Why I Couldn't Breathe (Until My Shoulder Blade Could Move)

About a year ago, I tripped over the hosepipe in the garden while carrying a bucket under my left arm and walking along a narrow drainage gully.

To avoid falling flat on my face, I put my right shoulder forward to take the brunt of the fall. I landed on the ground with my right arm pinned against my right ribs, but I felt relieved that I had avoided a face plant and, hopefully, breaking anything. My left elbow was sore where I had hit it on the edge of the bucket, and my ego was badly bruised.

My fall had also been witnessed by a troop of vervet monkeys who happened to be passing through my neighbourhood at precisely that moment. I still remember their reaction when I fell: cackling amongst themselves, but with what looked like genuine concern on their faces.

I felt stiff for a day or two and went for Body Stress Release the following week to release some of the tension in the muscles. At the time, I thought that was probably the end of it.

I hadn't thought much about that fall until I started going through the Heart and Bones applied anatomy course recently. It’s a reminder of how amazing the body is, how everything works together, and how nothing happens in isolation.

Over the last couple of months, though, the delayed effects from that fall have meant trips to the chiropractor to release my ribs, shoulder and neck. After one of my treatments, my chiropractor asked me how I felt. I took in a deep breath and remember saying, “I can breathe again.”

I'd obviously been breathing all along. But my breaths had been shallow, and I hadn't realised how much until suddenly I could fill up my lungs properly again.

What had actually happened

What she had released was my stuck shoulder blade, or scapula. And this is where the connection between the shoulder blades and breathing becomes interesting.

Your scapulae rest directly on your back ribs. They are not fixed in place, but glide over the rib cage as your arms and upper body move. When you breathe in, your ribs need to be able to expand and move. Your thoracic spine and rib cage need to rotate and respond to the movement of the breath.

If the scapula is held rigidly - jammed into tight retraction or pulled forward into protraction - it can influence the movement of the ribs underneath it. The ribs can't move as freely and that can mean less room for your lungs to expand, particularly through the back of the rib cage.

And when the back and sides of the rib cage aren't contributing as much to your breathing, your body may rely more heavily on the muscles around the upper chest and neck to help draw air in. (Hello, scalenes and sternocleidomastoid). These muscles are absolutely involved in breathing, but when they have to work harder than they should, it can contribute to that familiar feeling of tension through the neck and shoulders.

And, as with so many things in the body, it works both ways. Your breathing influences the way your trunk and core stabilise. The way your trunk stabilises influences how your shoulder blades move. And the way your shoulder blades move can influence the movement of your ribs and your ability to breathe.

Stiffness can contribute to a shallow breath, and a shallow breathing pattern can contribute to more stiffness. The body is not a collection of separate parts. Everything is connected.

Why I now practise scapular retraction and protraction

Since that appointment, I've become much more aware of the importance of scapula mobility. A simple movement of retracting and protracting the shoulder blades has become a firm favourite of mine.

Scapular protraction is when the shoulder blades move forward and away from the spine, while retraction is when they move back towards the spine. Both movements are important.

The scapula needs to be able to move across the rib cage, rather than being held rigidly in one position. This movement also helps us to use the serratus anterior, a muscle that helps keep the shoulder blade connected to and moving well across the rib cage. The shoulder joint needs to keep moving smoothly during overhead or forward arm reaches - and, as I found out the hard way, it keeps your breath moving too.

I recently shared a short movement flow exploring this relationship between the breath, thoracic rotation and scapula mobility. You can do it seated, kneeling or standing, so you can choose the position that works best for you.

You can find the flow here: [insert link]

Give it a try and let me know how you get on.

It's a good reminder of why I'm doing this applied anatomy course in the first place - the body doesn't work in separate parts. A stuck shoulder blade isn't just a shoulder problem. It's a breathing problem, a neck problem, a core problem. Everything's connected.

And perhaps that's one of the things I love most about movement: the more we understand, the more options we have.