Protraction and retraction are the shoulder blades sliding forward around the ribs or back toward the spine.
Protraction wraps the blade toward the armpit; retraction draws it toward the spine. In 📝Postural / Structural Realignment a person who lives protracted — screens, driving, a chest that never opens — is often asked to find retraction as an option, not as a new freeze. The finding is whether both directions are available, not a diagnosis of a winged or displaced blade as a medical fact.
Clients feel it as a shoulder that will not sit, or as a squeeze they confuse with good posture. Cueing is a small slide they can breathe in, not pinching the blades together all day. Sharp shoulder or arm pain, numbness, or a new wing after injury is a referral.