Chest Opener with Yoga Blocks

Video Transcript

"GINA KENNEDY: This is Faith and in this clip, Faith is going to help me demonstrate the Lying Chest Opener with the use of blocks. So, we're going to ask Faith to lay down and she's going to place this block right underneath her shoulder blades on the ground and allow that to open her chest for her. So, you don't want to have it up too high. You want it right under the shoulder blades. Good. So, this allows her chest to open up, allowing her lungs to open up. We're going to take a second block, a lower block, small, a little bit smaller so she can place her head so that her neck is comfortable. Now, if you have any neck issues at all, you're going to want to place a higher block there and have your neck leveled. But if you can let your head fall down, it allows your shoulders to open, it allows your chest to open relieving shoulder tension. This is really great for shoulders that are slumped, maybe been hanging over a stirring wheel or a computer all day. So, see how this nicely opens her chest. She can either bend her knees or straighten her legs out. This is just to begin your practice by relaxing and coming into your breath. So, she's going to inhale in and draw that energy all the way down to the deepest part of her lungs. And then expanding through her ribcage, all the way up to the--right underneath her collar bones using the full lung capacity. And then when she exhales, she's going to exhale in the opposite direction. A really great way to calm yourself, center yourself and get ready for your yoga practice."