Body and Breath - Yoga Shop Talk

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Yoga shoptalk, February, 2002

Question: (1) I am reading with interest your book on anatomy and have a question about your article on the shoulders, yoga shoptalk, January 2002. If one personally has hyperflexible shoulders, or has a student with hyperflexible shoulders, it seems that your advice at the end of the article to "lower your shoulders, slide your nose forward close to the floor, straighten the knees, and hold the posture isometrically in whatever position is especially difficult for you," might be dangerous. This problem, in my experience occurs more commonly in women than men, but I have known a man or two in my thirty years of teaching who has this hyperflexibility. It seems to me that to instruct such a student (or oneself) in a beneficial manner, one would have to find a way to articulate what I have been calling "double action" in my teaching of Iyengar Hatha Yoga. One has to access the strength AND flexibility of the rotator cuff group of muscles to hold the humerus in the socket securely as the armpit area opens and the houlder joint reaches maximum flexion. Then all the other muscle groups you mention in shoptalk must also "give and take" in a kind of equality of extension and flexion simultaneously.

Answer: (1) You are exactly right. My comments were not meant for everyone, which speaks to the importance of practicing yoga under the direction of a knowledgeable teacher. But coming back to your analysis, I have noticed over a period of years that perhaps one person in 40 has to be cautious about dislocating their shoulder in poses that create 180 degrees of flexion (arms fully flexed overhead) and that at the same time bear the weight of the body. It usually is seen more on one side than the other, and as you say, the problem seems to be more common in women than in men. Fortunately, through long experience such individuals have generally learned to be cautious in certain movements. Still, your points are well taken, and a teacher should be watchful of these potential problems and coach their pupils to explore poses cautiously.

Question: (2) I find words hard to use sometimes. But it seems that a BALANCE of strength and flexibility is what is called for here, not to injure the overflexible, but not to miss the stiff ones either. I often instruct students to "lengthen the side ribs, draw the shoulderblades securely INTO the body and away from the head, then to lift, or hollow the armpits as they lengthen and descend, and keep the elbow joints light and buoyant.

Answer: (2) You are not alone in having difficulty in finding the correct language. Anatomical terminology was designed primarily to describe movements that begin from the anatomical position, not from situations in which someone finds themselves halfway into a yoga posture. Still, I can make a few suggestions that you may find useful in communication with your students. First, I would avoid saying "lengthen the side ribs," since ribs can't lengthen and "side ribs" is vague. Second, as might be inferred from my January 2002 "shoptalk," when you say "draw the shoulderblades securely into the body and away from the head," I think you are suggesting abducting, upwardly rotating, and depressing the scapulae. Of course if you say that, you will lose everyone in your class other than physical therapists, and perhaps even them unless they are listening sharply, so I would suggest the following compromise:

"Pull the shoulderblades DOWN, TO THE SIDE, AND IN."
Then explain and demonstrate with someone touching your scapula and tracing its movement in the down-facing dog, saying:
"DOWN means depressing the scapulae, that is, pulling them down and away from the head. TO THE SIDE means abducting the scapulae, pulling them laterally and away from the spine as opposed to pinching them together. IN means holding the scapulae tightly against the chest, and not allowing them to wing out. (next) Now UPWARDLY ROTATE the lowermost tips of the scapulae to the side, envisioning the lower tips of your two scapulae being pulled laterally and around the chest wall."
Then to clarify further, demonstrate the opposite adjustments, which usually all happen together and cause the posture to deteriorate, perhaps saying:
"Don't permit the scapulae to become ELEVATED (and show that). Don't permit the scapulae to become ADDUCTED, that is being pinched towards one another (and show that). Don't permit the scapulae to become DOWNWARDLY ROTATED, that is permitting the lowermost tips to be pulled toward the spine (and show that). And finally, don't permit the scapulae to WING OUT, that is to float away from the chest wall (and show that)."
Then once more demonstrate the correct movements. In addition, to help everyone learn the language, use correct terminology in class as much as possible.
Just one more editorial comment, which is a personal pet peeve. Anytime a teacher says keep any body part "light and buoyant," when I am struggling just to approximate the posture, it makes me want to flee, if not cry.

Question: (3) Also would you please comment on using a belt around either the forearm bones or the upper arm bones to stabilize the posture? My experience is that if the arms are weak, and if the shoulder stabilizing muscles not strong either, the belt gives support to stay in the pose longer.

Answer: (3) I've not experimented with using a belt in this posture, and so I'm not in position to comment, but it seems reasonable.

Question: (4) Also bending the elbows seems to give some people access to the often missing strength around the scapula and upper arm. Then the game is to keep the strength found in bent elbow experience as one moves to straight elbow experience.

Answer: (4) This is a complex issue that begs comment from an academic researcher whose field of expertise is the muscle mechanics of the shoulder joint, but for a first approximation, the short answer is that the long head of the triceps brachii (which attaches to the scapula) and the teres major (which takes origin from the scapula and inserts on the arm) have the best mechanical advantage for supporting and stabilizing the scapulae in their correct positions when they are in moderately stretched positions. In the down-facing dog, this happens for the triceps brachii when the elbows are slightly bent, and it happens for the teres major when the arms are flexed well short of 180 degrees overhead. By contrast, when the elbows are completely straight, and when the arms (shoulder joints) are flexed a full 180 degrees, support for the scapulae and shoulder joints depends entirely on ligaments, the four rotator cuff muscles, and the five muscles that are classically described as stabilizing the scapula. That's fine, but it's more demanding.

Question: (5) Is your book available for volume discounts through your website? My book supplier is out of stock, and I need 10 copies for a teacher training session soon. Thank you for all your good work.

Answer: (5) The second printing is due to be delivered February 7, and the shopping cart for bodyandbreath.com (which offers wholesale terms to yoga studios, as well as retail sales to individuals) will be up and running possibly as early as February 9. Or you can call our toll-free number if you have a distaste for shopping online.