The best thing about binds? They’re the perfect remedy for hunched over, rounded shoulders. “The…

The best thing about binds? They’re the perfect remedy for hunched over, rounded shoulders. “The shoulder opening that you get from binding is unlike anything else,” says Miller. “The way that binds pull that top shoulder back and really opens it up and externally rotates it can’t be matched.” Cooke adds that because binding opens up your chest towards the sky, you’re really “elongating the spine and rolling your shoulders back,” which is particularly helpful if you’re working on a computer all day long.

Even though binds are somewhat advanced, you can get similar effects by using a strap as a modification tool. “If your limbs aren’t connecting, you can take a strap in one hand and try to lengthen it out to the other and grab hold,” says Cooke. “It acts as an extension of the limb.” However you get into the position, note that it’s really important to warm your muscles (and shoulders) up before doing so, and to make sure you’re in proper alignment. “If the rest of your body is falling out of alignment just so that you can get your fingertips together, that misses the point—you don’t want to close the ribcage,” says Miller, who recommends skipping it if this is happening

A yoga bind pose involves taking one hand over one part of your body, and holding it with your other hand that is wrapped around the other side of your body. Examples would be interlacing your hands behind your knee in a twist. “There are a lot of different binds you can do, but they all do the same thing,”