Shivaji: the seated treatment for a stiff shoulder and neck
Shivaji is a seated Neurotherapy (LMNT) treatment that relaxes the big muscles of the shoulder and neck. It is used for frozen shoulder, that is a stiff shoulder, and it also gives relief in neck pain.
Overview
Shivaji is given with the patient seated. The patient places the palm of one hand on their own forehead and lets that shoulder hang loose. This simple position does real work: it turns the shoulder blade so that its lower corner swings away from the ribs, where the treatment can reach the muscles beneath. If the patient cannot hold the arm up, the elbow can rest on a table, a pillow or the therapist's forearm.
The therapist works with the base of the palm in slow clockwise circles, the fingers loose. The work covers three areas, each wider than the last: the shoulder joint and the side of the chest below it, the back of the shoulder blade, and both sides of the spine from the middle of the back to the low back. It is a widening circuit, not three unrelated rubs.
Its purpose is to relax the trapezius, the broad muscle that runs from the neck across the top of the shoulders, along with the muscles that hold the shoulder blade onto the ribs. Shivaji is valued for frozen shoulder and also eases neck pain. The exact method is taught hands-on in the course.
Key points
- Shivaji is given seated, with the patient's own palm on the forehead and the shoulder loose.
- Slow clockwise circles with the base of the palm, over the shoulder, the shoulder blade and beside the spine.
- It relaxes the shoulder and neck muscles, for frozen shoulder and neck pain.
- Chest pain is never treated as a shoulder problem.
Go deeper
Shivaji
The full page on the Shivaji point
Frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder: why the shoulder locks
Shoulder blade pain
Pain around the shoulder blade
Cervical spondylosis
Neck pain from worn neck bones
Muscles
How muscles tighten and let go
Muscular system
The muscular system
Seated Treatments II: The Face, Jaw, Ear and Sinuses
The full guide to the seated head, face and shoulder treatments
Read the full guide
This topic is part of: Seated Treatments II: The Face, Jaw, Ear and Sinuses
Safety: when it is held back
- Pressure or pain in the chest, including pain between the shoulder blades, in someone with heart risk is an emergency, not a stiff shoulder. Nothing is given, and the person goes to a doctor the same day. Angina (chest pain from the heart)
- Thin bones, long use of steroid tablets, a past fracture from a small injury, frailty, or cancer that may have reached bone: only light contact over the ribs and spine, and none where bone is known to be affected. Osteoporosis
- The exact method is taught hands-on in the course, under a trained therapist. Please do not try it on yourself or others from this page.
This page explains what a Neurotherapy (LMNT) treatment is for; it is not a self-treatment guide and does not diagnose. Neurotherapy (LMNT) works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed.