Five Minute Friday – 3/1/19

Let’s spend some time on the Trapezius area this week. In the pictures above you see the last layer of muscle, which is the Trapezius that covers the upper part of your back and attaches to your skull.

There are a lot of times that just this muscle alone can cause imbalances in our body from our shoulder range of motion to down near the feet (achilles). I really wish I had an App that showed all the fascia also covering this tissue, but until one is created you’ll have to go to Anatomy Trains and get a look at it as well.

Under the Trapezius though is a whole host of other tissues/muscles that can actually be at the root of your (and not limited to): Headaches, low back pain, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and even hamstring and achilles issues as well.

In other words, what happens up north can affect everything down south. Think of it this way; your body is like the Mississippi River (your head), and if you start changing things along that river you can affect things down in New Orleans (or even further into the Gulf of Mexico). Throw trash in the river? Guess where that trash ends up? In the Gulf of Mexico.

So if you think of your body as that mighty river, then maybe if you spent 5 minutes working the tissue around the Traps, you might clean up your issues downstream.

So I recommend starting with spending 5 minutes a day THIS week with maybe a double lacrosse ball right at the base of your skull, and then move it down slowly. Or a softer ball along the edges of the Trapezius will also be super beneficial.

Let’s see how clean you can get your River in a week!