The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Pranayama › Chest Opening in Pranayama
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Pranayama › Chest Opening in Pranayama
-
AuthorPosts
-
Gabrielle, you truly are a Godsend for those of us who have had the misfortune of poor instruction over the years…Hopefully you might be able to help clarify a small problem I’m having in Pranayama.
I have gleaned from previous posts that moving the elbows upward while relaxing the shoulders down the back should be an integral focus during the inhale phase.
Due to some extreme tightness around my shoulders, neck and trapezius muscles, I find this to be the least natural and most challenging part of Pranayama breathing.
To compensate, I often find myself moving my elbows upward while carefully elongating my spine, and then in a simultaneous effort to relax my shoulders, neck and traps, will tend to bow out my upper chest forward to keep my shoulders down and back. This is the only way I have found to achieve this desired effect of not tensing my neck and shoulders during Pranayama.
Is this okay?
Andrew
Hi Andrew
(I’m blushing – thanks for your comments!)
I am trying to work out exactly what you are doing with your chest. Do you mean your chest expands up and out a little? Let me know please.
If what you are doing is not causing you undue tension in the chest area (or anywhere else) and is allowing your body to stay in good alignment it would seem that it is OK.
PS I will get to your other question today about the tailbone. Started yesterday, became busy with other tasks and forgot to finish it.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂To better illustrate what’s happening with my chest on the inhale, I will compare it to the exhale phase when I am able to successfully position my body pretty much up-and-down, and correctly contracted (up to my neck, head and arms of course, which are moving as they are supposed to).
During the inhale phase, however, it seems to all be about the tilt in my wrists. If I try and maintain a relatively straight, lengthened, contracted body while inhaling with my interlocked hands and wrists parallel to the floor, I have no way to prevent my shoulders and neck from raising up as well as I attempt to raise my elbows and elongate. It just seems like an impossible physical act for me.
To combat this and try to keep my shoulders down and relaxed, I puff out my chest and abdomen during the inhale which causes my wrists to move from parallel to the ground to a slightly angled position facing the front wall. This seems to keep my shoulders at ease down my back and my neck relaxed, but it also creates an arch in my back.
I have learned that one of the purposes of Pranayama was to loosen everything up and make you tall and long, but in compensating for this tightness in my shoulders I feel I am missing out on those important benefits because I cannot achieve true elongation or relaxation with an arched torso?
Does any of this make sense?
Hi Andrew – (before Gabrielle gets to this) as a Private Club Member you have access to a 66-min long Pose Clinic about Pranayama – is there anything in there that might help you with the mechanics of this?
Whether it does or not, it’s a Pose Tutorial worth downloading & watching!
Cheers,
Robert
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.