Shoulder Woes 10-6-25

Dayna Culwell
Feb 13
3 min read

Think you can just shrug it off? Think again!

Greetings to all my favorite people in the world! Today is my birthday and I am so happy to continue educating and empowering you as I continue learning and exploring the amazing body. Do you ever shrug your shoulders? Perhaps you are sending the message, "I don't know?". Or, perhaps your patience is being tested by a slower than molasses service person and you emotionally elevate your shoulders to combat the tension that may be lurking inside. Which muscle allows us to elevate our shoulders and why do we possibly care? Great question! Read on and you will be amazed.

Anytime you are reaching forward and or reaching upward, you are contracting your friendly Levator Scapulae muscle. When you lift your arms out to the side, you are also using this muscle. This ingenuous muscle can also move the neck. It participates in side bending, which is called lateral flexion, and rotation, or twisting. Levator is from the Latin levare meaning "to raise." The levator scap influences both neck motion and upper back posture. Chotai PN, Loukas M, Tubbs RS. Unusual origin of the levator scapulae muscle from mastoid process. Surg Radiol Anat. 2015;37(10):1277-81. doi:+10.1007/s00276-015-1508-6

When I am watching a student do poses like Baby Cobra, Sphinx, or Upward Facing Dog, I often see the shoulders climb well up into the ears. Why does this happen? Does it matter? Oh yes, it matters! First, imagine a turtle trying to lift its head in order to see the world around it. How do you elongate the neck in order to see? You must be able to depress the scapula. Why does the scapula creep up? Too much forward head motion and not enough lengthening. So, keeping this blog as succinct as possible, here are a few golden nuggets for you to take away.