Bridge Pose for Tight Shoulders | Yoga to Transform
Oct 16, 2026
How to open your chest in bridge pose (without crunching your lower back)
It’s mid-afternoon. You’ve been at your laptop since 8.30, answering emails, sitting in meetings, eating lunch at your desk. When you finally stand up to put the jug on, your shoulders have rolled forward and your chest feels like it’s folded in on itself.
We see this body in nearly every class we teach. It’s the modern posture. Head forward, shoulders round, breath stuck somewhere up near the collarbones.
Our latest class on YouTube works towards Setu Bandhasana, or bridge pose, and it’s built for exactly that body.
The turtle shell
Here’s something to notice next time you do cat-cow.
As you round into cat, your shoulder blades spread wide and your upper back hardens. It’s the shape of a turtle pulling into its shell. Protected. Defended.
As you move into cow, your shoulder blades come together on your back and your chest softens forward. The front of your body opens.
Most of us spend the working day in the shell. And when we come to the mat and try a backbend, we tend to carry that shape with us.
Why your lower back takes over
The lower back is the most mobile part of the spine. Ask it to bend and it says yes straight away. So when most people lift into a backbend, the bend happens low, and the lower back takes the load.
The chest opens from higher up. Your shoulder blades sit on the back of your ribs, and their bottom tips line up roughly with the bottom of your breastbone. When those tips press in and up, they lift the chest from behind. That’s where we want the bend to come from.
Four actions to try right now
You can do these sitting at your desk. Clasp your hands behind your back if that feels good, or simply let your arms hang.
- Lengthen from your hips to your shoulders, so your side body grows long.
- Broaden across your collarbones, from the middle of your chest out to the front of each shoulder.
- Roll the heads of your arm bones back, so your shoulder blades settle down your back.
- Press the bottom tips of your shoulder blades together and let them lift your chest towards the ceiling.
Take a breath there. Notice how the front of your body feels when the back body is doing the work.
These are the same four actions we use in every pose in the class, from dolphin to extended side angle to bridge.
Bridge pose, step by step
Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart and close to your seat. Bend your elbows so your fingers point to the ceiling, and set up the four actions before you lift anything.
Press down through your feet and upper arms and lift your hips. Roll a little higher onto the tops of your arms, and press the back of your head (just above where the skull meets the neck) into the mat.
Then keep lengthening from your hips to your shoulders, and use the tips of your shoulder blades to move your chest towards your chin. Your heart leads. Your lower back follows.
If your hips feel heavy, slide two blocks under your sacrum for a supported version. From there you can try lifting one leg at a time towards the ceiling while the chest stays lifted.
Open to grace
The theme of this class is opening to receive love. It comes from the first principle of Anusara yoga, open to grace.
In class this week we’ve been asking students to repeat one line after us: I love life as it is.
That can feel tender to say out loud. Most of us carry a running list of things that should have gone differently. The conversation we wish we’d handled better. The person who let us down. The outcome we didn’t get. Each time we go there, we close a little. The chest folds, the shoulders come forward, and we’re back in the shell.
The practice on the mat gives you a body version of staying open. Strong legs underneath you. Shoulder blades supporting you from behind. A chest that stays soft and lifted even when the pose gets hard.
Over time that shape can come off the mat with you.
Practise with us
Grab two blocks and roll out your mat. The full class is on our YouTube channel, and it includes a lovely supported chest opener lying over the blocks that may become your new favourite end to the working day.
Next time you stand up from your laptop at 3pm, try the four actions before you reach for the jug. Shoulders back, collarbones wide, chest lifted. Then press play.
Watch the full bridge pose class on YouTube, or join us in the studio in Christchurch. Find our timetable at yogatotransform.com
If you would like to know more about our services including our courses, workshops, coaching or retreats then click here
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