Excessive tightness in the chest and shoulders can cause poor posture and inhibit our ability to breathe fully. Practice these techniques to gently open and release tension in your entire torso, while restoring optimal posture and breathing.
Practice Guidelines
Before starting your yoga asana practice, please read the Practice Guidelines for helpful tips.
Essential techniques
If you don’t have much time, just do Abdominal Breathing 1 and Side Lying on the Ball. These important breathing techniques will make the other poses easier to practice.
Wai Lana Mini Yoga Ball
You'll need a small yoga ball for Side Lying on Ball.
When building strength in the body, it’s advisable to
improve flexibility and range of motion first. These exercises help prevent tension from accumulating throughout your chest and shoulders as you begin increasing strength in these areas.
Breathe!
If you don’t have much time to practice every day, Ribcage Breathing and Complete Yoga Breathing 2 are the most important techniques. These breathing exercises will make all the other poses easier to practice.
Yoga props
- A yoga block and our mini yoga ball are needed for the Side Body Stretch & Strengthen session.
- A flat yoga band is needed for the Strengthen & Expand Your Chest session.
Now that you’re experiencing more flexibility and range of motion in your chest and shoulders, it’s time to get stronger. Each session is a complete practice that will not only strengthen your chest and shoulders but will also create balanced upper body strength, without sacrificing flexibility.
Practice in order
If you’re new to strength work, we recommend practicing in the order presented.
Muscle & metabolism
Metabolism refers to your body’s ability to transform food and nutrients into energy for your bodily functions. Getting stronger improves your metabolism because it increases the amount of active (metabolic) muscle tissue in the body. By increasing your muscle mass with strengthening exercises, your body can burn excess fat (even when not exercising), helping you reach and maintain your optimal weight.
Muscle and body shape
Many women are concerned they’ll end up with a bulky physique if they engage in strength training, but these exercises will help you tone, strengthen, and attain your optimal weight and body shape without bulking up.
Yoga props
The yoga props listed below are used in the recommended sessions. They are very effective for helping you build strength and muscle tone.
- Yoga block
- Wai Lana Mini Yoga Ball
- Wai Lana Yoga Band Set
