december 2017 / january 2018
yogajournal.com.sg
4 poses to increase thoracic spine mobility
Take your spine through its five different motions—spinal flexion, spinal extension, lateral
flexion and extension, and spinal rotation—with these poses.For spinal flexion, try...
SASANGASANA
Rabbit Pose
This simple pose places
you into a static somersault
position, helping you
experience spinal flexion
(rolling forward), particularly
in the thoracic spine.
HOW TO Come to Balasana
(Child’s Pose), then grasp
your heels with your hands.
Activate your abdominals
and round your spine, setting
the top of your head on the
ground while lifting your
butt away from your heels.
Mindfully breathe into the
back of your body, and
isometrically expand the
distances from your crown
to your sacrum and between
your shoulder blades. Stay
here for 8–12 breaths.For spinal
extension, try...
STANDING BACKBEND
This pose resembles the
beginning of a drop-back into
Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel Pose)
without actually dropping back.
It helps to stabilize the
thoracolumbar junction (where
T12 and L1 meet), which can
be hypermobile if your
thoracic spine lacks mobility.
HOW TO Stand in Tadasana (Mountain
Pose) and interlace your hands behind
your head. Activate your abdominals
and gluteals to posteriorly tilt (tuck) your
pelvis. Inhale, and feel your ribs expand;
exhale, and feel your lungs deflate. You
may feel like you’re falling backward, but
with support. Lengthen your spine up and
away from your pelvis, and continue to
lean back: Resist the urge to backbend at
the thoracolumbar junction by contracting
your abs and transferring the burden of the
backbend to your thoracic vertebrae. There
is no rush to progress more deeply into
the pose. Instead, witness the effect each
breath has on the relationship between
your rib cage and thoracic spine. Stay here
for 8–10 breaths.For lateral flexion and extension, try...
PARIGHASANA Gate Pose
This traditional asana honors your body’s
ability to laterally flex and extend. In other
words, it helps you side-bend.
HOW TO Place your right knee on the ground
and plant your left foot 2–3 feet to the side.
Place your left hand on your left leg for
support as you bend toward your left side
with your arm overhead, laterally flexing
your spine to the left. Keep your abdominals
braced, and pull 8–12 full breaths into your
ribs. Then, switch sides. Variation: Instead
of placing your left hand on your left leg,
place your left palm on your left rib cage
and nudge your ribs skyward. This will
increase lateral extension on the right side
and facilitate a major stretch in the intercostal
muscles on your right side, mobilizing your
lateral-flexion capacity. PHOTOS: JEFF NELSON; MODEL: AMY IPPOLITI; STYLIST: JESSICA JEANNE EATON; HAIR/MAKEUP: ASHLEY SMITH; CLOTHING: PRANAFor spinal rotation, try...
VRSCHIKASANA Scorpion Pose, variation
This pose improves rotation in the thoracic spine and can help reverse a slumped upper back.
HOW TO lie on your stomach with your arms outstretched on either side of you (in a T position).
Activate your abdominals to limit back bending at the thoracolumbar junction. Turn your neck to
look toward your left hand and roll onto your right hip. Keep your glutes active, posteriorly tilting
your pelvis and drifting your left hip and foot behind you while your left shoulder stays fixed on
the ground. You should feel this rotation only in your upper back. If your flexibility permits, touch
your left foot to the floor. Take 8–12 breaths, breathing deeply into your thoracic region, then
slowly switch sides.OUR PRO writer Jill Miller is the creator of Yoga Tune Up and The Roll Model Method, and author of The Roll Model:
A Step-by-Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility, and Live Better in Your Body. She has presented case studies at the Fascia
Research Congress and the International Association of Yoga Therapists Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research, and she
teaches at yoga conferences worldwide. Learn more at yogatuneup.com. Model Amy Ippoliti is a yoga teacher and faculty member
at 1440 Multiversity, Omega Institute, Esalen Institute, and the Kripalu Center.practice well
ANATOMY