Heart Opening

Heart Opening Yoga and the Posture of Staying Open

Name: Yoga for Heart Opening
Creator: Manish Rana

Guardedness has a shape. Shoulders rounded forward, arms crossed, chest slightly collapsed, protecting the softest part of the torso the way you'd protect anything vulnerable. It's a completely reasonable posture to default to. It's also one that, held for years, starts to feel like the only option.

Backbends do the literal opposite, lifting and opening the chest, throat exposed, nothing protected. Some of these poses aren't backbends at all, seated shapes that ask for stillness and receptivity rather than arching, which turns out to be its own kind of opening, quieter but not smaller.

This sits at Anahata, the heart centre, right in the middle of the chakras, between the more physical ones below and the more mental ones above. Physically, opening the chest changes how you breathe. Whether it changes anything else is something you'll have to find out for yourself.

Who this guide is for

Signs this guide was written for you

Maybe it's a habit of crossing your arms or rounding your shoulders that you've noticed but never quite addressed. Maybe it's something less physical, a general reluctance to be seen, to let people in, to stay open when the easier move is to close off. These poses work on the physical version directly. What happens beyond that is genuinely up to you.

The asanas

The yoga poses that matter for Heart Opening

Grouped by what each one asks the body to do. Tap any pose to see how it is done, what it works on and who should leave it out.

Backbends — Where the Chest Opens Directly

Heart-Melting Pose

Anahatasana

Camel Pose

Ustrasana

Reclining Hero Pose

Supta Virasana

Bridge Pose

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Wheel Pose

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Standing — Opening While the Legs Keep Working

Warrior I

Virabhadrasana 1

Pyramid Pose

Parshvottanasana

Peaceful Warrior

Shanti Virabhadrasana

Garland Pose

Malasana

Seated — A Quieter Kind of Opening

Hero Pose

Virasana

Butterfly Pose

Baddha Konasana

Easy Pose

Sukhasana

Cow Face Pose

Gomukhasana

Lotus Pose

Padmasana

Seated Forward Bend

Pashimottanasana

Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

Compass Pose

Sury Yantrasana

Lying Down and Arm Support

Banana Pose

Bananasana

Upward Plank Pose

Purvottanasana

A 20-Minute Heart-Opening Sequence

Same idea as always. Not five random poses, there's a build to it: arrive upright, build through poses that open the chest a little more each time, meet the deepest backbend of the practice, then wind back down through gentler, supported versions of the same opening.

1
Easy Pose1 minute
Arrive. Sitting upright and open rather than curled forward.
2
Garland Pose8 breaths
Build. Hands at the heart, elbows pressing the knees open.
3
Warrior I5 breaths each side
Build. Arms overhead, chest lifted, the legs doing real work underneath it.
4
Camel Pose5 breaths
Peak. The most literal chest opener on this page.
5
Bridge Pose8 breaths
Release. A supported backbend, the same opening without the same demand.
6
Reclining Hero Pose2 minutes
Close. The chest still open, lying down, nothing left to actively hold.

The practice builds toward Camel Pose deliberately, the most literal chest opener on this page, then moves into gentler, supported versions of the same opening before finishing. Opening the chest hard and then immediately closing off again undoes some of the point, so the sequence winds back down slowly instead.

For yoga teachers

Teaching a class for Heart Opening

Cue the shoulders down the back rather than up toward the ears, a common and unhelpful habit in backbends. Balance every deep backbend with a gentler, supported version afterward, Camel Pose followed by Bridge Pose works better than Camel Pose followed by standing up. Building a full class around this theme: the Sequence Builder lets you start from any of these poses and adjust hold times, order and how much standing versus floor work you want.

Build your own

Put together your own class for Heart Opening

The sequence builder gives you all 108 asanas and lets you arrange them yourself. While you build, it watches the shape of the class: whether the intensity rises and falls the way a practice should, whether every strong pose gets its counterpose, and whether the order makes anatomical sense.

Save what you build, come back to it, and teach it. It is the fastest way to turn what you just read into a class of your own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a yoga pose good for heart-opening?

Mostly backbends that lift and expose the chest, but also seated poses that ask for an upright, receptive posture rather than a curled, protective one. Both count as opening, just through different mechanisms.

Why are some seated poses, like Lotus or Butterfly, considered heart-openers?

Less about a direct stretch through the chest and more about the posture itself, sitting upright and open rather than slumped keeps the chest lifted for the whole time you hold the shape.

How long should I hold a heart-opening pose?

Five to eight breaths on the more intense backbends like Camel or Wheel Pose, longer on the gentler, supported ones like Bridge Pose or Heart-Melting Pose.

Are these poses suitable for beginners?

Yes, start with Easy Pose, Bridge Pose and Warrior I. Camel Pose and Wheel Pose further down are worth building toward gradually. This is general information, not medical advice. See the medical disclaimer.

Related Practices

Emotional Balance Self-Love & Self-Worth Chest Opening

Creator of this guide

Manish Rana

Founder of Asanaverse.de. Manish writes about yoga, Ayurveda and meditation, and owes his deep connection to yoga to his Indian roots. With over 1,000 hours of Yoga Alliance Teacher Training, he shares his knowledge with the community.

More about Manish →

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