THE TRAPEZIUS AND THE AXIS OF LOVE
The upper limb and its girdle play an intermediary role in life. On the one hand, we use our shoulders, arms and hands to get things done at home and work. On the other, we use the upper limbs for both linguistic and gestural functions. We move them, in other words, as parts of speech. Peaceful or forceful movements of shoulders, arms and hands reveal with connotative clarity what we really mean. And we see also, in writing and sign language, an entirely linguistic use. Massage itself meaningfully bridges these two worlds of action and language. We perform work caringly through what we do with shoulders, arms and hands and we use them to give clients anatomical information and non-verbal suggestions.
Freeing the shoulder girdle is essential for the health of the arms and of the torso. I’m sure you have seen clients whose shoulder blades have become adherent to the ribcage. Structurally and energetically, we see the enormous importance in the shoulder blades’ ability to glide freely over the ribs. Without the freer space between the scapulae and the ribs, everyday stress, instead of “rolling” off our backs, can become “impacted”, affecting the free movement of the ribs and spine, ultimately the realm of the lungs and heart themselves, as well as the head and neck.
The vertical energy flowing through the body intersects with a horizontal flow through the arms and the hands, reaching out to the world around us. This may be seen as an axis of love.
TRAPEZIUS
The trapezius muscle is, for most people, one of the body’s primary energetic shock absorbers, just as the legs and feet are the body’s main physical shock absorbers. As stress comes and goes, tension in the trapezius increases, then ideally quickly dissipates.
But when you have excessive, sustained stress or a sudden overwhelming trauma, then the body may absorb the stress, holding on, instead of dissipating it. Then trapezius and other stress indicator muscles begin to have a chronically higher tone. Or certain parts of the trapezius may become flaccid, lacking tone and responsiveness.
Virtually every adult carries the residue of past life tensions in the trapezius with a resultant diminished capacity for dissipating everyday stress. When our shock absorbers start losing resilience, then stresses begin to stay longer, going potentially deeper into the bodymind.
A primary purpose of working with the trapezius then is to let go of any residue of the past that no longer serves us. Also to learn new habits of handling stress by letting go of it, rather than by absorbing it.
Anatomy
“Trapezius” comes from the same root as “trapeze” referring to a four-sided figure. The trapezius originates along the torso’s centerline, as low as the 12th thoracic vertebrae and from each spinous process all the way up to the back of the occiput. It extends out finally to insert along the spine of the scapula and the lateral third of the clavicle.
The thickest part of the trapezius is its “belly” just above the scapula. It is from here that therapists can primarily sense how well stress is being absorbed or dissipated.
The healthy trapezius is like a sail floating freely in the winds of life. It allows the full excursion of breath underneath it. It allows for the freedom and healthy movement of the head, neck, and shoulder blades. Let us restore the free-floatingness of our wings!
TRAPEZIUS FULCRUM
Therapist: comfortably seated at head of the massage table
Client: Supine (If client neck is lordotic – chin higher than forehead – please put a small pillow under the head.)
Before putting your hands on, center yourself. Breathe. Position your body so that, even though you are seated, you can still use your body weight and gravity for your pressure – rather than effort. Make, as in Tai Chi, as much as possible, no effort at all. Position your treatment chair or stool to allow room between your body and that of the client. Let your joints be gently rounded, wrists aligned and relaxed, elbows only slightly bent, shoulders and breath relaxed, with an open space between the side of the ribs cage and the insides of your arms. Get grounded with the hips and knees relaxed and the soles of your feet on the floor.
Briefly review in your mind the life stresses this client may have revealed in the pre-session interview/history-taking and in past sessions if this is a repeat client. Realize that you are not just touching the trapezius, a muscle positioned in the space of the client’s body. You are equally touching time – that is, the accumulated content, accumulated tension, from their many years of life. In this sense, every touch that impacts the client’s ongoing life takes place at the intersection of space and time.
Let your fingers rest on the clavicles and upper ribs. With your thumbs begin to explore the belly of the trapezius. Start near the base of the neck and work your way out with mindful, caring touch, using light to moderate pressure. Note any associations and observations that palpating this client here evokes for you and for your client. Some clients feel quite locked up; others superficially relaxed, yet with deeper tension underneath; others with overall freedom but with a few specific nuggets of tension, that have likely been there for a long time. Sometimes I feel like I’m a prospector, palpating for the long-lost treasures underlying our tension. Work your way out in successive points near to where the clavicle and scapula meet.
Now return to the belly of the trapezius immediately lateral to C7 or T1. Be conscious that you are touching clearly with both your physical structure and your energy (i.e. being mentally, emotionally, and spiritually engaged in what you’re doing.). Press in with both thumbs, taking out the looseness bilaterally in the soft tissue. Pause. Give the client a moment to integrate their experience.
Press in further, taking up the slack in the soft tissue. If you find no tension, clearly disengage and explore points more lateral. But do make sure you devote some caring time and attention to each place you work.
If you find any significant tension in this area on either or both sides, engage it with a bit more pressure. At this point, commonly the client may say something like, “Now you’ve got it!” or you can see from their breathing and facial expression that they are engaged. Pause.
Now having entered their realm of tension, rest into it. First, rest yourself. Deepen your breathing, be patient. Lean gracefully in toward the client, letting gravity be the therapist, rather than forcing your way in by adding tension to your shoulder girdle, back, arms or hands. Sink in and try to find the optimum depth for this fulcrum, this person, this place. Pause, without letting go of any vectors. Give the person some time in which let go from the inside out. During this time it is important that you the therapist go to a “witness” state, not moving, allowing the client to let go of the successively deeper sedimentary layers of tension that have developed here over the span of his/her life.
When you sense it’s been long enough – and five seconds is usually more than enough in a given place – clearly disengage and move on. Then press in an inch more laterally on both sides. Repeat the steps above. Again keep alive your sensitivity and patience. Tensions here accumulate over a lifetime. They need the gift of time and touch to let go of the layers and years of tensions they’ve held.
Continue working the belly of the trapezius in successively more lateral areas until you’ve given attention to at least four or five areas bilaterally. Even if you find more tension on one side than another, maintain conscious contact with both sides. The bilaterality of contact is important since we are looking to restore the experience of having wings, rather than yokes. Both wings are needed for flight!
Wonderfully, these fulcrums with the trapezius are some of the easiest techniques to perform. However, they can have global consequences in our clients’ worlds. Approach the trapezius with reverence, respect, and patience. Through the trapezius we are given the opportunity to let go of lifetimes of stress and to regain the sense of lightness in our lives.
illustration by Christy Krames - from Lauterstein, “The Deep Massage Book: How to Combine Structure and Energy in Bodywork” - Redwing Books