3. Before the Industrial Revolution it was necessary
for survival for humans to control 360 degrees of
space. We hunted and gathered, built our own
shelters, tools and clothes.
4. As agricultural societies our work became more
specialized, but we continued to use our bodies
for every task.
5. After the Industrial Revolution our world got
smaller and smaller. We moved less and sat
more. Everything we needed was at our finger-tips.
6. ● The Information Age has reduced our world to a
tiny screen...everything we need is done with a
click.
9. We sit with slumped posture and forward head.
We use our arms in an area between the top of
our heads and our waist for most of our waking
hours.
We rarely reach overhead or behind us and almost
never move our arms in the full available range of
motion.
10. This posture of the Western Lifestyle begins at
birth as we go from high chair, to school desk, to
work desk, to car, to sofa.
11. The posture of the
Western Lifestyle
has caused an
over development of some muscles
and weakened others.
12. Muscles in the front of the body that create the
actions of shoulder flexion to 90 degrees and
muscles in the front of the arms that maintain the
elbow in flexion are over developed and
shortened which reduces flexibility.
The muscles of the neck and shoulders attach to
many of the same bones in the front body.
Muscles in the front of the neck have shortened
due to forward head posture. This puts strain on
the cervical discs and reduces flexibility.
13. The muscles that have been weakened by the
Western lifestyle are the muscles that maintain an
upright posture.
14. The Rotator Cuff
The muscles which stabilize the shoulders are the most vulnerable.
15. Rotator cuff (RC) tears
are prevalent for yoga practitioners.
Studies say that 50% of people over 65
will experience a RC tear.
16. Asana
Well meaning asana teachers offer poses
designed for fully functioning pre-industrialized
Eastern male students to the unsuspecting
Western yoga student without considering the
built in habits of our culture.
Repetition of certain asana in vinyasa sequences
without strengthening the stabilizing muscles
required for proper form is especially dangerous.
17. Muscles of Upright Posture
The head and trunk would fall into flexion without
the muscles that maintain the head and spine in
upright positions. These muscles are called
extensors.
The chest would cave inward and the shoulders
would rotate inward without the muscles that keep
the shoulder blades moving toward one another
and descending away from the ears. These
muscles are called scapula retractors and
depressors.
18. Muscles of Shoulder Stabilization
The rotator cuff (RC) has two functions, to rotate
the shoulder as well as to offer stability.
Because the Western Shoulder is almost always
in slight flexion or passive extension (hanging at
the sides) shoulder blades wide, and arm internal
rotation, the “push up” or catarangadandasana is
especially difficult and abusive to the ligaments
and rotator cuff without first strengthening the
muscles of shoulder stability.
