Shoulder stress is so common and constant in most of us that we have just become used to it.
But still—for many of us, it is a bother.
The number one top complaint I hear from the people I work with when it comes to physical discomfort is that their shoulders and neck are tight. And truthfully, this is often my number one complaint as well, so I totally get it.
The challenge is, our energetic alignment with how we relate to the world is out of sync, and this causes extra (and often intense) stress in our shoulders.
Yes, that sounds like kind of a big thing that would be hard to correct, but actually, like everything else, it is pretty simple to fix if we are willing to be open and aware.
Unfortunately for most of us, it can seem difficult to feel safe and secure in this world. All of us, in our own way, are just trying to hold ourselves together.
We spend time giving our attention to ideas, beliefs, plans, worries and fantasies that the mind has designed to help us cope with the great mystery of this journey.
One of these beliefs is that we need to hold our world together. That it is our own strength, will and ability to figure things out that makes our life go well.
If this were true, I think most of us would be much wealthier and healthier—and probably happier too. Because if we were able to plan a better existence with our minds, then we all would have done it a long time ago.
Instead, this type of worry and planning just stresses us out.
It literally has us feeling like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. This alignment of having the weight of our world on our shoulders does a couple of things that don’t feel very good for us.
First of all, it hurts—it actually causes us physical pain. Our shoulders ache and feel tight, and every time we notice how much our shoulders and neck hurt, it reminds us that we are stressed out, and our mind and heart start to hurt too—and we start the whole planning process once again.
Secondly, this weight of the world on our shoulders creates a kind of reverse gravity in our systems. It pulls us up off the ground of earth energy—preventing us from feeling grounded and supported—and causing us to feel like we are all alone and have to figure out everything by ourselves.
This all alone feeling quickly leads us to feeling hopeless, which leads us to trying to make a plan, and the nasty cycle continues.
The expression “let go” gets thrown around a lot, and it can be hard to know exactly what this means.
In this case of the weight of the world on our shoulders, we need to drop the weight into the earth. We want our feet literally, energetically and metaphorically to be planted on the earth, and for the flow of energy to come up and into our bodies, versus holding on to old congested energy on our shoulders, pushing us down.
Humans aren’t that different from plants. Life force energy flows into us from the earth, and this is the energy that manifests all the goodness available to us.
When we believe we are in complete control of everything that happens to us, the pressure becomes too much.
When we take a deep breath and accept that the unexpected is going to be the unexpected—and we open ourselves to the feeling of being supported by the earth, no matter what comes our way—our chests can expand and, our shoulders can drop down, and we can lean into just being here now.
Self-love doesn’t look like micro-managing every minute of our life. Self-love looks like knowing on a deep level that we are loved and cared for from many directions, and that we don’t have to make everything work out.
If your shoulders are aching with tension and stress, then this is a necessary move for you. To let gravity naturally drop the weight of the world back to the ground, and to plant your feet directly on the earth (either literally or in a visualization) and take your rightful turn at being supported, versus feeling like you need to support everything.
We are not meant to feel heavy with the pressures of life. We are meant to channel the opportunities of life into learning, love and sharing. When are shoulders are tight and tense, this seems impossible.
Taking daily care of our stress—by ensuring we are dropping the heavy weight we aren’t able to carry—is the best way we can ensure we are as safe as can be in this uncertain life.
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Author: Ruth Lera
Image: Instagram @kaynbee
Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
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