Protecting the Shoulder (Supraspinatus) in Standing Deep Breathing

This commonly done breathing exercise---Standing Deep Breathing---involves lifting the elbows as high as possible. Unfortunately, it isn't too hard to injure the shoulders in this position, specifically one of the rotator cuff muscles called the supraspinatus. 

The supraspinatus connects the top of the shoulder blade to the outside of the arm, weaving under the collar bone and a projection of the blade (pictured to the right, top, the supraspinatus is blue). When the arms lift higher than the shoulders, it is relatively common for this little muscle to get crushed between the arm and shoulder blade. You may feel a pinching or painful sensation on the very top of the shoulder when you lift the arms. 

In this breathing exercise, the issue is easy to fix without losing much of the benefit of the exercise. If you have pain, simply lift the elbows to shoulder height, no higher (pictured right, bottom). If that still causes pain or pinching, keep them down even further.

This is a simple remedy to a common problem.