Lecture Part 2: Glenohumeral Joint Mobility and Scapulohumeral Rhythm: Achieving Balance, Stability, and Freedom in Shoulder Movement

Glenohumeral Joint Mobility and Scapulohumeral Rhythm: Achieving Balance, Stability, and Freedom in Shoulder Movement

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Exercises from Class:

Standing Down Dog

Use this version to feel spacious and light in the shoulders. Notice the connection as the Arms lift, let the shoulder blades lift with them

Standing Updog

Use this version to feel spacious and light in the shoulders. Notice the connection as the Arms draw down, let the shoulder blades draw down with them

Standing Side Plank

Use this version to feel spacious and light in the shoulders. Notice the connection as the Arms reach out let the shoulder blades slide wide on the back body

Wall Plank

Use the gentle contact between the hands and the wall to help you visualize having hands on the floor in a classic plank without creating any strain in the shoulders.

Wall Down Dog

Use the gentle contact between the hands and the wall to help you visualize having hands on the floor in a classic Down Dog without creating any strain in the shoulders.

Wall Updog

Use the gentle contact between the hands and the wall to help you visualize having hands on the floor in a classic Updog without creating any strain in the shoulders.

Wall Side Plank

Use the gentle contact between the hands and the wall to help you visualize having hands on the floor in a classic Side plank without creating any strain in the shoulders.

Arm springs

bounce with the arms against the wall to establish a spring base of support in the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and core. Try slowing down and feel how the work integrates into the core, it should not be jarring in any of the joints.

Chair Plank

Now we are closer to the experience of doing plank on the floor, but having the hands up on the chair allows there to be more weight in legs so the upper body doesn’t have to work so hard. Use this to experience effortless effort and see fi you can bring that quality into Plank on the floor.

Chair Downdog

Now we are closer to the experience of doing down dog on the floor, but having the hands up on the chair allows there to be more weight in legs so the upper body doesn’t have to work so hard. Use this to experience effortless effort and see fi you can bring that quality into Downdog on the floor.

Chair Updog

Now we are closer to the experience of doing Updog on the floor, but having the hands up on the chair allows there to be more weight in legs so the upper body doesn’t have to work so hard. Use this to experience effortless effort and see fi you can bring that quality into Updog on the floor.

Chair Sideplank

Now we are closer to the experience of doing side plank on the floor, but having the hands up on the chair allows there to be more weight in legs so the upper body doesn’t have to work so hard. Use this to experience effortless effort and see fi you can bring that quality into Side Plank on the floor.

Waving Vinyasa (knees down)

From Down Dog, hollow the body, letting the front edge suction up into the back. Slowly roll forward into a puffy plank, and then allow the front of the body to eccentrically contract. Let the knees lower and drag the hands back to facilitate the opening of the heart.

Waving Vinyasa (knees Up)

From Down Dog, hollow the body, letting the front edge suction up into the back. Slowly roll forward into a puffy plank, and then allow the front of the body to eccentrically contract. Drag the hands back to facilitate the opening of the heart. Please note- always try with the knees down first to avoid compressing the low back in the knees up version,

1. Mobility of the Glenohumeral Joint: As we work with the shoulders we encounter a very specific balance of stability and mobility that must be addressed. The shoulders are the most mobile joint in the body, and with such a huge range of motion they are also the most injured joint in the body. “Shoulders are easily injured because they have a complex structure that provides a wide range of motion. They are the most mobile joints in the body and consequently, the most unstable.” This is mainly due to the shallowness of the shoulder socket itself, the glenohumeral joint.

1. A common analogy to help people visualize the relationship of the humeral head and the glenoid fossa is like a tennis ball on a tea saucer. The glenoid fossa is the official connection point of the humeral head, but in reality the joint itself also includes the overhead cliff of the acromion process, and the rotator cuff muscles. This spacious joint provides 360 degrees of rotation, and requires the rotator cuff muscles to keep it in place. The mobility of the glenohumeral joint is precisely because it is a team effort of a joint— multiple bones and muscles coming together to maintaining stability from all angles while providing space.

2. To Root or not to Root?: So what happens when cue the shoulders to root down the back, and then perform the action? For example, it is common to hear teachers cueing their students to ‘root the shoulders’ and ‘wrap the shoulders’ in order to anchor them in support. Though the intention is good, that approach to stability in the shoulders can be short sighted— for example— try to root your shoulders down the back and lift your arms over head— its an anatomical impossibility, as the humeral head requires movement of the scapulas to clear the acromion process. As nice as it would be to be able to ‘root our shoulders’ and go on with our lives, it doesn’t appear to be possible— we have to find a way for the whole team to participate in order for the shoulder symphony to take place.

1. On the mat as it is on the cushion: In terms of our meditation practice, we see the same principle. Sure, it would be nice if we could ‘root our awareness’ in the heart in one fell swoop, and then go on with our lives, resting assured that we are ‘rooted in our hearts’ as we live our lives. But, unfortunately, as the Vijnana Bhairava and Swami Rudrananda teach, that approach to spiritual practice may be ‘bogus’, as true surrender takes place within the dynamic pulse of reality that is our karma. This isn’t to say that we can only meditate in our lives, and not on our cushion, but it is saying that even meditating on our cushion is a dynamic experience of surrender. We don’t just say one mantra, and then float into bliss, we say thousands of mantra, and slowly but surely arrive in an experience of our true nature. Similarly, stability and centeredness in our shoulders requires that we do it in motion— and this is the magic of the shoulders themselves, a shallow socket surrounding by a symphony of small yet powerful rotator cuffs, creating dynamic stability out of expansive mobility, a true dynamism of support.

3. The non-dual dynamism of Scapulohumeral Rhythm: Physiologically speaking, the dynamic interplay between the scapula and humerus is known as Scapulohumeral rhythm. If you lift your arm from your hip to the horizon line, about 90 degrees, 60 degrees of that movement came from your glenohumeral joint, and the other 30 degrees of that movement came from your scapular thoracic junction, the gliding of your scapula over your rib cage. Similar to our discussion of the deep core and functional core, we see that there is an internal component to every external action— that we don’t do one then the other, but we allow them to work together. When you can feel your scapulas moving as you lift your arm, you’ll notice a very similar sensation to the Shambhavi Mudra, an internal awareness (the scapula) that specifically exists alongside and in relation to your external motion (arm movement). Studies show that there is a 2:1 ratio between the scapula and humerus, which resembles Rudi’s Golden ratio of internal and external awareness. As Sri ShambhavAnanda said earlier, when we can keep our attention inside with our “eyes open” we see a new world— the same goes for the shoulders— when we can keep our awareness in the scapula as we lift the arm, we feel a whole new way of moving our shoulder.

1. Train Barrier Visualization: Eric Franklin, in his book Dynamic Alignment through imagery, uses an incredible visualization to help us feel the dynamic relationship between the shoulder blade and the humerus— to feel the intuitive team work that is occurring when we allow it as we move our arms and shoulders. The visualization is that of a train barrier arm, lift when its ok to pass and lowering when the train comes by. When we feel the downward pull of the counter weight, our scapula, simultaneously with the arm lifting, the action as a whole feels almost weightless yet also very stable— just like Patanjali’s teaching of effortless effort and persevearance without tension, which he goes on to say takes us to to an experience of the infinite.   

1. “A simple way to visualize the functioning of the scapulohumeral rhythm is to think of it as a barrier at a train crossing. The barrier (arm) goes up as the heavy counterweight (scapula) arcs down and forward, saving a lot of mechanical energy. Without scapulae, we would need very thick, muscular necks to pull up our arms with sheer force. Once the arm is elevated, the shoulder blade can also be considered a weighted ballast, a solid base for the arm, lowering the COG and making it easy to keep the arms overhead. Freedom in the scapulohumeral rhythm is critical for balance and pirouettes because it prevents arm gestures from disturbing the central axis. Mobility is achieved by allowing the scapula to glide over the thorax in an easy and unrestricted fashion.” (227)