Chest-Opening Yoga Poses
Open your heart and shoulders in chest opening yoga poses like Camel Pose, Fish Pose, and Wild Thing.
Latest in Chest-Opening Yoga Poses
What to Do When You Don’t Want to Open Your Heart
No, backbends aren't the answer to everything in your life. Here's how to make it through class while protecting the parts of you that need to rest and heal.
A Heart-Opening Sequence—With a 3D Twist
These postures will move your heart space in every direction.
Cow Pose
Bitilasana is an easy, gentle way to warm up the spine before a more vigorous practice.
Same Shape, Different Pose: Bridge, Camel, and Bow
Having a tricky time with Bow Pose? Take what you know from Bridge and Camel and change your relationship to gravity. Here's how.
Upward-Facing Dog Pose
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, a well-known backbend, will challenge you to lift and open your chest.
This Heart-Opening Flow Inspires You to Move & Groove With Gratitude
Connect deeply with what matters—and find the strength to take action with care and compassion.
The Full Moon in Taurus Aligns With a Lunar Eclipse. Here’s How to Navigate It
It's time to find your center. This practice for the full moon brings you back to your truest source of strength and stability—you.
Camel Pose
Bump up your energy (and confidence!) by bending back into Camel Pose. Ustrasana counteracts slouching and relieves lower back pain with a generous, heart-opening stretch.
Bow Pose
Bend back into the shape of a bow to feel energetically locked, loaded, and ready to take aim.
7 Gentle Backbends for Beginners (Or Anyone, Really)
Want all the benefits of a big, heart-opening backbend without the big backbend part? These poses bring the same perks with less strain on your shoulders and low back.
Don’t Just Perform Lord of the Dance. Use Props to Practice It With Intention
Check out Sarah Ezrin's author page.
6 Chest Stretches to Undo Posture-Induced Aches and Pains
This series of yoga postures will keep your pectoral and upper back muscles loose, while gradually opening the chest and shoulders.
Props to Help You Explore Lord of the Dance With More Flexibility—And Honesty
Natarajasana is a posture you can choose to "perform" or do with curiosity. And the best way to better observe your movements in this pose is by adding props.
Iyengar 201: Get Ready for Your Deepest Locust Pose Ever…
Check out Carrie Owerko's author page.
A Meditation to Open Your Heart Chakra
This guided meditation is designed to help you feel that something has your back, so you can open your heart.
Inclusivity Training: Align Your Heart Chakra with This Chest-Opening Sequence
Do this short sequence 3–5 times on its own or as part of a longer practice to open your heart chakra and experience compassion.
3 Foolproof Chest and Shoulder Openers
Practice these backbends and inversions for increased flexibility and strength and feel the freedom of greater range of motion in your chest and shoulders.
Anatomy 101: Understand Your Pectoralis Minor
This minor muscle is a major player in backbends. Expand it—and its web of connective tissue—for greater range of motion in your chest and back.
Two Fit Moms’ Heart-Opening Partner Yoga Sequence
Grab a partner and celebrate American Heart Month with this chest-opening sequence from Two Fit Moms.
Pose of the Week: Improve Your Upward-Facing Dog
Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) is a pose that is commonly performed incorrectly. Here's the right way to do it.
Pose of the Week: Lord of the Dance Pose With a Strap
Lord of the Dance Pose (Natarajasana) requires foundation, stability, concentration, flexibility, and balanced action -- everything you need as you set out to achieve your goals for the New Year.
Wild Thing
One poetic translation of Camatkarasana means "the ecstatic unfolding of the enraptured heart."
Get Down With Up Dog
Use your breath to open your chest and backbend mindfully into Upward-Facing Dog Pose.
Got Tight Quads? Yes, You Can Still Enjoy Supta Virasana
Don't let tight quadriceps keep you from one of yoga's most relaxing poses: Supta Virasana.
Use Asana to Help Recover from a Cold
Check out Angela Pirisi's author page.
Upward Facing Two-Foot Staff Pose
Can you practice Wheel with straight arms and Headstand without strain? Then, you're ready.
Half Frog Pose
Ease up into Half Frog Pose, called Ardha Bhekasana in Sanskrit. This pose strengthens the back while gently opening up the shoulders, chest, and thighs—a loving treat for the entire body.
Sphinx Pose
Sphinx Pose is the infant of backbends. It can be practiced with either an active or passive approach.
Show Your Spine Some Love
Deep, seated twists have the power to transform your spine. Learn how to twist right into Ardha Matsyendrasana.
Counteract Tech Hunch: Camel Pose
Open your chest and stretch your entire front body in Camel Pose to improve posture and lift your mood.
Work Awareness in This Intense Forward Bend
An eye opener, Parsvottanasana can shine light on easy-to-overlook truths.
Dancer Pose | Lord of the Dance Pose
Dance with cosmic energy in this challenging yet graceful balancing pose that relies on equal parts effort and ease.
Locust Pose
Salabhasana or Locust Pose effectively preps beginners for deeper backbends, strengthening the back of the torso, legs, and arms.
Fish Pose
Boost the body's energy and fight fatigue with Fish Pose, or Matsyasana in Sanskrit, while building confidence with a loving stretch in the shoulders. It is said that if you perform Matsyasana in water, you will be able to float like a fish.
Wheel Pose | Upward-Facing Bow Pose
Need an energy boost? Urdhva Dhanurasana can help—and strengthen your arms, legs, abdomen, and spine in the process.
Cobra Pose
By providing a conscious opening in the chest and stretch in the shoulders, Cobra Pose, called Bhujangasana in Sanskrit, fights fatigue and relieves lower back pain, boosting both the energetic and the physical body.