De-Armoring the Shoulder and Neck Region

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In this post, we look at the affected emotions and somatic techniques with regard to De-Armoring (commonly written in British English as Dearmouring) the shoulder and neck region.

De-Armoring the Shoulders

Psychologically, armoring of the shoulders is associated with general anxiety and stress, anger, grief, sadness, carrying too much emotional weight (the well-known “carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders”), feeling overburdened, or difficulty letting go.

The shoulders will usually feel hard and rigid, while they’re often at the same time also oversensitive to the touch. They may be hunched forward (rounded) or pulled backwards.

Mind also that a shoulder armor is often a combined armor that includes armoring of the neck and chest region.

De-Armoring techniques for the shoulders include breathwork, massage, acupressure, rotations, mobilizations, postural work, and stretches.

De-Armoring the Neck

Emotional armoring of the neck is associated with fear of change, fear of intimacy, “feeling suffocated,” disgust, self-pity, helplessness, longing, issues with regard to self-expression, and rage.

When armored, the neck could be stiff and rigid having little flexibility, and is often painful when wanting to turn or move it. By contrast, some parts of the neck may be overly sensitive.

The neck is also the region in which we find the throat. Hence much that counts for the throat also counts for the neck, and vice versa. You may read more about the throat in our article about Throat De-Armoring.

Techniques to De-Armor the neck typically include stretching, massage, acupressure, breathwork, mobilizations and rotations, alongside the techniques used in Throat De-Armoring.

De-Armoring Body Parts – Quick Reference

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