One teacher went so far as to tell me that she had consulted a physical therapist about my “misalignment” and he had informed her that possible causes included “stenosis, a birth defect, dysfunctional breathing patterns, and weak abdominals.” Some offered suggestions on how I could correct my rib flare. Dozens of teachers commented that they had also felt berated because of the position of their ribs, shoulders, or pelvis and consequently they were afraid to take privates from teachers they didn’t know.Ī small percentage of teachers missed what I was trying to say. This prompted me to share my story on social media to start a discussion around the topic. I began to think that if I felt uncomfortable advocating for myself in this setting, then other clients might have had similar experiences. At the end of the session, my ribs were down, but my body felt terrible and I had a headache. Her response was, “I’ll make your ribs go down.” For the next hour, she proceeded to give me a session that was almost exclusively thoracic flexion exercises. I also informed her that large amounts of thoracic flexion often trigger headaches for me. Since I understood what she was trying to do, I told her that if she wanted my ribs to settle, we could either mobilize my spine or simply let it be and either way, by the end of the session my ribs would look far less flared. When she began reaching for extra pillows, I politely informed her that having my head propped at that height was uncomfortable for my neck.

When I was unable to do this to her liking, she propped my head as high as the reformer would allow. The moment I started footwork, the teacher became fixated on getting back of my ribs and bra line to press into the carriage. I recently experienced this when I took a private while traveling.

Rib flare