Shoulder-related reasons clients seek my help:
- Arthritis
- Bursitis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Elbow pain
- Frozen shoulder
- Headaches
- Jaw tightness and pain
- Joint pain and stiffness
- Loss of functional movement
- Post-surgery recovery
- Upper back pain
Learn more about the shoulders
Most adults experience shoulder and neck pain on a regular basis. Because the shoulders are the most mobile joint in the human body, we use them all day, every day.
Similar to the hips, the shoulders are ball and socket joints. Eight primary muscles allow these complex joints to function in seven directions, to create both stillness and movements like these:
- Reaching your arm forward (flexion)
- Reaching your arm behind (extension)
- Backhand tennis stroke (abduction)
- Forehand tennis stroke (adduction)
- Putting your hands behind your neck (external rotation)
- Taking something from your back pocket (internal rotation)
- Swimming (circumduction)
The combination of these functional directions can overwork some muscles and call in other muscles to get the job done. These types of compensations create unhealthy movement patterns which, in turn, limit our physical function.
Somatic yoga therapy is an effective, holistic way to regain free and confident movement, expand your breath, and restore your posture.
How this therapy works
Muscle movement comes from the brain via a steady two-way communication stream within the nervous system. Sometimes, repetitive movement patterns of daily life overwork specific muscle groups to the extent that they can no longer access the communication stream. This is called “sensory-motor amnesia,” or SMA.
Somatic yoga therapy helps us locate areas of SMA and reteach the neural pathways on how to access the communication stream. The therapy is a partnership between therapist and client. As the client learns to sense and feel their body from the inside out, the therapist guides the client through very small, slow movements to lessen or eliminate SMA. Neural muscular reeducation takes place, the communication stream is reestablished, and functional movement improves.
Ready to get started?
If you are currently under a doctor’s care, receiving physical therapy, or visiting a chiropractor, please schedule a free 30-minute phone consultation to discuss when would be the best time for you to begin your somatic yoga therapy.
Otherwise, schedule your first appointment, either in person in my Saint Paul studio or as a virtual visit.
I look forward to working with you!