On Freeing the Wing Bones
My students hear me speak often about the importance of “ keeping the wing bones mobile”.
Healthy functioning through the shoulder joints relies on really good mobility from the scapula, aka. shoulder blades. (The name that I like to use that feels most true is “wing bones”. I like to imagine the flying feeling of bird wings and/or the Sufi symbol of the heart with wings.)
According to scapula Kinesiology, each of your wing bones is designed to have 8 specific movements! (Feel free to ask about this in class). Have in mind that whenever there is a restricted area, that has a ripple out effect. Since the arms are connected into the back of the torso, and also muscularly down to the hips, the shoulder blade function effects the spine and down through the hips and beyond.
Keeping the wing bones mobile directly impacts the condition and movement of the rib basket. If we spend a lot of time sitting or hunched over, the whole upper back including the scapula can become immobile. This can affect our respiration and with the chest posture depressed, our energy can feel depleted.
Considering the shoulder area specifically, when a scapula is tight, there’s less integrated flow of movement out of the torso. Instead, there’s a lot more demand, and potential strain on the shoulder socket joint as well as the rotator cuff muscles.
Since the ribs are attached to the thoracic spine, this in turn affects the mobility and the responsibility of the spine.
When there’s a lot of restriction around the thoracic spine, this puts pressure, demand, and compression on the lower back and sacroiliac joints. In addition, a limited or tight upper back can put stress up into the neck and translate up into the skull.
In yoga this experience might be most noticeable in upper body weight bearing and inverted positions like down dog, headstand or shoulder stand. It also is significant in any arms overhead postures such as tree pose or warrior 1. Thinking about the position of the blades and what the posture asks of the shoulders, how they are moving (or not) as you enter, sustain and exit a posture, this helps to build awareness and body sustainably. Practicing this way, cultivates a felt sense of more freedom, lightness, and cohesion in the body.
After many years of moving my arms from my back body and wing bones, I feel stronger and more confident in doing these poses and more open and integrated in all of my physical activities.
Living with the upper body more open, can help us feel more vital, resilient and connected to the world. The arms are freer to do, to give, and to create. The heart center can feel more open.
Enjoy your yoga journey!