You can't integrate the pieces until you can differentiate them, and that for most people is a big deal - most people don't even register on a sensory level that there's a distinction between their shoulder blades and their upper back.
-Leslie Kaminoff
This quote appeared in my inbox, just as this post was taking form in my head. How appropriate!
I became acutely aware of my levator scapulae muscle the other day after practicing something (on purpose) that I was going to tell my students not to do in their practice. So I went on a little investigation to see why this muscle can sometimes feel like it was expressly placed there by the celestial design committee (expression courtesy of the wonderful Donna Farhi) to make you miserable.
I became acutely aware of my levator scapulae muscle the other day after practicing something (on purpose) that I was going to tell my students not to do in their practice. So I went on a little investigation to see why this muscle can sometimes feel like it was expressly placed there by the celestial design committee (expression courtesy of the wonderful Donna Farhi) to make you miserable.
The levator scapulae as its name implies is the elevator of the shoulder blade. That's the muscle that you use to hold the phone between your shoulder and your ear, when you hands are occupied with doing something else. Here is a visual of how this muscle attaches to the upper inner corner of your shoulder blade at the bottom and the first four cervical vertebrae at the top:
What does it looks like to you? Yes, that's right. The reins of a horse. So in addition to lifting the shoulder blade, the levator scapulae can also quite effectively and painfully contract to keep the top of your neck (those first 4 cervical vertebrae) from going forward, that is, it would pull them down and back, exactly like someone pulled the reins of a horse to stop it from going further.
Now, let me introduce splenius cervicis:
What is the difference with the levator scapulae? The main difference is that the splenius (which means bandage and plaster) attaches from your neck to your upper back whereas the levator attaches from your neck to your shoulder blade. And this is profound: kind of like of the realization from the quote above.
As Thomas Myers likes to say, stabilization and support of the head are most optimally (not the same as most efficiently or expediently) effected as "an entirely axial event." The axial skeleton consists of the human skull, the ossicles of the middle ear, the hyoid bone of the throat, the rib cage, sternum and the vertebral column. (My understanding of the body tells me that the pelvis should be included in this list too, but I'll stop here and don't go an a tangent.) As you can see the shoulder blades are missing from this list with good reason. They are much more movable than either of the ribs or vertebrae, and have a lot more inherent motion in them by virtue of being connected to the arms and hands, the latter being perhaps unrivaled in their ability for exquisiteness, sensitivity and refinement. So this quite simply makes the shoulder blades an unstable base from which to support the neck/head.
Further, when the levator scapulae gets bullied in supporting the head (for example, when we are tense and hunched over a computer; or when we walk with our head down while checking the latest and greatest on our smart phone, but we still need to look up somewhat; or when we are biking), then a myriad other shoulder muscles get involved compounding the misery for your upper back and neck. Some of these are the upper traps, rhomboids, and pecs, but tension, drag and pull can result along any of the 4 arm lines, which I have described here in conjunction with downward-facing dog. To add to the complexity, bear in mind that these myofascial arm tracks have multiple crossovers among them, which make our arms and hands the miracles that they are, but also augment the task of figuring out what is going on and how to address it.
What can be done to relieve the levator scapulae of the unwanted burden of keeping the neck/head from going forward? Simply, we learn to differentiate between it and the splenius cervicis and its brother, splenius capitis. However, a few other issues need to be addressed first before we attempt to do that.
First, we need to bring the head back from its forward position (reason #1 for the levator scapulae overworking). For this, you can read my post on neck smiling. You can skip to the third to last paragraph.
We also need to ensure that the chest is opened properly. For clear and intelligent instruction on that, check out Doug Keller's article for relieving upper back and neck pain. The quick and easy is that the habitually tight pec minor needs to be released and lengthened so that the low traps can draw the shoulder blades down the back and away from the base of the neck. The shoulder blades also release down the back with external rotation of the arms (for example, warrior 2 with the palms turned up, so that the whole arm is externally rotated).
When we have that knowledge and awareness—Is the head jutting forward of the spine or is the neck smiling and extending? Is the chest closed and shoulder blades creeping up towards the neck or is the chest open and broad and the shoulder blades releasing the down the back?—then we can turn to the task of differentiating between the levator scapulae and the splenii brothers that prevent the head from going forward.
The splenii muscles are part of the lateral and spiral lines in Anatomy Trains speak. In yoga terms, these are the lines that are stretched and strengthened with lateral poses like trikonasana, parighasana, parsvokonasana, vasistasana, side bends and the like, and twists or revolved poses. I won't go into detail, but here is a visual of both (note: yes, there is overlap between these two myofascial tracks):
In addition to keeping the head from going forward, the splenii assist with head rotation. I think that a good way to feel the splenii and see how they work is with a twist. I shot the video below this morning to help with the description.
Sit on the edge of a chair with the thigh bones mostly off the chair seat, fairly parallel with each other. Remember to take the top of the throat up and back (neck smile) and keep your chest open and broad. Take your right fingertips at the base of your skull—under the occiput and a bit to the side such that your fingertips are under the lateral part of the occipital ridge and the mastoid process (you'll see in the video)—with the elbow pointing forward and slightly higher than your shoulder. With your other hand, nudge the lats and the teres into engaging to take the outer edge of your right shoulder blade onto your back. Keep your gaze diffuse (i.e. more peripheral vision than staring somewhere in particular) and direct it slightly down and to the right as if you are trying to look at your right elbow crease. You will feel the splenii muscles contract under your fingertips and start turning your head to the right, at the spot where your skull and your spine meet. Follow the twist from the top of the spine down through the upper back, keeping the right shoulder blade down the back by reaching out and slightly up on the diagonal from the elbow as you draw the shoulder blade onto the back (if it starts creeping up, the levator scapulae has probably kicked in and you might feel that your neck in no longer smiling). Twist to the best of your ability, keeping the eyes soft, reaching up through the crown of the head, having space between the upper and lower teeth. If you feel this around and under your shoulder blade, as well as the sides of the torso (see lateral line photo above), you are probably on the right track. Also remember to keep both collarbones broadening and the opposite shoulder blade releasing down the back. Come back to center and go to the other side (when I turn away from the camera, you will see that my right shoulder blade needs a lot of convincing to stay on my back):
I have called the levator scapulae a villain, but as Jenny Otto once said, it is the victim that screams not the perpetrator.
Thank you for reading! Let me know if you have any questions and please share if you found this helpful in any way!
 |
| Levator Scapule from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Levator_scapulae_muscle_animation_small2.gif |
Now, let me introduce splenius cervicis:
 |
| Splenius cervicis from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Splenius_cervicis_muscle_animation_small.gif |
As Thomas Myers likes to say, stabilization and support of the head are most optimally (not the same as most efficiently or expediently) effected as "an entirely axial event." The axial skeleton consists of the human skull, the ossicles of the middle ear, the hyoid bone of the throat, the rib cage, sternum and the vertebral column. (My understanding of the body tells me that the pelvis should be included in this list too, but I'll stop here and don't go an a tangent.) As you can see the shoulder blades are missing from this list with good reason. They are much more movable than either of the ribs or vertebrae, and have a lot more inherent motion in them by virtue of being connected to the arms and hands, the latter being perhaps unrivaled in their ability for exquisiteness, sensitivity and refinement. So this quite simply makes the shoulder blades an unstable base from which to support the neck/head.
Further, when the levator scapulae gets bullied in supporting the head (for example, when we are tense and hunched over a computer; or when we walk with our head down while checking the latest and greatest on our smart phone, but we still need to look up somewhat; or when we are biking), then a myriad other shoulder muscles get involved compounding the misery for your upper back and neck. Some of these are the upper traps, rhomboids, and pecs, but tension, drag and pull can result along any of the 4 arm lines, which I have described here in conjunction with downward-facing dog. To add to the complexity, bear in mind that these myofascial arm tracks have multiple crossovers among them, which make our arms and hands the miracles that they are, but also augment the task of figuring out what is going on and how to address it.
What can be done to relieve the levator scapulae of the unwanted burden of keeping the neck/head from going forward? Simply, we learn to differentiate between it and the splenius cervicis and its brother, splenius capitis. However, a few other issues need to be addressed first before we attempt to do that.
First, we need to bring the head back from its forward position (reason #1 for the levator scapulae overworking). For this, you can read my post on neck smiling. You can skip to the third to last paragraph.
We also need to ensure that the chest is opened properly. For clear and intelligent instruction on that, check out Doug Keller's article for relieving upper back and neck pain. The quick and easy is that the habitually tight pec minor needs to be released and lengthened so that the low traps can draw the shoulder blades down the back and away from the base of the neck. The shoulder blades also release down the back with external rotation of the arms (for example, warrior 2 with the palms turned up, so that the whole arm is externally rotated).
When we have that knowledge and awareness—Is the head jutting forward of the spine or is the neck smiling and extending? Is the chest closed and shoulder blades creeping up towards the neck or is the chest open and broad and the shoulder blades releasing the down the back?—then we can turn to the task of differentiating between the levator scapulae and the splenii brothers that prevent the head from going forward.
The splenii muscles are part of the lateral and spiral lines in Anatomy Trains speak. In yoga terms, these are the lines that are stretched and strengthened with lateral poses like trikonasana, parighasana, parsvokonasana, vasistasana, side bends and the like, and twists or revolved poses. I won't go into detail, but here is a visual of both (note: yes, there is overlap between these two myofascial tracks):
 |
| Lateral line from http://www.sportsrehabexpert.com/public/472.cfm |
 |
| Spiral line from http://www.sportsrehabexpert.com/public/472.cfm |
Sit on the edge of a chair with the thigh bones mostly off the chair seat, fairly parallel with each other. Remember to take the top of the throat up and back (neck smile) and keep your chest open and broad. Take your right fingertips at the base of your skull—under the occiput and a bit to the side such that your fingertips are under the lateral part of the occipital ridge and the mastoid process (you'll see in the video)—with the elbow pointing forward and slightly higher than your shoulder. With your other hand, nudge the lats and the teres into engaging to take the outer edge of your right shoulder blade onto your back. Keep your gaze diffuse (i.e. more peripheral vision than staring somewhere in particular) and direct it slightly down and to the right as if you are trying to look at your right elbow crease. You will feel the splenii muscles contract under your fingertips and start turning your head to the right, at the spot where your skull and your spine meet. Follow the twist from the top of the spine down through the upper back, keeping the right shoulder blade down the back by reaching out and slightly up on the diagonal from the elbow as you draw the shoulder blade onto the back (if it starts creeping up, the levator scapulae has probably kicked in and you might feel that your neck in no longer smiling). Twist to the best of your ability, keeping the eyes soft, reaching up through the crown of the head, having space between the upper and lower teeth. If you feel this around and under your shoulder blade, as well as the sides of the torso (see lateral line photo above), you are probably on the right track. Also remember to keep both collarbones broadening and the opposite shoulder blade releasing down the back. Come back to center and go to the other side (when I turn away from the camera, you will see that my right shoulder blade needs a lot of convincing to stay on my back):
I have called the levator scapulae a villain, but as Jenny Otto once said, it is the victim that screams not the perpetrator.
Thank you for reading! Let me know if you have any questions and please share if you found this helpful in any way!
Anna, I love this! It is unclear to me how to subscribe to your blog. I would like to!
ReplyDeleteHi, Anonymous, thank you for reading! I added a follow this site widget on the right hand side of the blog, just under my profile info. Once you click the button, Join this site, you will receive a notice when I post a new blog.
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