The Cat and The Vase

I had a patient message me asking for an urgent appointment.

“Jennifer, I wrenched my shoulders last night and have painful T Rex arms now. Help!”

When I asked her what happened, she told me she was so startled by an explosion in a movie that she jumped back in her seat and her muscles got stuck that way.

“Is it the movie’s fault? Can a movie do that?” she asked.

This is a good question because we vividly remember the trauma or trigger that precedes big pain, but that’s not the real cause. Our posture and habits set our spine, muscles, and fascia into a precarious Jenga tower.

I said, “Think of it this way. Imagine a vase was placed on the edge of a table. And then a cat jumped on the table and the vase fell down and shattered. The cat may have caused it to fall, but the vase was in the wrong place to begin with.”

Having worked on so many necks and shoulders, I can see it before people tell me. They might have even come in for something else—hot flashes, insomnia, chronic low energy, or stress—and I say,”what about these shoulders?”

I’m not looking for extra things to treat. I’m preventing T Rex arms down the line.

We can release the body into greater harmony so that you can do spontaneous things like dancing or watching suspense movies or playing volleyball without wrenching yourself.

We can move the vase.

Learn more about how neck and shoulder injuries happen and how to keep your upper body pain free by coming to January’s workshop: 5 Keys to Solving Neck and Shoulder Pain. Sign up now with this link: https://vitamin-chi.as.me/shoulders