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Trans (BINDER) yoga

Individuals wearing binders are prone to upper body issues. Shoulder and neck problems are very common among binder-wearers, as is scoliosis. If you do wear a binder, it is beneficial to not only give it a break when you're alone, but to counteract the negative physical effects with some targeted poses. 

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Below are some effective chest openers. Some of these are more intense and require a 5-10 minute warm up consisting of gentle body stretching - some examples would be sun salutations, child's pose, and cat/cow. 

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BRIDGE POSE (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)​

  1. ​Lie on your back, bend your knees and place feet flat on the mat, hip width apart. Place hands alongside the body with the palms facing down. The fingertips should be lightly touching the heels.

  2. Press the feet into the floor, inhale and lift the hips up, gently rolling the spine off the floor. Lightly squeeze the knees together to keep the knees hip width apart.

  3. Press down into the arms and shoulders to lift the chest up. 

  4. Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.

  5. To release: exhale and slowly roll the spine back to the floor.

  6. Use a yoga block under the hips if more support is needed. ​

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HALF LORD OF THE FISHES POSE (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

  1. From Staff Pose (sitting on the ground with back erect and legs straight out in front of you on the floor), bend your left knee and bring the sole of your left foot to the floor on the outside of your right thigh.

  2. Bend your right knee and tuck your right foot in near your left buttock.

  3. Inhale and bring your right arm straight up beside your right ear.

  4. Exhale and twist your torso to the left, bringing your right elbow to the outside of your left knee and the left palm to the floor just behind your sit bones.

  5. Take your gaze over your left shoulder, but don’t strain the neck; the twist comes from your belly, not your neck.

  6. On each inhale, draw the spine up tall. On each exhale, deepen the twist a little.

  7. Be sure to keep the sole of your left foot firmly planted flat on the floor.

  8. When you release the pose, take a slight twist to the opposite direction as a counter pose.

  9. Release the legs and switch their position as you prepare to twist to the other side.

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INCLINED PLANE (Purvottasana)

  1. Sit tall with your legs on the floor straight in front of you.

  2. Place your arms behind your hips with your fingers pointed forward.

  3. Begin to lean back into the palms.

  4. Inhale and press down into the palms to lift the hips up toward the ceiling. As the hips lift, engage the legs by pulling up the kneecaps and squeezing the thighs.

  5. Press the bottoms of the feet flat down into the floor, gently squeeze the buttocks  4. Draw the shoulder blades together to lift up through the chest.

  6. Align the body from the toes to the shoulders in one straight line. If it feels safe you can carefully drop the head back.

  7. Breathe and hold for 2-6 breaths.

  8. To release: slowly exhale the hips back to the floor.

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