Deconstructing DownDog Part 3 of 10 Upward Scapular Rotation

There’s more to downdog than meets the eye! It’s great to start with what the pose looks like for someone who holds the orthopedic profile for it. What do you do for the person that doesn’t have it? You can’t force them? Stretching won’t necessarily get it done. The pose conforms to the person but you have to know how to conform the pose or simply scrap it altogether.
It’s important to take a wider stance with your hands in #downdog to be in the scapular plane for the #shoulder. In general, there is more room to move and we can emphasize the bigger postural muscles to help take the weight. The neck and wrists really don’t like to take that load on and then you’re hanging off passive structures in the shoulders which will tear them up over time
What causes the scapula to not rotate upward? Many things could cause the scapula not to rotate properly
It’s not always just a weakness in the anterior serratus. It could be from any of the scapular muscles.
Could be coming from an unstable clavicle. It could even be coming from the foot! That one is out side the scope of this post but eventually will post about.
For now it could be coming from any of the scapular muscles or the clavicle.
In class how do you problem solve for this weakness? It’s best to know where it’s coming from and a group setting doesn’t always allow for that. What would be your best guess? How would you adjust the posture to fit the person? Or does down dog get scraped?
B/c this pose can do some damage to the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. It’s not the pose! It’s the person coming into the pose. There’s also not one solution that fits everyone. You have to think outside of what you were taught b/c those were different people.
While I’m relating to yoga. You can do this for any lift, technique or pose.