10 Essential Stretches for Your (Overlooked) Mid Back

You probably already stretch to ease your stiff low back, aching neck, or cranky hamstrings. But there’s a part of the body that’s easily overlooked compared to these more obvious places you experience tightness. And relatively few stretches tend to isolate these ignored muscles. Which means you need mid-back stretches that specifically target the places most stretches neglect.

How to Stretch the Mid Back

Thanks to its attachments to the rib cage, the thoracic spine, or mid back, is inherently less moveable than the lumbar spine below it and cervical spine above it. But there are specific movements that it does well, namely, side bends and twists.

These mid-back stretches ease tension and rigidity in the thoracic spine. They also decrease the demand on the surrounding muscle groups, including the shoulders and neck, by not forcing them to compensate for a lack of mobility in the thoracic area.

10 Essential Mid Back Stretches

A mid-back mobility practice like the one below probably doesn’t look as impressive or feel as intense as some of the stretches you commonly practice. But that doesn’t mean they don’t hold tremendous potential for making your everyday movements easier.

1. Seated Twists

Find a comfortable seat, whether on a chair, couch, floor, or cushion. Lift your arms to shoulder height, bend your elbows, and bring your forearms parallel to the floor, palms facing down. Keep your navel and face pointing forward as you draw in around the waist and turn your chest toward the right. Return to center and repeat the twist to your left.

Keep rotating your rib cage from side to side, sitting tall to focus the movement on your mid-back and shoulder rather than your low back and neck. Find a pace that feels comfortable, repeating the twist 10-12 times on each side. Then come back to center and let your arms rest at your sides.

2. Tabletop Side Bends

Make your way onto your hands and knees. You can kneel on a folded blanket or towel or the short end of the mat folded onto itself. Take a breath in as you lengthen from your head to sit bones. As you exhale, look over your right shoulder and pivot on your knees to swing your feet and shins toward the right. Inhale to return to center. Then exhale as you side bend in the same way on your left. Move with your breath a few times, alternately squeezing your side ribs and side waist in a C curve, and then allow them to fan open as you switch sides.

3. Kneeling Cat and Cow

Make your way onto your hands and knees and sit your hips back onto your heels or onto a block placed between your heels. Keep your chest lifted and your arms straight with your hands on the mat in front of your shoulders. As you breathe in, imagine dragging your hands toward your knees without moving them at the same time that you pull your chest forward between your upper arms and gently arch your mid-back like in Cow Pose.

As you breathe out, imagine sliding your hands away from your knees without moving them as you round your mid-back and draw your shoulder blades away from each other as you would in Cat Pose. Repeat the gentle forward and backward flow a few times.

4. Thread the Needle

Make your way onto hands and knees. As you breathe in, shift your weight into your right hand and reach your left hand toward the ceiling, turning your chest toward the left. As you exhale, sweep your left hand underneath you and behind your right hand, turning your chest toward the right and letting your left shoulder and ear or cheek lightly touch the mat. Inhale and repeat the sweeping motion toward the left. Repeat several times, moving with the rhythm of your breath. Keep your hips fairly still and level to focus the movement on your shoulders and mid back. Return to hands and knees and repeat on your other side.

5. Low Lunge Twists

Come into a Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana) alongside a blank wall with your left foot forward and right knee back. You want to be close enough to the wall that your left outer hip and thigh can press against it.

Stack your shoulders over your hips and extend your arms straight in front of you at shoulder height, palms touching. Breathe in as you reach through the top of your head. Breathe out as you sweep your left arm up and back, tracing a semicircle on the wall as your chest twists to the left. Keep your hips stable to focus the movement on your shoulders and mid-back. As you breathe in again, reverse the movement to return to your starting position, finishing with your palms touching again.

On your next exhalation, swap sides and sweep your right arm to the right, rotating your chest to the right. Inhale to return to your starting position. Repeat the whole sequence several times with your breath. When you are ready to move on, turn 180 degrees to set up in a low lunge with your right foot forward and right hip against the wall, to repeat the flow on your second side.

6. Low Lunge Side Bends

Come into a Low Lunge alongside a blank wall with your left foot forward and right knee back, close enough that your left outer hip and thigh can press into the wall. Place a block or water bottle on the right side of the mat in line with your hip.

Place your left hand on your left knee or thigh and reach your right arm overhead to brush your fingertips against the wall. Breathe in and feel your right side body stretch. Breathe out and keep your left hip against the wall as you sweep your right hand down and out to the side, exhaling as you reach for your block, water bottle, or mat.

Inhale as you sweep your left arm overhead, breathing into your left side body. Exhale as you lift back up to your starting position. Flow from side to side, moving with the cadence of your breath, several times. Keep your hips fairly steady to focus the movement on your side body and shoulders. When you are ready to swap sides, turn 180 degrees to set up in a Low Lunge with your right foot forward and right hip against the wall.

7. Extended Side Angle with Thread the Needle Arms

From Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), step your left foot forward toward the front of the mat. Angle your back foot out and ground your heel, then lift partway and turn your chest toward the right in Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana) with your left forearm on your left thigh. Bend your right elbow and cradle the back of your head in your right hand.

As you breathe in, take your right shoulder blade and elbow behind you and turn your chest toward the right. As you exhale, curl your right elbow down toward your left hand and spread your shoulder blades across your mid back. Move between the two positions a few times, keeping your lower body stable to isolate the movement in your right shoulder and mid back.

When you’re ready, step your back foot forward into a Standing Forward Bend as a counter pose. Then plant your palms on the mat and return to Downward Dog before repeating on the other side.

8. Revolved Triangle with Bow and Arrow Arms

Stand at the front of your mat with a block in your right hand. Shift your weight into your left foot and step your right foot back about 3 feet in a Warrior stance, turning your right foot out enough to ground your heel. Your feet should be hip distance apart. Hinge forward at your hips and place the block on the mat under your right shoulder, roughly in line with your left foot, on whatever level feels most supportive. Bring your left hand to the inner edge of the block.

Take a breath in as you extend from your crown to your sit bones. As you exhale, imagine drawing a bow with your left arm by bending your left elbow, pulling your arm back, and turning your chest toward the left as you reach your hand toward the ceiling in . As you inhale, return your left hand to the block. Repeat the “bow and arrow” movement a few times with your breath, visualizing your left arm and shoulder almost spiraling around your rib cage.

When you’re ready, press down through your left foot and lift your chest. Then step your right foot forward to the front of the mat and repeat on your other side.

9. Supported Fish Pose

Sit on your mat with a couple yoga blocks behind you. Place them horizontal across the mat, with the block closest to you on the lowest level and the other block on medium level. Lean back onto your elbows and forearms and reposition the blocks so the one closest to you supports your mid-back at the bottom of your shoulder blades and the other block supports the base of your skull.

Lean back and allow the blocks to support your weight. Drape your arms wide, lengthen your sacrum to release the arch of your low back, and extend your legs in a supported version of Fish Pose (Matsyasana). Take a few deep breaths here to reset your posture and expand across your chest. Though it’s natural for your thoracic spine to curl forward, imagine that forward curve easing slightly in this supported back bend.

When you feel ready, tuck your chin toward your chest, bring your arms close to your sides, and press down through your elbows to lift yourself off your blocks.

10. Reclined Twists

Lie down on your left side, perhaps with a folded blanket or towel under the side of your head if that feels more comfortable. Bring your bent knees to hip height and place a block or firm cushion between them so your legs are supported hip-distance apart.

Then stretch your arms straight in front of your chest, palms touching. As you breathe in, sweep your right arm toward the ceiling and then to the right side, turning your chest toward the ceiling as you ease into a variation of Reclined Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana). You want to feel the rotation in your mid back, chest, and right shoulder instead of your low back. Let your right hip turn slightly with you if that helps you feel the rotation.

As you exhale, return to your starting position. Flow back and forth a few times and then linger in the twist for a few breaths. When you’re ready, return to your left side. Then roll over and repeat on your other side.

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