3 Minutes in Banana Pose is the Ultimate Side Body Stretch

(Photo: Katie McGrath; Design in Canva) Katie McGrath is a certified yin yoga instructor. She leads classes on her YouTube channel, Yin Yoga with Katie, and offers invaluable advice on YJ as well. Here, she shares the side-opening power of one her favorite yin yoga poses. Think about how your body has moved today. You’ve probably hunched over a desk, a phone, a steering wheel, a sink. You’ve also likely twisted once or twice, reaching for something behind you. But, have you leaned properly to one side at a time? Most people haven’t. Not once, not in weeks. The spine moves in four directions: forward, backward, rotation or twisting, and side to side. The latter, lateral flexion, is the only movement that’s rarely performed ordinary life. It also tends to disappear from yoga classes, which lean heavily on forward folds, the same shape we’re already stuck in all day. Practicing the yin yoga pose known as Banana Pose (Bananasana) is the easiest correction available. You lie down, scooch your hands and feet to one side in the shape of the pose’s namesake, and wait. Just 3 minutes on each side is enough to make your ribs feel more open and your breathe feel even deeper. Lying on your back in Banana Pose with your body curved to one side lengthens the entire outer line of the torso: your obliques, your quadratus lumborum in your lower back, your latissimus dorsi running from your arm down to your spine, and your intercostal tissue between the ribs. If you cross your ankles, the outer hip and IT band come into play, too. This pose asks nothing of you in terms of strength or balance. Yin yoga poses are held long and passively so the load reaches connective tissue rather than muscle. This pose in particular requires only that you stay reasonably still. The shape should look like a shallow crescent, not a dramatic one. Come out slowly, and then do nothing for a full minute before you change sides. Lie flat and let the two halves of your body feel different from each other for a moment. That pause is part of the practice, not a gap between the real bits. Banana is a low impact, incredibly powerful pose. Here are some things to keep in mind as you practice. Your diaphragm attaches around the lower ribs. When you breathe in, the ribs need to move up, out, and sideways for the diaphragm to do its job well. If the tissues along one side of your rib cage is habitually shortened, the ribs don’t travel as far. The breath goes somewhere else instead, usually up into the chest and shoulders. Lengthening your side body doesn’t increase your lung capacity. What it does is take a restriction off the rib cage so the movement that’s already available to you becomes available again. You’ll often notice it most in the moment after you come out. Lie flat, breathe, and see whether one side of the ribcage feels more willing to expand than the other. The following tips can help guarantee that Banana Pose is adding to your yoga practice, rather than subtly straining your body. Sometimes, a pose just isn’t for you. Pay attention to these cues before practicing Banana Pose. Keep Exploring