Inspirations: Chest Openers

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana~Bridge Pose

Lie on your back, bend knees, bring feet to buttocks.  Make sure feet remain hip width and parallel.  Placing a block between the thighs is very helpful. Inhale, curling tailbone up, lifting the spine, and extending it toward the knees.  If you feel tight or weak, curl spine and hips up and down gently several times, awakening Kundalini energy asleep in the spine. Once you are fully extended, keep hips high, clasp hands under the back, move shoulders closer.  As this is an inversion, keep eyes open. This is an active backbend, energizing, strengthening, invigorating.  Backbends increase prana, helping the emotional body with anxiety, and depression.  With Bridge, the endocrine and nervous systems are supported, which promotes healthier reproductive organs, and eases issues around elimination, PMS, menopause and menstrual cycles.   Do not do backbends with headaches, or nauseas. In this position, the kidneys, a source of vitality, are stimulated as they release from compression, and can be drawn deeper into the abdomen.  Since kidneys work with the adrenals, and stagnation, metaphysically, we are supported in releasing what is old, stagnant, and no longer supports life. As A Supported Pose:  Use a folding chair, and set up in the same way you did for Viparita Dandasana, with legs through back of chair, and bolster or other support under head and shoulders.  With Bridge, add a second chair for your feet as they extend out from back of first chair.  As you did in Viparita Dandasana, grab back of chair, and release back until your shoulders and head rest at the same even level on the bolster, or support.  Back of chair is under upper back, allowing abdomen to relax and extend.  Hold 3-5 minutes, breathing mindfully.  To come out of pose, bend knees, place feet on floor, and gently pull… Read more »

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Viparita Dandasana~Inverted Staff Pose, supported

This pose opens the chest, expands the thoracic, and brings blood to the brain. The supported version of Viparita Dandasana is done with a folding chair. First, place a bolster, and if needed, blocks or pillows at the foot of the chair, where your feet would normally be.  Sit in the chair backwards, extending legs through chairback. Grab back of the chair and slowly extend torso backward over the seat.  If this is uncomfortable, add a blanket or cushion to chair seat.  Middle of back should be supported by chair, legs are straight, and crown of head rests on the bolster.  Hands can move down to back legs of chair, allowing chest a greater opening. Remain 2-3 minutes and breathe into your crown chakra, the Sahasrara~ the thosand petaled lotus, ‘seat of the supreme soul.’  Braincells are not only bathed with blood but metaphysically this is our connection to everything. Visualize a white or clear light cleansing the pituitary and pineal glands. When ready to come out of pose, bend knees, plant soles of feet on floor, and gently pull torso upright, pause before moving on.

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Supta Baddha Konasana

You may wish to begin by sitting upright in Baddha Konasana, with knees bent, soles of feet pressing together, close to groin.  If there are knee issues, and or hips are tight and knees are in the air, place blocks under outside of knees for support. The ‘Supta’ or sleeping part of this asana is to lie back while keeping soles of feet together, and knees supported ~if necessary.  If you have lumbar or sacral issues, keep spine supine on the mat, otherwise this is wonderful with the chest opened and lifted by placing a block, rolled blanket, or bolster under thoracic spine.  Don’t tuck the sacrum For deep restoration, sit up and place a belt around lower back/hips, bring it over the thighs, and loop around, under, and outside of feet.  Pull the belt tight once in place.  Lie back with eyes soft, breath long.  Use a kumbaka breath if you want to create more internal space.  This pranayama has a short kumbak, or hold, at the end of each exhale and inhale, bringing consciousness and stillness to the breathing process. By lifting arms overhead on to the floor, you can expand and elongate the abdomen, taking pressure off the pelvic floor.  This is helpful for incontinence.  The pose also awakens prana/energy in chest area, relaxes reproductive organs in women, softens stiffness during menopause or PMS, and alleviates fluid retention because legs and lower body are stimulated. My favorite ‘mudra’ or hand placement is to put left palm on the heart, and right palm on the belly, connecting emotion and heart energetically.  This feels like a mudra of listening, waiting for the the intuitive body to expand.  I have experienced it as very healing, supporting me through many a dark night.  Try it.  You’ll like it.

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Baddha Natarajasana

Asana: Baddha Natarajasana/Dancer Pose Begin standing, Tadasana, reach the R arm back as you bend R knee, lifting R leg back. Turning R thumb up, reach that hand back, clasping inside of R foot, and strongly use hamstrings to press leg back and up, thigh parallel to floor, or higher, if possible.  Extend L leg deeply into earth through your tap root, pulling energy up.  Extend L arm forward and up, lifting the chest.  Stand and breathe, feeling your luminous self appear. Do both sides.        This Pose is a lovely expression of joy in action, a place where we feel light, and dance with the cosmos as we stand still and strong. Health Notes: This pose works balance, leg strength, and thigh extension. For some, it will stretch the lower back area. It opens the chest, promoting deep breathing.

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Matsyasana

Fish Pose If you have a dicey neck, the full pose is not for you,  begin with Fish prep.   Lie on your back, legs strongly extended. Inhale, lifting hips up enough to slide palms under buttocks, fingers pointing toward feet. With buttocks resting on back of the hands, pull forearms and elbows close behind torso and into ribs. Inhale, pressing forearms and elbows against floor, lift torso up and head back.  With a dicey neck, keep head forward, chin down.  Open the chest to the sky and breath. For full pose, lie on back, inhale, lifting chest up, keeping buttocks and crown of head on the floor. Hands can come into Namaste mudra on chest, or can be extended overhead at 45 degrees.  Keep legs firm and strongly extended, lifting chest  to minimize weight on head.  Lengthen neck, don’t crunch it. If the back is strong, lift legs at 45 degree angle. Health Notes:  This is a wonderful chest opener for asthma,  and other lung- issues.  As in all chest openers, helps enliven the body, throwing off depression and lethargy. Strengthens spine and neck, and emotionally, presents a quiet moment to open the heart, feel expansive, willing to do the right thing.

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Bhujangasana

Serpent Pose Often this pose is learned as part of the Sun Salutation, but it is a great chest opener, and spine strengthener on its own. Lie on your stomach, stretc legs back, tops of the feet on  floor. Bring hands  under shoulders, hugging  elbows into ribs, with thighs and pubis firmly rooted into floor.  On inhale, lift  chest up  as far as possible without lifting hip bones off floor.  Be mindful of creating space in the spine, not crunching lower back.  It helps to press tailbone toward pubis, and pubis toward navel.  Check to make sure shoulders do not lift, rather pull shoulder blades down and into center of back. Health Notes:  Strengthens arms, back, opens lungs, creates a flexible spine.  As in all chest openers,relieves tiredness and stress, and is helpful for asthma and other lung issues.  It moderately stimulates abdominal organs.   If you have back issues or carpel tunnel, do not do the pose or go into it gently, doing small incremental lifts.  It can soothe sciatica and help open tight shoulders.  It is called the serpent pose because one, you look and feel snake-like as you slide up and off the floor, ready to strike, and two, it awakens the kundalini energy at base of spine.

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Ustrasana

Camel Pose Begin pose from a kneeling position, knees hip width, with thighs slightly inwardly rotated.  There are many variations on hand placement, but a good start is to place hands on back of the hips, with thumbs pressing down toward tailbone, a reminder to keep moving tailbone toward pubis. Lift thighs and keep them forward, along with the hip bones, inhale and lift heart, take head back as far as your neck is happy, do not crunch and close back of neck. Head and neck continue the extension and alignment of the spine. Keep shoulders down, shoulder blades dropping.  If you have neck issues, keep chin down and lift chest up.  For more advanced work, lift arms up and back, grabbing heels, but maintain lifted, forward hips and thighs, maintaining a long spine. Do not push through hips and shorten lumbar spine. Stay and breathe easily for 5-10 breaths.  This is an inversion, so eyes must remain open.  So often in inversions the desire is to disappear by closing the eyes. Your point of view will never change if you do this.  Be alive to viewing the world up side down. To exit, lift chest first, then the head, come to neutral position and move into hare if you wish. Health Notes: Ustrasana stretches hip flexors, psoas, strengthens spine, opens chest and lungs,assisting with respiratory imbalances.  It is helpful for mild back issues, menstrual discomfort, and tiredness.

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Camatkarasana

Wild Thing Pose This is a pose we all love and know as, ‘flipping your Dog.’  Enter from Adho Mukha Svanasana-Down Dog, lift R leg up and bend knee, keeping thigh and knee high and open.  Bring weight onto L  hand as  R foot comes down behind L hip, as close to hip as possible. Knee can remain bent, but try to keep R leg extended,  pressing down into feet,  lifting hips and heart as high as you can. It feels like you unfurl into a one sided back bend.  Let head and  R arm extend back and up. A small note to help maintain high hips after flipping, look under L arm at L foot as long as possible, until the R leg is over and almost down.  To return to Down Dog, flip back the way you came, bringing L arm over to floor, returning R leg back to mat.  When you become advanced, you can take this pose into Urdhva Dhanurasana- back bend. Health Notes: As with the chest and heart openers, helps with depression, and fatigue.  Strengthens arms, legs, and back. keeps spine flexible.

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