Check out Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) for a number of reasons, including relieving shoulder and hip pain, as well as turning down the sympathetic nervous system via learning full exhalation. In traditional physical therapy models, one assumes that the smaller portions of the joints are the mobile ones and that they articulate around the larger portions. We all know the knee bone connects to the ... thigh bone and the ... thigh bone connects to the ... pelvis bone, and the scapula bone connects to the ... well it only really has that one very small articulation at the acromion process and beautifully floats in the musculature on top of the rib cage. Because the relative un-stability of the scapula, it makes for a perfect example of how to use the PRI model to reshape our thinking about scapular positioning.
Traditional training/ PT models focus on scapular depression and retraction to improve posture and shoulder mechanics. People do a bunch of PT drills like rows with the cues to bring your shoulders back and down to your rib cage so that they aren't riding up high and making your shoulders round forward all scrunchy. PRI focuses on re-building the base, the larger part of that entire "joint." Instead of bringing your scapula to your rib cage, you just bring your rib cage to your scapula.
Next time you're standing in the same spot for 10 minutes, take a break to reinforce good torso (not shoulder mechanics). Start with a PRI basic cat-back drill: all fours, hips over knees, hands under shoulders, push down on the floor and twist in the outsides of the palms (feel the rotator cuff fire), then breathe to expand your upper back, blow out out all your air, and let your full exhalation draw your back into a catback, pelvis tucking under hard so that the abs fire. Hold this position. Keep the neck long, looking 2 feet ahead, and breathe into the middle of the upper back only, right between the shoulder blades (resist any additional urge to breathe in the belly and therefore relax it, also resist breathing into the neck) , feel your upper T-spine expand, keep pushing away with the the pelvis tucked and again breathe out all the way until your abs cramp. Repeat 2 more times. This drill reinforces the opposite of chest out, shoulders back and down, overextended "bro," upper-lower open scissor, and automatically drops both your hips and shoulders into a calm relaxed repose. Return to standing and note the difference.