What my shoulder told me - literally

Last week a strange thing happened to me which I will explain, but you need to understand the background first. Quite a number of years ago (over 10 I think), I had a frozen shoulder, which is quite common in midlife women actually. It was very painful and took a good couple of years before I felt it was back to normal.

Since then I’ve taken great care of my shoulders as I nearly had a frozen shoulder on the other side as well several years later. Every week day I practice yoga and finish up with a shoulder stretch called Broken Wing. It used to be quite difficult and I could barely get any stretch in my shoulders. However, over time they have gone from stiff and inflexible to mobile and enjoying the stretch.

The event

I was having a beautiful stretch the other day, really relishing it and feeling good when there was a grinding and then an enormous and very loud clunk! My whole body dropped and I lay there stunned thinking “did I just dislocate my shoulder?!”

It was weird. It didn’t hurt. I tried moving it - everything was ok. In fact it felt freer than it had just a minute before. I gingerly sat up and moved it around, quite stunned that nothing seemed to be damaged. It was so loud when it clunked. I really wish someone had been here to hear it.

So, unsure what to do next I thought I’d check in with the Akashic Records to see what insights they could give me. I was told it was a release and that no physical damage had been done. Good to know! As I went through the rest of the day things became a bit achy in my arm and into my neck as muscles readjusted to this new position.

Tuning in

One of the things I’ve been encouraged to do by spiritual mentors is to tune in to my body and ask it about any issues I’ve been having. I’ve tried several times over the years and got absolutely nothing. I didn’t seem to be able to connect to my body in any way. I’d sit there and ask my body a question and get blankety blank in return.

However, I’ve been working on this again, asking my body about various aches and pains and it has been REALLY fascinating because I’ve been getting some seriously interesting information. My right hip is holding on to vengeance, my left thumb holds outrage. My neck has been desperately trying to keep things together for a very long time.

And every time I give my body a voice, the pain in that area recedes, usually within 24 hours. None of it has gone away completely (yet), but it definitely gets a lot better, which is really fascinating. I’m also told there are layers upon layers of pent up emotions that need to be released, so it will take several discussions with each area of my body for it to completely heal.

What my shoulder said

Given the major release I experienced, I thought I’d tune in to my shoulder and find out what it had to say, even though it hadn’t caused any pain. I indicated that I wanted to check in and make sure everything was alright. This is what she said:

It is more than alright, dear one. It is perfect. It was a release that has been a long time coming. It has taken many, many years to achieve the release you experienced yesterday. It has taken a great deal of work on your part, letting go of ways of being that have held you trapped for some time. It was a great achievement and should be celebrated.

Note that she said “ways of being”, not a physical injury that needed resolving. I then asked what kind of energy was stored or blocked in my left shoulder, and this is where it gets interesting:

It was the energy of love that has been trapped and unable to be released. Love is most often associated with the heart but different aspects of love can be stored in different parts of the body. In this case it was the love for self that was held at bay. It was contained and held apart, well away from the heart. It was not included in the love for others but kept separate.

You offered your love to others but did not offer it to yourself. As a result this energy became trapped in your left shoulder, pulled away from the heart and kept separate. Loving oneself was seen as vain and selfish, rather than a necessity and of the utmost importance.

As a result you suffered an injury in this shoulder some time ago. It became frozen, unable to move, painful with no flexibility. It was indicating that energy was well and truly stuck and needed to be released. You have worked tirelessly to regain movement, flexibility and strength in this area and it has worked well. You have gained much of the movement and flexibility back. Yesterdays release came as a result of this work but also as a result of a change in your beliefs about yourself and your self worth.

Flexibility and freedom

She then went on to say that I would find “more flexibility and freedom not only in my movement but also in my thinking”. I asked how my shoulder affected flexibility and freedom in my thinking. She said:

Your shoulders carry the weight of expectation, not only from yourself but the expectations placed on you by others as well. The weight can often be difficult to bear. Your shoulders tense up in order to support that weight, and it creates a blockage in energy.

With any blocked energy the flow of creativity is stifled. Thoughts, ideas, inspiration all become log jammed, unable to develop into something more substantial or to be brought to fruition and realised. However, once the energy is unblocked in any part of the body, there will be a creative force that runs through you, allowing ideas to become grounded in reality. Whilst this energy was in your shoulder, it was causing a stuttering of the fulfilment of ideas as that energy passed through your system. That stuttering has now been erased and you will find ideas flow more freely from concept to fruition.

I had not expected any of that information to come through, and the fact that my left shoulder was holding on to blocked energy around self love was completely fascinating.

I knew that shoulder issues typically indicate burdens or weights that we bear but I wasn’t aware that something like self love could be held away from the heart, or that this could be causing a “stuttering in the fulfilment of ideas”. However, when I had previously tuned into my neck she told me that there would be an easier flow of creativity now that some of the energy had been released and so the concept of my shoulder release allowing more of this makes sense.

Is it the same for everyone?

I also asked if the same injury in another person would have the same meaning, but was told that each person holds the energy in their body differently and that it’s not a one size fits all scenario. However, there are commonalities. For instance, issues with the heart are often about love, issues with the legs are often about moving forward, and obviously shoulders can be about burdens.

I find this incredibly fascinating and exciting. Being able to release pent up energy and therefore reduce aches and pains just by doing so is, in my mind, totally amazing. How much can we heal ourselves just by tuning in to our bodies and understanding what they are saying to us? A great deal, so I’m being told!

Try for yourself

I highly recommend having a go at this yourself. You’ll need to sit quietly and clear your mind. Set your intention that you’d like to tune in to your (body part). Start by thanking that body part for all it has done for you and then ask what it is holding onto that is causing you pain. Sit quietly and wait for the answer. I like to write my answers down so that I can go over them again and pick up any information I missed as it was coming through.

Don’t dismiss what comes through. Be open to what your body is telling you. You may think you are making it up, but listen to the wording and question is this how you normally speak? Also, if an answer surprises you, this is a clear sign you are not making it up but instead communicating directly with your body.

Observe any changes over the next 24-48 hours. How is that body part feeling? Is it less painful? More mobile or easeful? Resting more comfortably? It may not be instant but there will be some change that you will notice if you pay attention.

Still struggling?

If you are struggling to get any information (as I was for many years) then I invite you to explore this through an Akashic Record reading. It can be really helpful to understand what is behind an injury, sickness or illness and how you can begin to heal yourself by releasing the energy that is stored in that area.

And if you are successful in receiving information, let me know! I’d love to hear what your body is telling you and how you felt afterwards.

Happy chatting with your body!

Kàren