Notice Your Shoulders

Are They Telling You a Story?

Author

Amy Smith
March 23, 2025

Notice your shoulders. Right now.

Don't just glance. Feel them. Are they creeping up towards your ears, a tight knot of tension? Are the muscles in your neck screaming for release? Or are they slumped forward, a silent surrender to gravity? Maybe they're rigidly pulled back, a forced attempt at perfect posture.

Our shoulders hold stories. Stories of stress, worry, and the weight of daily life. They reveal how we carry ourselves, both physically and emotionally.

Like many of us, I've experienced periods of feeling disconnected from my body. Life's challenges, big and small, can lead us to ignore the subtle cues our bodies send. We push through discomfort, dismiss aches and pains, and live on autopilot. "I should toughen up," we tell ourselves. "Mind over matter."

But the body remembers. It holds onto the tension, the pain, the unspoken emotions. And eventually, it gently, or not so gently, demands to be heard.

In 2017, I embarked on a transformative healing journey with my discovery of Ashtanga yoga. Since then, my arsenal of healing practices has expanded, incorporating techniques, therapies, and treatments such as yoga, EMDR, and stellate ganglion blocks. I’m excited to delve into these methods here at Soft Soil.

A powerful tool I rely on is micro-meditation. I integrate these brief moments of mindfulness into my daily routine, not as a temporary solution, but as a consistent practice to ground myself in the present. I use daily reminders on my phone (via the Google Tasks app on my Android) to tune into my body and become aware of my sensations. Here's how a typical day of micro-meditations unfolds:

The Science of Mindfulness

I recently stumbled upon Dr. Sara Lazar’s research. Dr. Lazar is a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her early research was inspired by a yoga class in which the teacher made broad claims about how practicing yoga would lead to a more open and compassionate heart. She started noticing changes in her mind and body, and wanted to know more. Was it just a placebo effect? Working toward a PhD in molecular biology at the time, she switched to researching meditation as a post-doc. Nearly 20 years later, her research into the benefits of mindfulness and the underlying neuroscience has continued, gone deeper, and become more specific. Here she is sharing her research and knowledge just this year.

I choose not to add a sound or buzz to the notification, aiming for a more seamless awareness. When I glance at my phone for the time or while checking emails or texting a friend, the notification naturally catches my eye. Instantly, I'm reconnected with my own presence.

Give this a try. When a reminder pops up, pause and fully experience the sensations in your body. Simply observe without judgment or analysis. Then, return to your previous activity.

These tiny moments of awareness are like gentle nudges, reminding us that we are here, in our bodies, right now. They help us break the cycle of disconnection and cultivate a deeper sense of presence.

This isn’t about fixing anything in an instant. It’s about creating space for awareness, for self-compassion, for a more embodied life. It’s about learning to listen to the stories our bodies are telling us, in any moment.

What stories are your shoulders telling you today?