Hi beauties! I have been off the blog for a while...but have decided its time to get on with things and put some more content up for you. Enjoy!

Check your posture....how are you sitting as you read this? Hunched over, rounded shoulders, closed off chest? Or straight back, shoulders pulled back, chest open?

Our posture is everything! It can help to realign, and bring balance back into the body, prevent injuries, and even help with recovery from injury. Most importantly, good posture promotes efficient breathing, and proper use of our lung capacity.

If the chest muscles and shoulders are tight, it can prevent us from finding (and keeping) that good posture, which in turn, can affect the way we breathe.

These stretches will help to open your chest and shoulders and counteract many hours of slumping in front of the computer, tv, iphone, ipad, tablet etc (technology has a lot to answer for!). Enjoy better posture, alignment, and better breathing.

Puppy Pose:

Aka a MASSIVE chest opener and shoulder stretch. Start on all fours with your hips over your knees and reach the arms as far forward as you can, taking them mat width apart to create space. Pull the belly in, tuck the tail bone slightly under to prevent collapsing into the lower back. As you exhale melt the chest down towards the mat. My hips are creeping a little too far forward in this photo, try to keep them above your knees! Let the forehead touch down first and breathe deeply into the rib cage. IF this feels amazing (and I hope it does), and you think you could sink a little lower, aim the chest to the mat, and rest on the chin. This shouldn't hurt the neck at all - if it does, back onto the forehead please. Keep the arms active and forearms lifted away from the mat if you are on the forehead.

Wide Leg Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottonasana C):

Let gravity do the work for you on this one! Start standing with the feet a metre or so apart (really up to you how wide you go), and interlace the hands behind the back. If interlacing hurts wrists/elbows etc, either hold a strap between the hands or hook the thumbs instead. Bend the knees and slowly hinge forward, letting the head drop down to keep the neck long. Let the arms drop over the back of the head. No need to push or force the arms down lower...gravity will take them to where they need to be! To increase the stretch (if you are open in the shoulders), interlace the hands with the palms together instead. This is also a lovely hamstring stretch, but if its too much to do both hammies and shoulders, bend the knees!

Thread the needle:

This will stretch across the shoulders, shoulder blades & upper back, and is gentle enough that you can hang out here for a few breaths. Start on all fours, and slide the left arm underneath the right arm. Lower down so that you are resting on your left shoulder and the side of your head. You can stay here with the right hand on the mat, or like I have done, you can lift the fingertips up. Relax the neck completely and close the eyes. Again, use deep breaths to help stretch out any tight muscles. To come out bring the right hand back down to the mat and use it to lift you back up. Repeat on the right side.

Shoulder Mobility:

This one pretty much does what it says on the box...helps to release tight shoulders, snd increases mobility and range of motion. If you don't have a band, you can use a belt etc, or just freestyle it without any props. Start with the hands quite wide - at least double the width of your shoulders- and adjust from there. Once you start to warm up and stretch the muscles (gently!!) you can take the hands closer together (for more stretch), or take them wider if it is too strong. Arms do need to be straight for this one, so if you find your elbows bending, or one arm leading, take the hands wider. The main challenge of this one is actually keeping your ribcage drawing in, and minimising movement in the spine and pelvis. Draw your core in, and tuck the tailbone underneath to lengthen your lower back and to help keep the rest of the body still as you move the arms. The breathing I like to use for this one is inhale - arms up, exhale - arms down. A few repetitions should warm you up nicely!

Chest Opener

This has got to be up there with my favourite stretches! So simple, so effective, and can undo hours of bad posture! Take a blanket, roll it up neatly and pop it across the mat. Lie down over it so that it runs across the back of the rib cage (bra-strap level ladies). It should line up with your armpits when you stretch the arms out at shoulder height. Lengthen the lower back and the neck (you can always pop a cushion underneath the head) then relax. It can be intense at first - particularly if you are tight in the upper back and chest, but the key is to breathe deeply to help your body soften. Let the body weight sink into the blanket, relax the arms and legs, and breathe up into the chest. To make it super restorative (it is after-all, a restorative yoga pose), you can use an eye-bag or something to cover the eyes, and a blanket to keep your body warm. Stay here as long as you like and let the magic happen. When you are ready to come out, bring the soles of the feet to the floor, keep the head down (do not lift your head!), and roll over to the side of the body. Pause here for a moment and take some deep breaths, you should feel a difference already!

After sitting at my computer for an hour writing this I need to take my own advice and stretch out my chest and shoulders! Be back soon I promise,

Big Love xxx

(originally published in Jan 2018 on emmalouiseyoga.com)

Open Shoulders, Open Chest!