It’s a good season to weave restorative chest openers into our practice. If you’re a teacher, definitely consider adding this posture to your sequences right now!

benefits of restorative yoga chest openers

Personally, I love practicing (and sharing!) easy chest openers, which can be a simple, supportive antidote to our chest tension and congestion. They leave us feeling more spacious, more refreshed, and more open to experience the fullness of the breath. In fact, practicing chest openers offers so many benefits, which include:

Encouraging oxygenation through deeper breath
Stimulating abdominal organs, which supports digestion
Stimulating circulation
Correcting posture issues
Aiding in depression
Supporting discomfort in third trimester of pregnancy

what to avoid in easy chest openers

However, we don’t want to practice chest openers in a way that feels too intense. Cuing our students to “crack open” our heart isn’t the idea here. While we will benefit from a sense of expansion in our body and mind—when we have congestion in our lungs or chest, or are carrying heavy emotions, or are feeling stressed or overwhelmed—how we invite expansion matters. Plus, it simply may not feel good, or even safe, for your students to lay supine with a block underneath their shoulder blades and with their arms splayed out… especially on a cold floor.

Rather, in restorative chest openers, we practice intentionally, progressively, removing the restrictions that prevent our fullest capacity to breathe deeply.

Think of this as a powerful yet gentle process. As we relax deeply and allow the ground to hold us up, we begin to release the tension in the belly. We soften around the ribcage and we allow the breath to come and go on its own, naturally. Slowly and progressively, our breath will deepen without any effort.

smart propping ideas for restorative chest openers

The trick to softening in this position is that we need to feel supported, and we can create conditions for this softening with strategically (and creatively) placed props.

I dug into my virtual Restorative Yoga Teacher Training manual and selected three propping techniques to help make chest openers feel safer and more easeful and effective. A few of these pointers may surprise you!

Support the upper arms

Once the spine and head are supported, tuck two pillows underneath the upper arms so they have a reliable (and soft) “ground” to release into. Although upon first look this may not appear to be a “deep” posture, the experience of this supported shape creates space in the chest—in and around the lungs—and fosters a clear path for the breath. (We discuss how to “read” bodies in restorative poses more in the upcoming 50-hour training!)

PRACTICE: In this 3-minute video, I guide you through the prop set-up for this heart-opening restorative posture.

2. Support the legs.

A pillow and rolled mat underneath the thighs and supporting along the contour of the knees helps the ball of the thigh bones relax into the hip sockets… allowing us to release tension and breathe into a soft belly.

3. Try the whole enchilada!

This delicious propping experience features skillfully arranged layers of blankets and pillows for higher head and spine support. Blocks underneath the elbows and hands offer full support of the arms. And here’s an understated trick with a big impact: Resting the hands on the contours of the eye pillows creates a “closed circuit” feeling that allows us to go deeper into the pose.

RELATED: Want a more invigorating front-body opener? Try this easy fish pose.

want to access my restorative yoga pose clinics?

If you’d like to learn more about how to share restorative yoga, I hope you’ll consider joining my upcoming virtual Restorative Yoga Teacher Training!

The 50-hour program includes pose clinics that will dive into the depths of 11 key restorative postures, including how to personalize the postures through a multitude of propping option.

The training also features:

The science-backed whys of Restorative Yoga in a way that is clear, relatable, and applicable
Yogic and Buddhist philosophy
Teaching methodology
Guiding & cueing
100+ page downloadable and printable manual with detailed images of postures and propping ideas
Yearlong monthly mentorship

Plus, if you register now, you’ll receive FREE access to my current Friday practice series, Winter Medicine.

LEARN MORE HERE