Breakdown: Supported Shoulder Opener
Want more restorative content? Click the Restorative tag at the bottom of this post.
This posture is a fan favourite, students often tell me they look forward to this sense of opening through the chest and shoulders. This posture counteracts the postural strain many of us encounter in our daily lives, especially those of us who work at a desk. The shape uses props along the spine to encourage a sense of openness through the chest. The arms hang at the side. If the hands lay at the side of the body with the palms facing up, the shoulders are externally rotating - i.e., the opposite of the slumping forward shape we often find ourselves in when seated for too long.
This opening through the front of the body can help to engage the diaphragm and ribcage to improve breathing. It also stretches through the pectorals, muscles on the front of the chest that are shortened in many of us due to poor posture.
Benefits of this yoga pose
This posture opens the front body, specifically the shoulders and chest. It's a great option to reduce muscle tension in the neck, ribs, and shoulders, to improve joint mobility and range of motion in the neck and shoulders, and improve circulation to the arms and chest.
This passive opening though the chest can enhance your connection to breath because it asks us to engage the muscles around the ribcage and diaphragm. The reclined angle of the torso helps reduce strain on the lungs. You might feel this impact on the lungs even more after a cold or if you've been struggling with a cough or asthma. Overall, this posture improves breathing and supports the organs and muscles of respiration.
Opening the front body can also relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression because the posture mimics a state of energetic openness. It can, however, feel vulnerable or have the front of the body so open. This is especially true for those who sit a lot with forward rounding posture or those going through an emotionally challenging period as the emotions often show up in our physical body. Feeling overwhelmed in this shape is normal, and if that happens to you, know that you can always move out of the pose and into something more grounding like child's pose or a fetal position on your side.
How to use props in this shape
In studios, we commonly use two blocks and a bolster to create an angle for the body to rest upon along the spine.
Use two blocks - one a taller height, one a lower height - to create a ramp for your bolster
Place a bolster along the blocks with one end coming to the back of the pelvis at the floor
As you lay down the full spine and head should be supported
Arms come to your side, palms up to open the chest.
Options to modify:
Change the height of your blocks to adapt the angle of recline
Don’t love the angle? Don’t use block- instead just use the bolster this will create more of a back bend through the mid back and ribs
Change arm position - bringing hands to belly or under hips with palms down will reduce the amount of openness through the chest
Shoulder opener with constructive rest supported by a pilates/coregeous ball
The leg shape in this posture can change depending on the intention in the practice. Some options include:
Bring a bend into the the knees with feet planted on the floor and knees leaning inwards resting on each other/pilates ball/towel roll (pictured above)
Place a second bolster or a towel roll under the knees to minimic supported rest
Bringing the knees into cobbler's pose (soles of the feet together with knees bent) and support under the knees with blocks or a bolster
Allow the legs straight with not props beneath them
Don't have props?
No props? No problem!
Here are two different versions using things we commonly have at home.
Option One
Use a couch or a bed edge (depending on height) to support the back body.
Supported reclined shoulder opener without props
The angle is created by bringing the hips and seat slightly forward and leaning back so the seat of the couch meets the body just behind the shoulder blades. Arms are outstretched along the seat of the couch with palms turned upwards to the ceiling. Legs come into any shape that feels most supportive.
Option Two
Ditch the blocks and the use of a reclined angle. Instead use bolster flat on the floor to create a sense of opening through the front of the body. No bolster? No problem you can create one at home by using a towel roll (or two together for more thickness) or a rolled yoga mat to lay under the spine, mimicking the support of the bolster used in-studio classes.
A no-block version of shoulder opener using a bolster
This central prop allows for the shoulder blades to drop backwards. Bringing the shoulders into external rotation (by turning the palms up) helps to counteract common postural strain and opens the ribcage and diaphragm. No lift is used here, so there is no angle in the body. This lack of angle reduces support of the lungs.
