Position:

Lie down on your side with your hips and knees bent at 90 degrees as if sitting in a chair. Use a pillow so that your head, neck and spine are in a straight line. Stack your shoulders and hips so there is no twisting of your spine or ribcage. Rest your hand on the floor in front of you with your elbow bent about 90degrees and resting on your abdomen.

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Movement:

A)  Slide your shoulder up toward your ear. Then slide your shoulder down toward your hip. Count to 8 as you allow your shoulder to return to neutral.  Repeat this a few times and don’t pull your shoulder back to neutral, just allow it to slide back to its starting position as you release the contraction slowly.

B)   Place your arm on top of your  hip. Slowly press your shoulder forward.  Then slide your shoulder backward. Count to 8 as you release the muscle with as much control as you can.

C)   Draw a circle rolling your shoulder forward: How slow, how smooth, how large can you draw a circle? Make it as round as you can then rest in neutral before drawing medium sized circles then tiny circles.

D)  Draw a circle going backwards, starting with the tiny movements, then drawing medium and large circles, making them as smooth and round as possible.

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"Seated Walking"  I created this for you to sense how your rib, shoulders, shoulder blades and arms move as you walk. When in doubt go smaller and do this for just20-30 seconds at a time. Your neck should remain relaxed and free to look around.

Sit on a hard surface so you can sense your sitting bones. Make sure your head is stacked on top of your shoulders and your shoulders are stacked atop your pelvis. Feel your sitting bones and sense that your pelvic bowl is neutral: not tipped forward or backward.

The first phase involves rolling your shoulders backwards one at a time. Place your hands, palms down on your thighs. Imagine a clock resting on the side of your body and start with one shoulder going up to 12:00 then down and around to 6:00then back up to 12:0 noon. Repeat that a few times then switch to your other shoulder rotating backwards starting up at 12:00 passing down through 6:00 the rolling back up to 12:00.  Repeat that a few times. Now combine them and one will be up at 12:00 while the other is down at 6:00. Let your hands slide freely on your thighs. Continue these shoulder circles gently and smoothly and turn your head carefully from side to side to make sure your neck isn’t trying to participate.  And take a break. Starting again, now allow to let your body rock from side to side while your shoulders are rolling backwards. You can bend your elbows and let your arms swing naturally. Shift onto one side and feel that butt bone contact the chair as that shoulder goes down then switch and shift your body to the other side, feeling that sitting bone contact the chair as that shoulder rolls down to 6:00.  Roll one shoulder down, feeling that sitting bone contact the chair then roll the other shoulder down, feeling that sitting bone contact the chair.  Feel your Abs work as your waist shortens on one side then the other. And take a break. Now as you start the 3^rd and final round, notice if your arms move roughly forward and backwards or if they tend to move across your body. Focus on your Abs as you shift side to side. You can involve your heels if you’d like with the same side heel hitting the floor as that sitting bone contacts the chair then feel the other heel hit the ground as the same side butt bone contacts the chair.  Practice this for 30seconds when you want to take a break from work or before you leave for a walk or a run.

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