Learn how to work the arms and chest in Tadasana

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In the previous post I have explained several exercises to work and learn to engage the feet, legs and pelvis, now I'm going to show how we can work our chest and arms in Tadasana (Mountain Pose).










  1. Firstly, with the arms in front of you wrap a belt around the forearms, in order to find the correct measure of the strap. So if you feel the pressure of the belt against the ribcages with the forearms touching the side ribs, you have the shoulder-width measure.
  2. After, remove the strap and send the arms back and wrapping the strap around the bones of the outer elbows behind you.
  3. Lift the side chest up and stretch the arms down, by moving them sideways, as you stretch the strap.
  4. Extend the palms and fingers down in line with the arms, pressing the thumb against the sideways of the hand, in order to engage the arms.
  5. If you don't feel comfortable with the strap, or you don't have one, you can also just interlock the fingers behind you, and when you lift the ribcage up, stretch the arms back and then down.


  • When you activate and press the arms against the strap this helps to move the shoulder blades in, opening the chest.








Placing a strap under the chest, help us to attain conscience of the placement of our rib cage.

  1. Loop a belt around the chest under the breast and fasten it. Then stand in Tadasana.
  2. In order to understand the placement of the rib cage, inhale and tuck the tailbone in. On exhale, do the opposite movement with the tailbone.
You can also lift the arms into Urdhva Hastasana.


The belt brings awareness towards the ribcage and also the shoulder blades, helping to keep the ribs in place and also a better engagement and alignment of the spine, activating the entire torso and top chest.

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