Encourages spinal mobility in and around the upper back and an openness around the front of the shoulders.
Starting Position
• Lie on your front and create a diamond shape by placing the fingertips together, palms down and elbows wide with your forehead resting on your hands. For those of you who are tight in the low back, you will feel more comfortable with a small cushion under your pelvis.
• Legs are long and straight, hip width apart and parallel.
Action
• Breathe in to prepare, breathe out, connect the abdominals, first lift your head, then your neck, then your chest off the mat.
You are opening the chest but keeping the lower ribs in contact with the mat.
• Breathe in and hold this position, breathe out as you lower your chest and head back down to the mat.
Tips
• Start the movement by lengthening and lifting your head and neck, then you begin to open and lift the chest.
• Feel the shoulder blades sliding gently down your back.
• Always keep the lower ribs in contact with the mat as this will stop you lifting too high.
• Keep your feet in contact with the mat at all times.
• As you come back down, keep the feeling of length so you do not collapse down. It’s as active a movement on the way down as it is on the way up.