Letting Go of My Traps

Letting Go… and a Crow

April 29, 2011

Remember the tune, “Please release me, let me go…?”  Well, that’s what my trapezius has been singing to me for many years.  It’s only been recently that I’ve listened.

The trapezius muscle is large and diamond-shaped, extending posteriorly from the base of the skull down to T12 (lowest of the thoracic vertebrae), and across the back of the shoulders.  It helps move and stabilize the head, neck, shoulder blades and shoulders.  The trapezius or “traps” (as we personal trainers like to call it) is the muscle so many of us tend to overuse when we’re working at our desk or on the computer.  It’s the one that holds our tension and makes our shoulders creep up toward our ears.

I finally started letting go of my traps when I took up Pilates over four years ago.  Strengthening and lengthening my core muscles helped me change the workload of my upper back.  Now, instead of my shoulder blades creeping up, they feel anchored.  What a relief to my traps!

That is, most of the time… but old habits die hard, and every now and again, the tension slowly builds.

My one-arm push-up training (see Shoulder Salute) has created some extra tension and tightness, not to mention soreness, and my traps were singing once again.  I decided to try an Ortho-Bionomy session to help relieve and realign myself.  Arthur L. Pauls, DO, founded Ortho-Bionomy—a type of osteopathic bodywork that gently stimulates the body’s reflexes for self-healing, allowing the body to correct itself.  My Ortho-Bionomy practicioner, Ari Stein, helped relieve the tension and tightness around several of my joints, using light compressions and gentle stretching.  I found the experience very relaxing and my body felt light and fluid afterward.

Letting go of my traps has been a slow, on-going process.  A work in progress (like so much of me!).  I can truly feel and see a difference though.  Less tension and more grace.