Neck, shoulders and upper back, 8: Engaging the muscles of the upper back
by josefine | Jun 8, 2025
A Micro Pause where we begin to look into reprogramming of the way your nervous system recruits motor units. Here we work in engaging the back muscles instead of the neck muscles to move the arms. The trapezius muscles are large muscles on the upper back. They connect to the upper arm bone and to the spine in the neck and the upper back. They are usually divided into upper, middle and lower parts. The upper trapezius are the ones you can feel on the top of your shoulders. Yes, the ones that often gets a bit tense and sore. Why is that so? One explanation is that these muscles takes the load of moving your arms when instead muscles on the back should help out in making movements with the arms. In this lesson you get to experience how it feels to activate the muscles on the upper back.
Body Intelligence – Dive Deeper, 3: notice how you sit
If you’re like most people you will spend a great part of your days sitting down. Becoming aware of how you sit doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change the way you sit, but you can use the awareness to learn more about yourself. How do you sit when you feel great? How do you sit when you feel sad? Now, go on to observe!
Body Intelligence – Dive deeper, 1: sensory hands
Did you ever think of your hands as sensory organs? Try this cool exercise: next time you are using your hands to reach for something or grab something from where your eyes can’t reach, like the back of a drawer or a cabinet, close your eyes and observe how that immediately shifts your focus into your hands. If you really pay attention you will find that it’s like a switch, eyes off, hands on, eyes on, hands off. The palms of our hands are great at sending information to the brain about the environment. Now, start tuning in!
