‘BRAVO! Living’ Lessons
Shoulder Earrings
It is fun to wear elegant dangling earrings. It is not so healthy (actually, it is draining) to wear your shoulders as a pair of earrings: your shoulders hunched up meet your ears. You might be someone who wears one shoulder ‘earring’, with your other shoulder significantly lower to balance it out. In both cases, “yikes”, you are literally living your life out of balance; carrying a heavy load. If you were to take a look in a full length mirror, you’d probably also notice unevenness in your hips or how you hold your head, or both.
With shoulder earring(s) you are likely to be experiencing body pain somewhere; shoulders, hips, low back, neck…Or maybe you are so accustomed to this posture that you have effectively armored yourself to block any perceived pain so you can just ‘get by’. In this case you have literally ‘told’ your body to have muscle perform like bone, which it will adapt to quite effectively given time. Your muscle is now ‘bone-like’ and is prone to ‘break’ when you least expect it. The threshold that you have built up may hit its tipping point at any moment by the weight of a feather or the twist of a hip.
Shoulder issues are an alert that you are ‘shouldering’ too much in your life. You may be the first one to ‘hop to it’ to take care of other people’s needs; but is it at the expense of your own best interest? I urge you to not get lost in this equation. Notice the messages your body is showing you.
Here are two tips to help you notice and tend to your shoulder earring(s).
Physical Exercise:
With an inhale, lift both your shoulders even higher, hold there (also holding your breath) for a count of ten. Then exhale on a count of ten allowing your shoulders to naturally ‘fall’. Now, take in a deep easy breath that lifts your rib cage up and out, all the while noticing that this movement naturally takes over the job of supporting your shoulders. As you naturally exhale, allow your shoulders to follow your rib cage downward movement. Try this three times in a row.
Mindful Mantra:
“I walk through life with ease and joy and release burdens.”
Repeat this whenever and for as many times as feels right.
© 2016 Katharine Gilpin
JUL