
To see the Atlas and Axis treatment, click here
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