Chest-Opening Yoga Poses

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.

These postures will move your heart space in every direction.

Bitilasana is an easy, gentle way to warm up the spine before a more vigorous practice.

Having a tricky time with Bow Pose? Take what you know from Bridge and Camel and change your relationship to gravity. Here's how.

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, a well-known backbend, will challenge you to lift and open your chest.

Connect deeply with what matters—and find the strength to take action with care and compassion.

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.

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.

Bend back into the shape of a bow to feel energetically locked, loaded, and ready to take aim.

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.

This series of yoga postures will keep your pectoral and upper back muscles loose, while gradually opening the chest and shoulders.

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.

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This guided meditation is designed to help you feel that something has your back, so you can open your heart.

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.

Practice these backbends and inversions for increased flexibility and strength and feel the freedom of greater range of motion in your chest and shoulders.

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.

Grab a partner and celebrate American Heart Month with this chest-opening sequence from Two Fit Moms.

Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) is a pose that is commonly performed incorrectly. Here's the right way to do it.

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.

One poetic translation of Camatkarasana means "the ecstatic unfolding of the enraptured heart."

Use your breath to open your chest and backbend mindfully into Upward-Facing Dog Pose.

Don't let tight quadriceps keep you from one of yoga's most relaxing poses: Supta Virasana.

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Can you practice Wheel with straight arms and Headstand without strain? Then, you're ready.

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 is the infant of backbends. It can be practiced with either an active or passive approach.

Deep, seated twists have the power to transform your spine. Learn how to twist right into Ardha Matsyendrasana.

Open your chest and stretch your entire front body in Camel Pose to improve posture and lift your mood.

An eye opener, Parsvottanasana can shine light on easy-to-overlook truths.

Dance with cosmic energy in this challenging yet graceful balancing pose that relies on equal parts effort and ease.

Salabhasana or Locust Pose effectively preps beginners for deeper backbends, strengthening the back of the torso, legs, and arms.

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.

Need an energy boost? Urdhva Dhanurasana can help—and strengthen your arms, legs, abdomen, and spine in the process.

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.