Just Blame Chaturanga by David

Keil 2010

By David
In Articles
With 2 Comments
Tagged chaturanga, rotator cuff, shoulder
pain, up dog

29

I hear it in so many workshops.

Chaturanga hurt my shoulder! As if
chaturanga is a living breathing entity that
has the ability to raise up and hurt people. Actually, I hear this about many things,
whether they are postures or methods. In other words as an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
teacher I hear that Ashtanga injures people. What can I say, its human nature to blame
something or someone else. As if a posture or method actually does something to us.

The truth is, the pose doesnt even exist until we actually do it. Key word is WE, that is,
we, are doing the pose. Sometimes we dont do it correctly, or we have no focus while
doing it, or were instructed poorly, its even possible that its just karma. Who knows
exactly why, but I feel like I do know that its never the posture (or method), its us doing
it that causes problems. I often say that the pose doesnt even exist until we are
performing it.

Lets talk chaturanga for a bit, the posture that is most often blamed for creating shoulder
pain.

The Anatomy

The shoulder girdle is complex, even sometimes referred to as the shoulder complex. It is
a very versatile and mobile structure and made up of more than one joint. Most of the
time we simply say shoulder and this is sufficient for most conversations but of course,
its me, DK, A.K.A the bone man on this end trying to elevate the conversation and
reminding everyone to see a little bit more of the bigger picture.

When we say shoulder were being vague about what were talking about. On the
technical side were talking about the shoulder joint and when we say shoulder we mean
the relationship between the scapula and the humerus (glenohumeral joint). But, this is
just one of the relationships in the shoulder girdle.

We also have the clavicle or collarbone that attaches to the sternum on one end and the
scapula on the other. The end that attaches to the sternum is the single place where the
upper extremity (arm) attaches onto the axial skeleton (spine, skull and ribs). That joint is
a whole other conversation to have in a different article. Lets just say, its also complex
and has forces created in it from the rest of the shoulder girdle.

The end that attaches onto the scapula is called the AC joint, which is short for
AcromioClavicular joint. This means that the clavicle is tied to the scapula via ligaments
and any scapular movement includes clavicular movement and vice versa.

When the actual shoulder joint (glenohumeral) moves, it can do so independently of these
other two bones and joints. However, when we reach the end of range of motion at the
shoulder joint basically bringing the humerus parallel to the floor in a forward (flexion)
or sideways (abduction) direction it then always includes movements of these other two
bones. There could be a small percentage of people who are an exception to this, but
theyre hard to find.

Looking at Chaturanga and Shoulder Function

So when we look at a movement like chaturanga, we are not moving out of the normal
range of motion of the shoulder joint. However, in order for the shoulder joint to function
optimally, the rest of the girdle must be stabilized for efficient movement of the humerus.
By efficient

I mean movement that doesnt over burden or

stress the muscles that move this joint. The great
debate on chaturanga is where to put those pesky
scapulae (plural form). Perhaps more important of
a question to ask before you try to make someone
hold their scapulae in a particular position is, do
they actually have the strength to do so in the
muscles that stabilize the scapula? If they dont,
what does this mean for how the shoulder joint
itself is going to have to function? What kind of
stresses will it have to take on?

Here are some of the main players in controlling

or stabilizing the scapulae:

Trapezius
Rhomboids
Pectoralis minor
Serratus anterior

When you see a shoulder not in the right position in a chaturanga, its not because of
the shoulder, its because the scapulae are not, or cannot be held in the appropriate place.
Why not? Because the muscles that create the stability of the scapulae are either not
strong enough or not patterned correctly to make this possible.

This can potentially lead to a strain of various muscles at the actual shoulder joint such as:

Rotator cuff muscles

Deltoids
Bicep tendons

There are other issues at play here as well, including where the shoulders line up with the
hands. The further forward the shoulders are from the hands, the more strain ends up in
the shoulders. This happens because bulk of the upper body weight is too far out in front
to be supported by the hands under it. Imagine holding a twenty pound weight directly
over your shoulder, shouldnt be a problem, but now move it forward just a few inches
and gravity starts to work on your shoulder in a very different way.

As far as general alignment rules for stacking joints is concerned, dont apply it to the
wrist and the elbow for chaturanga. OK, there may be a few people who are an exception
to this last statement, but most people putting their elbows over their wrists in chaturanga
will be putting way too much strain on the shoulder. Not to mention it also increases the
wrist angle and can cause problems there too. Most people should have their elbow
slightly behind their wrist, which brings the center of their chest and their weight closer
to the line between their two hands.

All of this is assuming that somehow chaturanga lives in a vacuum of practice, it doesnt.
If youre working with someone with shoulder pain, you should also look at the posture
that follows it most commonly which is upward facing dog. I often see a pattern of
chaturanga that has people forward on their toes and in their shoulders and the up dog
that follows tends to put the shoulders way out in front of the hands underneath it. This
has a series of effects that play themselves out. One is, it puts a lot of stress on the wrist,
second is it has a tendency to put stress in the back by trying to make the back bending
aspect of up dog happen, this also tends to lead to a buttocks that is over tightened for the
wrong reasons. Third is it puts a load of stress on the shoulders once again.

Another common problem I see is people taking on too much practice too quickly. This
by itself can be enough to inflame a number of areas in the body, especially the shoulders.
This is especially true if youre practicing one of the myriad styles of vinyasa yoga.

If youre experiencing shoulder pain or have students who are, take a moment and
observe them. Dont just try to make them do it differently because it doesnt look right,
look at the bigger picture. Look at the line theyre creating between the front of their
shoulder and their hands beneath it. Also take into consideration their general strengths
and weaknesses in the practice and whether or not their simply doing too much at the
moment.