A Closer Look at Shoulder Tension
Why do we hold so much tension in our shoulders? A three-part enquiry.
Part One: The Ego’s Favourite Mantra “I should” + A Million Expectations (mostly from other people).
Most of my clients want a quick-fix shoulder release so, more often than knot I begin my bodywork sessions doing just that.
We all know that sitting at a desk and staring at a computer for 40 hours a week is just one of the many repetitive-strain, arms-forward, bad-posture positions that we do too much of. But I wanted to look closer at the epidemic of shoulder tension to see if it has a subtle/spiritual component (as, if you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that most dis-ease does).
My findings were quite fascinating…
The first thing that showed itself when I set upon this enquiry was the etymology of shoulder. And to my delight, I saw that a shoulder contains the vibration of the word should (+er).
I am not delighted at the fact that we are going around telling ourselves we ‘should’ do things all the time; on the contrary, I am very aware and always reminding clients that if they let go of this one mantra (“I should be thinner, I should earn more, I should be nicer to the bus driver, I should be more spiritual, I should have, I should really, I should be different….", their life would become much more simple and peaceful. - I am delighted because just a few weeks ago I discovered a wonderful quote from Dr Albert Ellis in Tara Love Perry’s book:
“Stop should-ing all over yourself”
- I don’t think I have to explain that one. What a quote.