What does knowing about the inside of me tell me about me?

“Although we had both seen skeletons before, we had never perceived the unique quality of the scapula in relation to the other bones of the shoulder, ribs, arms, and back. We were intrigued to discover that the scapula is only connected to the shoulder joint. Through embodied practice and research, we learned that the scapula connects to the clavicle through the acromion process in the shoulder. We realized had never considered the scapula as being a part of the shoulder joint.

In our practice, we explored the mobility of the scapula, beginning with a process of touch initiation. We were interested in finding where exactly our scapula rest in our back-body which resulted in using the floor to feel our scapula lay and move against it. Beginning with these touch exercises allowed us to gain awareness of the mobility of the joint structure. With this foundation we then took our etude to all fours. We felt gravity’s pull against the push of our hands in the floor. This established a connection from the scapula down through the humerus, elbow, ulna, radius, carpal bones, and into the hands. Next we increased our sense of this connection by balancing on one hand, and experienced the same pathway down on one arm at a time instead of two simultaneously. Finally, we began to move our bodies upward toward vertical by moving from the scapula, with attention to other parts of the body. After doing all of the beginning awareness exercises, it was much easier to find mobility in scapula initiated movements.”

Karina Culloton ’15 & Ben Swenson-Klatt ’16 St. Olaf College.