6 Benefits of Heart Openers

In yoga, heart openers are also referred to as backbends. There are dozens of benefits of these poses not just physically but also mentally and spiritually. Today we are going to focus more on the physical benefits from reversing bad posture and strengthening your spine, to breathing better and feeling love. Let’s dive into the 6 benefits of heart-opening yoga poses.

Healthy Spine
These yoga postures are meant to expand your thoracic cavity. The lack of this expansion over time results in lower back and neck pain from the cervical and lumbar regions overcompensating for the lack of movement in your mid back.

Flexible Rib Cage
Expanding your heart space essentially allows your ribs to stretch out as well. The result of flexible rib cage allows increased blood flow to the heart and the ability to breathe deeper, taking in more air at a time.  

Experience Better Breathing
Expanding your rib cage and improving the flexibility of your lungs ensures more air with each inhale and exhale. Not only do longer, deeper breaths help your practice performance for each asana, but it also aids with decreased anxiety, improved sleep quality, energy levels, and digestion.

Reverse Bad Posture
Shoulder tightness, hunching forward, and extending our neck out of line with our spine are all resulting issues from bad posture. Backbends, or heart openers, counteract the effects of bad posture.   

Create Anatomical Balance
We forward fold more than any other body movement. If you think about creating that balance, our own yin and yang to the body, backbends present our body with the alternative movement to counteract the effects of one-sided mobility. By keeping a harmonized practice, you’ll ensure balance on and off the mat.

Give & Feel More Love
When the heart, and the heart’s space, is open, we feel more love. In response to being more open to receiving love, naturally, we are also able to share this feeling with others.