Supported chest opener
June 19 - Shoulder Opening
We started in Salamba Purvottanasana (Intense Stretch of the East side of the body) Then we lay over the blocks to move the shoulder blades into the back ribs and open the chest. It is very similar to what we did on May 15. But, it is more intense because of the harder bricks rather than the soft bolster. Plus, we did not belt the thighs together this time. Instead, we used the pushing of the feet into the to keep the sternum lifted.
May 15. This supported Savasana is helpful for hugging the leg muscles to the bones to correct misalignments in the legs. The grounding of the thighs lifts the chest to improve breathing and promote calm relaxation.
Click on the photo to see the video on how to set up for this supported Savasana.
See how my right thigh/leg/foot turns out more than my left.
When you tighten a belt on your body it will pull one side of the body towards the other. To correct that and determine which way the belts should pull, you need to know which thigh turns out more. Then you will use the belts to pull that thigh in towards the midline. Watch the video for the explanation.
You will need:
A bolster
A blanket for your head, folded either in half or in thirds so that there is a gentle slope from the forhead down to chin.
A slanting plank (not shown) or a thin white blanket, accordion folded, to lift the back of the sternum up.
4 to 6 belts
A rolled sticky mat or another accordion folded blanket to go between the legs. (not shown) This is so the bones don’t rub against each other when the legs are belted
Here is a picture of the set up. 2 belts are for the thighs and 2 for the calves. Alternate which way they pull.
May 1. We practiced Prone Savasana for opening up the chest and moving the head of the arm bones back into the shoulder socket. The set up that I show in the video works for some but not all students. Variations may need to be made for individual issues. Click on the picture to see the video on how to set this up.
April 24. In this session on the upper body we have been working on opening up the armpit chest. One of the ways we did that was using the rope wall.
Here is a picture of a senior Iyengar Teacher, Lois Steinberg, demonstrating it. Click on the picture to see her instructional video on Rope I.
In this pose we are trying to get the arms parallel to the floor.
In this photo, I am doing the same arm stretch in the photo above by supporting my arms on a height. You can see that it takes some ingenuity to get the exactly correct height.
April 17. Click on the photo of the chest/heart opening movement over the trestle pictured here to see the video of how to so this. Make sure you do this every time you come to my home studio.
April 10. I made a video of the chest opening restorative pose we did. Click on the picture to see the video.
