Continue to engage (but not clench) the buttocks and legs, and draw the belly in slightly to the spine. Inhale and lift the chest and head to sphinx pose. Move your arms so that your elbows are below your shoulders and your forearms straight out in front of you. While flat on the ground, point your toes to the wall behind you and activate the leg muscles. You may rotate your thighs inwards by rolling the outer thigh out to the floor to help support your back during this stretch. Start by laying face-down on your mat, with your arms by your side and your legs together. It is gentle and supportive, allowing you to ease into the practice. Sphinx pose is an excellent place to start with opening the heart.

Additionally, if you find that you are communicating but it tends to come through anger, frustration, or unkind words, use this practice to open you heart to communicate with more compassion. If you are having trouble communicating with a particular person, or find it difficult to speak up for yourself, this can be a great intention for this practice. It is from our heart that our desires and feelings are born, through our lungs and throat chakra that we find our voice and speak up. Consider dedicating your practice to fully experiencing life.Ĭommunicate: The heart, lungs, throat, and entire chest are all involved in the communication process. Open and accept: If you feel that you are not opening up to all that life has to offer, these heart opening poses will help you to open and engage. Breathe fully in these exercises and imagine those stuck feelings loosening and leaving the body with each out breath. Release: Because these poses will help to release constrained emotions or traumas, this is a great place for intentions to let go and move forward. Here are a few things you might want to think about when doing a heart-opening session: This can be even more powerful when doing a heart opening sequence. This focuses the mind and draws attention to whatever you choose to dedicate your practice to. It’s good practice to hold an intention for any yoga session. Intentions For Your Heart Opening Sessions Intentions For Your Heart Opening Sessions Opening up the heart will release those blockages, improve anxieties, and help you to connect more authentically to the world around you. Have you suffered from emotional trauma but despite efforts to work through it there is still something lingering? Do you feel tightness in the chest or have trouble breathing when you get upset? Are you having trouble connecting with others, even close friends or family members, or feeling like you belong in the world? These types of yoga poses will transform your daily life. Do you hunch your back, have “head-forward syndrome,” or constantly work on a computer or phone? Do you drive long distances for work? Work these exercises into your daily routine to counteract these activities and keep your heart open. If you are someone who has trouble keeping good posture, heart openers are key for you. Everyone can benefit from being more open to the world around them and releasing the stress that buries itself in our upper body.īut aside from that generality, anyone who spends a lot of time with their arms forward or their chest tucked in will benefit greatly from these exercises. Who Should Use Heart Opening Yoga Who Should Use Heart Opening Yoga By physically opening this space, our bodies release these old tension and we can begin anew. Many of us hold past traumas or deep emotions in the chest and heart. The heart and throat chakra sing, allowing you to speak kinder, and feel more fully. You will feel more present and connected with those around you. On a more energetic level, opening this area of the body opens you up to the world around you.

Use yoga to consciously open up this area and to help counteract the activities of our busy daily lives. This collapses the chest into itself and crowds the lungs and hearts while pulling on muscles of the neck and upper limb. Our modern lives of driving cars, texting, and typing away at a computer for hours causes us to tighten the muscles around the rib cage as our arms are perpetually drawn forward. Physically opening the heart and chest will improve your posture, relieve shoulder and neck pain, and benefit your breathing. We don’t always think of our chest and heart as something that needs to be worked on or exercised, but it can be a life changing practice. Feel the immense release in your chest and relish in the power of opening the heart. Take a deep breath in, roll your shoulders back, and lift your chest to the sky.

Heart opening flow yoga