Shoulder positioning


Throughout the relaxation program you learned to switch off areas of tension and allow your body to readjust it’s shape accordingly. That’s what you’ll do again here. Your guitar will provide a distraction but that should be all, the same principles will apply:

  • focus on a certain area
  • breathe out any tension
  • allow your body to reshape itself

Open the chest

Practice the following short exercise in both seated and standing positions, become so familiar with it that it happens automatically every time you pick your guitar.

  • Take a breathe in and then as you breath out allow your shoulders to simply fall.
  • Continue breathing and focus on the large muscle at the top of your shoulder (trapezius). The upper traps make a line between the back of the neck and the top of your shoulder so the common tendency for the head to protrude forward will also pull the shoulders forward. As the tension in these superior fibres is reduced you’ll notice you’re chest opening and your shoulders start to straighten as well as fall.
  • Now focus on the muscles at the side of your neck, you probably won’t notice any shape change with this, the scalenes are generally hard as a rock, but it will take a lot of the stress away from structures all around the neck and connect the upper traps with the front of the chest.
  • Focus now on the area just below your clavicle, a reduction in the tension here will bring your shoulders back, opening your chest.

This is plenty to start with and even if you don’t notice any change in your posture you will have reduced much of strain on your shoulders. If these exercises seem difficult it may be worth revisiting the relaxation program but don’t be discouraged, do them anyway. Even if you don’t notice any change straight away there will be a small shift and the more you do it the more difference you’ll make.

Synopsis

Supporting exercises

the relaxation program The relaxation program underpins the approach we're taking here. You need to be able to isolate a muscle group and release any tension you're holding there.
lateral neck stretch The stretch for the lateral neck flexors will lengthen both the upper trapezius and the scalenes, which attach onto your shoulder and clavicle respectively and are associated with elevated shoulders.
pec stretch The anterior shoulder stretch will lengthen the muscles in the front of your chest that tend to close it off. Pectoralis minor in particular tends to shorten and contribute to tipping of the scapula.
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