May the Sun Shine on Your Shoulders

May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you.

When it comes to the care and keeping of your shoulders, I’d like to suggest you consider them as beautiful, inside and out. I feel that way about all of you, of course. There’s so much more to a person than the sum of their body parts. But with shoulders, I feel the need to more strongly make that point. Shoulders can look so broad, but still be so frail. They can form a united front with brothers, but also freeze. They can be stood on, rested on, and cried on, but they can also carry around an ugly chip that gets in the way. Hair tumbles down over them or they are bare; either way, they are sexy. And they say so much about us. Curved forward is different than held back at attention; shrugging is different than shimmying.

Yep, there’s a lot more to shoulders than meets the eye. Take their location, midway between your brain and your heart. Right there in the middle of all those nerves, all that breath and blood! The shoulder joint is pretty miraculous, a lot like the miracle of opposing thumbs. Because of our shoulders we don’t need giraffe necks or elephant trunks or alligator tails. Our homosapien shoulder joint works for us.

But its possibilities, arising from all that range of motion and flexibility, also lead to its potential demise—as a major joint, it seems like maybe it coulda shoulda been built a bit stronger, considering all it does. Ask a major league pitcher. Or a volleyball player. Shoulder injuries hurt. Bad. Then again, too much sinew might take away from some of the shoulder’s glorious freedoms. It’s the most flexible joint with the biggest range of motion. So, like a lot of great things, shoulders must be strong and liberated to be at their best. Atlas holds the world, after all, on his shoulders.

How about you? How much weight do you tend to carry on your shoulders, and how well do you seem to manage it? Please think about this question both literally and viscerally. With shoulders being so valuable on so many levels, it's about time we picked them. Let’s look at some of the small tweaks and bigger fixes you can make to honor your beautiful shoulders, inside and out.

“God gave burdens; also shoulders.” –Yiddish Proverb

I love this saying. Regardless of any spiritual bent, or not, and whatever your proclaimed faith might be, or not, doesn’t that quote just ring true to the core? Buddhists say life is suffering but enlightenment is the path out of suffering and into peace. Taoists tell us to let nature take its course and ask us to be strong enough not to control everything. Personal trainers want us to know that strong shoulder muscles help protect us from injury. The bottom line: there will always be work for you to do, obstacles for you to overcome, and people you need to help, including yourself. And you will. And you’ll be better for it. Build your shoulder up and offer it to ease the burdens of others, but don’t forget…

“He who lets the goat be laid on his shoulders is soon after forced to carry the cow.” –Italian Proverb

If you take everything upon yourself, your shoulders will eventually weaken. But people won’t know it because you keep taking everything on, and so in their ignorance they will try to put more on there than you can reasonably be expected to handle. That is unhealthy for you. It’s quite healthy and acceptable seek the shoulder of another when your burdens have been weighing you down. Think about someone you’ve never helped out or lent a hand or an ear to, never sympathized with, or did a favor, or forgave. How close do you feel to that person? Giving and receiving help is what bonds us in a very real way.

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.” –Jacques Cousteau

Outstanding advice from the guru of the sea. Water is a most wonderful workout for shoulders. Actually, many of our nasty joints (hips, low backs, knees) respond beautifully to water, for the very reason Jacques has stated here. It unbolts you, frees you from gravity, both supports you and sets you in motion. When you are set in motion, you tend to heal yourself. If you have a bad shoulder, get in the water as soon as the doctor clears you, it's therapy for life.

“I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks.” –Steve Martin

Well, that one is mostly for fun. Laugh–it relieves tension! Tension relief is invaluable to the whole of you, but your shoulders and neck especially. The trapezius muscle is ginormous, connecting the base of your skull to the backs of your shoulders to the upper and middle parts of your ribs. When the upper trapezius gets tense, your neck and shoulders mess up. When your neck and shoulders are messed up, certain areas of the upper trapezius (“traps”) will get tense. Headaches may happen. Range of motion diminishes. You’re not in good shape if you can’t lower your head, turn your neck or lift your arm, right?

Massage works wonders. Roll out tight spots with a tennis ball or rolling pin. If you’re painting a room or moving stuff onto shelves or climbing rocks or wearing football or hockey pads all day, your traps need relief even before your shoulders and neck start screaming at you the next day. If you’re up for it, a bit of chiropractic care will often cure what ails you in this region. And quit it with the huge heavy purse or phone being held in one ear. Please stretch the traps regularly and don’t over work them. Start attending to this now, then maintain it. You’ll avoid much misery, I promise.