Widening Across the Chest

Hi, everyone. Welcome back. Today we're going to work with the shoulder girdle. We're going to find some space in the shoulders and in the chest and also strengthen those areas. So put your seat belts on. For me, these are areas that are tight anyway, so this should be fun. You're going to take your blanket and roll it up into a roll, and then you'll bring it the wide way across your mat. And then you're going to come to lay on your side and extend the bottom arm up overhead. And the blanket's going to come to the top of the rib cage right where the shoulder blade sort of starts. You can let your head roll down onto your arm, and then from there you might start to waddle a little bit side-to-side. You can pick where you put your top foot forward or back. It doesn't matter too much. You're going to kind of move around, and you'll feel that the blanket's going to get under your shoulder a tiny bit. It may not feel super intense, but if you quiet the breath and if you kind of quiet the mind and go in, you'll find that there's still something amazing that's happening. Try not to underestimate the power of your presence. And then you'll lift up a little bit and slide the blanket a little bit more toward the armpit. So now you're really kind of at the bottom of the armpit, and again, start to roll around front and back. Now, your chest tissue might feel a little bit delicate here toward the front of the armpit, so just be mindful, especially if you have parts there that are kind of in the way. You can always hold them or move them out of the way and just make sure that you're not pressing on breast tissue, that you want to be kind of toward the top of the chest. And just one more little roll back and forth. And we're going to come out of this spot. Come on up. You're going to take the other side. You can just flip yourself around. I'm going to turn the other way just so you're not staring at my back because that's just kind of depressing for everybody involved. And then we'll take the other side. So now it's the left side is on the floor. You're coming to the bottom of your armpit or the top of your ribs, and then you can let your head rest on your arm, and the right foot can be wherever it is and start to wag the right chest toward the floor and back. If the sensation is not quite there, sometimes it takes a minute to find it, but then once you find it, you're like, oh, that's what it is. Okay. And then go bring the blanket up a little further so it's more in the armpit. Ooh, that's already tender. Okay, hello. And go easy as you go forward and back. And again, you want to be kind of in the pec tissue, not so much breast tissue if you have breast tissue. And come on up. Now take the blanket off to the side and grab your block. And we're just going to work the chest a little bit more. So you're going to take your left hand and ball it into a fist, and then you're going to use the block to raise the floor toward you. And then you're going to lean onto the fist and kind of impale yourself on your fist. Keep working where you're working. You want to be, so the sternum is the center of your chest. You want to be over to the right a little bit, and you want to be toward the top of the chest. So again, not on breast tissue. If you have breast tissue, you're moving up and kind of below the clavicle, which is that little bone. So keep working on it, pressing down. You'll feel tender spots. You want to work from the inside out toward the armpit. Now, if you have a ball, you can always use a ball instead of your fist, but we're going under the assumption that you might not. And then come up. We'll do the other side. So right hand balls into a fist, and you bring the left side in and start to use your knuckles to work the tissue there. Two more breaths. And come on up. Grab your block or your blanket to sit on. Find your seat. And our tendency, often when we open up space in the body, is to, it's kind of scary, so we shrink away from it. So instead of doing that, see if you can find the steadiness within yourself to open up into whatever kind of space that you've created there for yourself. For me, for example, I'm feeling like my front body is just so much more buoyant, and there's a nice lift to it, which also gives me a nice drape to the back of the body.

Babanam Kevalama, Babanam Kevalama, Babanam Kevalama, Babana, Baba. Baba Namke Valam Baba Nam Oke Valam Baba Baba Namke Valam Baba Nam Oke Valam Baba Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam Baba Namke Valam together and deep inhale. Open your eyes. We'll meet in a downward-facing dog. Take all the time you need to get there. Downward-facing dog. Feel your palms in prayer with the ground. Feel your feet in prayer with the ground. Lengthen your sit bones up and back. Let your head dangle off of your spine.

Inhale your right leg high. Bend your knee open your hip. Come high up onto your left tippy toes. Bend your left knee and pull your left outer hip back so both of your knees are bent. One of them is in bada konasana and one of them is almost like a squat. Widening the thighs away from one another and step the right foot between the hands. Spin your back heel down. Reach your left arm forward and up. Come all the way up warrior two.

On the inhale extend your front leg arms lift. As you exhale bend the knee arms out into a T. Inhale extend lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend lift high. Turn the right toes to the left. Slide the left arm down your left leg. Reach the right arm super long. Grow tall.

Take two more breaths. One more. Now listen slowly turn the right hip turn the right chest down to the floor. Look at your left ankle grab your left ankle with your right hand. Inhale the left arm up. Roll open and as you exhale reach the left arm up overhead. It's going to end up on the floor next to your mat.

Cup your fingertips. Walk your fingertips over to the right a little bit and bend your right knee and turn your chest a little bit more to the left. One more. Now listen your torso and your arm are inside angle already. So all you need to do is release your right hand which is the bottom hand. Turn your right toes forward and that right hand can come right next to your foot. The left arm is already up over your ear. Roll open or if you'd like you can rest your right hand on a block or your right forearm on your thigh.

Take one more inhale and exhale. Extend your front leg. Keep reaching the left fingers forward forward forward. You're in an extended triangle pose. Utthita trikonasana. Keep carving the right sit bone toward the left inner thigh. Take one more breath.

Now look down. Look forward. Walk the back foot in a little bit. Walk the right fingertips forward. If you've got a block there grab your block. Reach the left arm forward left foot back. Roll open. So it's a little bit of an extended half moon variation. One more and then turn your chest down.

Turn the left toes down. Step the left foot way back. Step back. Downward facing dog. Inhale. Hinge forward into your plank pose. Crown of the head reaches. Exhale. Halfway down. Inhale. Upward facing dog. Roll open. And lift up and back. Downward facing dog. Inhale your left leg high. Bend your knee open your hip.

Come high up onto your right tip toes. Bend the right knee and pull your right outer hip back. Widening the thighs away from one another. Hug the left knee in toward your chest. Step the foot right between your hands. Spin your back heel down. Right arm reaches forward and up bringing you up into warrior two. Inhale extend your front leg arms lift. Exhale bend the knee arms out into a T.

Inhale extend lift. Exhale bend arms out into a T. Inhale extend lift. And exhale bend. Inhale extend. Turn the left toes in. Slide the right arm down. Nice side bend. Plug the outer edge of your left foot. Take an inhale. And then turn everything to look at your right leg. Grab your right ankle with your left hand.

Inhale reach your right arm up. Twist to the right. Now as you exhale sweep the right arm up over your ear like a side angle arm. The fingertips will come to the floor. Bend your left knee. Walk your right fingertips a little bit more to the left. And bend your bottom elbow to turn your chest a little bit more to the right.

And then from there the top of your body is already in your side angle. All you have to do is release your bottom hand. Turn your left toes. Left fingers come next to the left foot and sweep the right arm up. Push through the right foot. Roll open. Now start to extend your front leg. Keep reaching the right fingertips forward.

I know it's unusual. It's the extended version of your triangle pose. Bend your front knee. Look down. Walk your left fingers forward. Walk your right foot a little closer. You're coming into a half moon with the right arm reaching forward. Unusual as well. Roll open. One more.

And then turn your right chest down. Bend your left knee and step your right foot way back downward facing dog. Inhale forward plank pose. Exhale halfway down. Chaturanga. Inhale upward facing. And press up and back. Downward facing.

One more round. A little quicker and with some changes. Not quicker with the breath but just moving a little bit more at pace. Inhale your right leg high. Come high up onto your left hip toes. Bend both knees wide and the thighs apart. As you exhale step the right foot between the hands. Spin the back heel down. Reach the left arm forward and up.

Come all the way up warrior two. Inhale extend the front leg. Reach the arms up. Turn your right toes. Slide down your left leg. Take an inhale here. As you exhale turn turn turn. Right hand to your left ankle. Now listen. Left arm reaches up. Drop it down behind your back. Bend your right knee. Lean back and look to the left.

From there your top of your body is already in your half bound side angle. Release your bottom hand. Turn your right toes. Here you are. Half bound side angle. Turn your left chest up toward the ceiling. Extend your bottom leg. Half bound triangle pose. Roll open and then from there bend your front knee.

Step your back foot forward a little bit. Right fingertips underneath your right shoulder. Reach the left leg up. Half bound. Half moon. You've got it. One more breath. Release that top arm down. Turn your toes down. Step back. Downward facing dog. Inhale.

Pull forward plank. Exhale halfway down. Inhale upward facing. And lift up and back. Downward facing. Inhale your left leg high. Come high up onto your tip toes. Bend both knees. Widen the thighs apart.

Then as you exhale, step the foot right between the hands. Spin the back heel down. Right arm reaches forward and up. Whoop. Come all the way up. Inhale. Extend. Lift high. Turn your left toes. Slide the right arm down the right leg. Look down. Grab your left right ankle with your left hand.

Inhale the right arm up and slide it down your back. Your half bound. Bend your left knee. Turn to twist toward the right. From there the top of you is already in your half bound side angle. Turn, turn, turn toward the left. Turn your toes. And roll open into your side angle.

Now keep that half bind. Extend your front leg. Half bound trikonasana. One more. Bend your front knee. Look down. Walk the back foot in a little bit. Walk your left fingertips forward. And lift the right leg up. Half bound. Half moon.

Unbelievingly challenging. Untangle your top arm. Turn your hip down. Step back. Downward facing. Dog. Last vinyasa. Inhale. Pull forward. Exhale. Halfway down. Inhale. Upward facing.

And press up and back. Downward facing dog. Next inhale brings you forward into plank pose. Keep coming forward as you lower all the way, slowly, slowly, all the way down to your belly. Super nice. From there palms next to your hips. Face down. Take an inhale. Lift your chest. Kick the feet down.

And then lift your legs. Inner thighs lift you. Lift your palms as well. Shalabhasana. Think of growing long more than just lifting up. Long all the way from toes to the back of the neck. And lower down. Rest one forehead. You only have one forehead.

Rest the one forehead you have on your hands. Drag your hips side to side. All right. From here, bend your knees. Flex your feet. Reach back. Catch your ankles. We're coming into dhanurasana, bow pose.

Kick the feet back. Lift your chest. Forward and up. One more. And lower that down. Rest your forehead on your hands or one cheek on the ground. Wag your hips a little side to side.

We've got one last one. Bend your knees. Reach back. Kick back. Lift up. One more. And lower. Forehead onto your hands. Wag your hips. Hands by your ribs. Push back into a child's pose.

And then roll yourself up to sit, slide to the side of your legs. Extend your left leg forward. You'll bring your right foot outside your left thigh. Now from there, cup your right fingertips behind you like a kickstand. Inhale your left arm up. Then as you exhale, turn to the right.

And then lengthen your spine. Take an inhale. And on the exhale, perhaps you revolve a little deeper. The revolve is more internal. It happens inside. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, twist. And one more.

Inhale, back to center. Switch sides. Left foot to the outside of your right thigh. Cup your left fingertips. Inhale the right arm up. On the exhale, bring that right elbow. Inhale, lengthen your spine. Find that room from the inside out.

And on the exhale, turn a little deeper. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, turn. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, turn. One last one. And turn. Inhale, back to center. Extend your left leg forward.

You can bring your feet all the way together or keep your feet a little bit hips distance apart. Sometimes that's nice, just giving yourself a little bit more room. Inhale, lengthen your spine. And on the exhale, fold forward over your legs. Think of hinging from the hips and then the spine kind of lengthens out of there. And if you're not as deeply folded as I am, do not be concerned about it.

I'm kind of, I'm a deep forward folding creature so it may be that you're a little higher. That's totally fine. You're going for your space, creating space in your body. So whatever your forward fold is, that's where you are. Inhale, lift up. Grab that blanket. Slip it under your knees and recline back in Shavasana.

Shri Kri Krishna Govinda Hare Muddare Hena Tannada Ayana Vasudeva Hena Tannada Hena Tannada Shri Kri Krishna Govinda Hena Tannada Hena Tannada Hena Tannada Hena Tannada Hena Tannada Deepen your breath. Wiggle your fingers and your toes. Bend your knees and roll over onto one side. Take your time to come up to sit. See how you feel. Palms to the heart center. Deep inhale. Say Yogis.