This is a practice for you to stretch the lower body. Yang and Yin styles of practices were combined to actively stretch initially and slow down towards the end. Perfect for after workouts, sitting for long periods and travelling.
Meet your Teacher
Montreal, Canada
Transcript
Hey everyone, Welcome to the practice. This is a flow in yin practice for you to open up the legs and the hips. This practice can be done after a workout or after a long day of sitting so that you can feel release in the lower back, Hips and the legs. And this is a great practice for premeditation as well. So let's start in child's pose. Bring big toes, Touch, Knees apart, Extend the arms forward towards the front of the mat, Rest your forehead down. And for now, You can let your forearms and the elbows rest onto the ground to simply arrive on your mat. If it helps you, Exhale through the mouth a few times. And now begin to press into your hands. Move your hands forward towards the front of the mat. Lift your forearms and elbows off the ground and firmly press the hands into the ground. Imagine the breath is not only entering into the belly in between the thighs, But also the side of the body and the back of the body as well. And push into your hands, Elevate your hips off the heels. Bring your hands underneath the shoulders, Knees underneath the hips. Point the toes towards the back of the mat and step the right toes back towards the back of the mat. Tuck the toes under and press the right heel back. Feel the calf opening, The back of the right leg opens and bring the right knee down. Step the left foot, Left toes back. Tuck the left toes under and push the left heel back towards the back of the mat. And slowly bring both knees down, Hands down. And let's do Cat-Cow. Inhale, Tip the pelvis forward, Open the belly, Open the chest and gaze up. Exhale, Scoop the tail round the spine and look inward. Again, Inhale, Arch the spine, Open the chest and look up. Exhale, Scoop the tail round the spine and look in. One more. Inhale, Arch the spine, Open the chest and look up. Exhale, Scoop the tail round the spine to look in. Inhale, Come to your neutral spine. Come to 45, 45 with the right leg forward. So bring the right knee behind the right wrist. Adjust your right shin parallel to the front edge of the mat. Glide the left knee to the sole of the right foot. Press into the fingers to the floor around your outer hips and your left leg. Inhale to lengthening through the spine. And exhale, Lean your torso forward, Hinge from the hips and bow. You can bow as far as it will go for you. You want to feel a good sensation into the outer right hip. And then from your inhale, Come on back up. So here you may need to use your hands to push yourself up. So you're going to stand on your right knee, Right shin and left knee. Take the left hand on top of your left thigh. Reach your right arm up and then exhale. Lean your torso over to the left for a side stretch. And inhale, Bring your torso back up. Exhale, Send your bum back and down and forward, Fold over to your right shin. Inhale, Lift your bum off the ground. Come on back up into vertical. Exhale, Take the left hand down on top of your left thigh, Behind the left thigh and lean your torso over to the right. Inhale back up. Exhale, Hands down, Hinge from the hips and bow. Last time, Inhale, Lift your bum off the ground, Left hand down, Reach the right arm up, Inhale. Exhale, Lean your torso over to the right and come on back up. Inhale, Exhale. Slowly bring your bum down. Bring your right hand behind you on the floor, Left hand on top of the right knee. Inhale, Lengthening. Exhale, Begin to twist your body over to the right. And slowly come back to the center and simply swapping your legs. So bring your left shin forward towards the front edge of the mat. Point the right toes back towards the back of the mat. Frame your hip and your right leg with both hands. Inhale to lengthening 45, 45, Left shin forward. Exhale to forward fold. Feeling the outer left hip opens. And inhale slowly, Come on back up. Exhale, Push into your shins and lift your bum off the ground. Take your right hand down, Left arm up. Inhale, Exhale, Lean your torso over towards the right. Inhale, Back up. Exhale, Bum back and forward fold. Inhale up. Exhale, Left arm up and over and lean over to the right. Inhale, Back up. Exhale, Lean your hips back, Forward fold. Inhale, Back up, Right hand down. Exhale, Reach the left arm up and over. And slowly come back. Take the hands down onto the mat. Shift your knees back into your tabletop position. So I moved myself towards the front of the mat. Come to the center of the mat if you if you move like me and take your right hand closer to your left hand and step the right foot, Outer right palm. Turn the right foot out 45 degree angle and start to circle your hips. You can keep your right toes turning outward to the right. Walk your hands in a diagonal over to the left and send your bum over towards the right. If you want, You can come down onto your left forearm and take a giant step with the right hand. And slowly walk your hands down underneath the shoulders. Walk your right foot back to the center of the mat. Inhale, Stretch the heart forward as you're lengthening the spine and lower the left thigh. Exhale, Send your hips back to straighten the right leg. Lift your toes up. And pull the toes towards your face. Keep the left hand down or right hand onto your low back. Inhale to lengthening. Exhale, Begin to twist your body over to your right. You can stretch the right arm up towards the sky and look up. Inhale deeply. Exhale, Hands down. Bend the right knee. Step the right knee back into your table. Take the left hand and closer to your right hand and step the left foot, Outer left palm and turn the left foot out. Forty five degree angle and circle the hips. Allowing yourself to mobilize the hip joint on the left side. Go to the opposite direction. And slowly come to your neutral spine and walk your hands in a diagonal over to the right. You can come down onto your right forearm and move your left hand about a hand away from your left hip. And slowly come back to the center. Inhale, Exhale, Hips back and straighten the left leg. Flex the left foot. Push the left thigh away. Notice if the left thigh want to knock inwards towards the ribcage as much as you can. Flex the left foot and push the left thigh away as if you want to press into the pinky toe edge of the left foot. Inhale, Exhale, Left foot, Toes facing towards the face. Inhale to lengthening. And exhale and fold. And breathing here for another three. Two. And slowly bend the left knee. Inhale, Step the left knee back into your table. Shift your feet over to your side. Bring your buttock down onto the mat. Bring your legs in wide V position. So that could be more like a narrow V, Depending on how you want to feel the stretch into the inner thighs. So we're going to stay here for about three minutes. So if you know that if you open your legs quite wide and it's going to be intense, Then please bring your legs closer. You can have the blocks in front of you. Inhale to lengthening. And exhale. Walk your elbows forward away from the pelvis. And let your head soften. Relax your jaw. You may be feeling this stretch in your back. Into the inner thigh. And also, You may be feeling the stretch into the lower back region as you forward fold. You may notice the heat building up into the lower back and that heating sensation is spreading across the lower back. The lower back is like a intricate spider web, Connective tissue overlapping with one another. So as we stay here long, There is a feeling of hydration, Bringing energy and fluid back into the area that we may feel stagnant. So send your breath there. In the lower back region. And finding 60 to 70 percent of the stretch as you stay here. If the mind wanders around, Coming back to the breath. Just a few more seconds here. Take an inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Slowly take your hands underneath the shoulders, Lift yourself back up. You can push the blocks to the side, Take the hands outside of your legs and gently bring your legs together. So we did a lot of outer hip opening and in the back of the leg opening, We haven't got it to the front of the thigh. So we'll come into supta virasana, Reclining hero pose, Half hero pose, Ardha virasana. So some of you, You may need to sit on to a folded blanket or block and you might need to have a slope behind you with a bolster or more cushions. Lean over to your left leg, Bend the right knee and point the right toes back towards the front or the back of the mat. Your left heel, Right heel is crossing over the outer right hip. Take the left hand behind you, Both hands behind you. Inhale to lengthening. And in exhale, Push into the hands so that you can lift your bum off the ground and tuck the pelvis under. This may intensify the stretch. If you feel like there's a lot of stretch into the front of the right thigh, Please stay here. If you want, I'm gonna have two blocks behind me to go back. If you want, You can start to recline. We'll stay here for about a minute and a half each to feel the front of the right ankle and front of the right thigh opens. This is nice because not only you feel the opening into the thigh, Right thigh, But when you recline and if you have blocks like me underneath the shoulder blade and underneath the head, Or if you have a bolster behind you, Cushions behind you, You may feel a sense of chest opening, Shoulder openings here. You may be feeling a lot of sensation here or a subtle sensation here. Again, You wanna go to the place where you find your stretch about 60 to 70% where you can comfortably breathe. Without building too much tension in your jaw, In your eyes, In your forehead. Take a deep breath in through the nose. Slide the hands next to your hips. Tuck the chin, Lift your head, Push into your hands and rise up all the way. Lean over to your left leg and slide the right leg forward. And go to the opposite direction. Bend the left knee, Point the left toes back. Hands press into the ground, Inhale to lengthening. Exhale, Begin to recline. Turn the palm facing up. You may notice one side feels more or less. For me, This side feels a lot more sensation than the right side, But still staying 60 to 70%. A minute and a half here. See if there's any area of the body that you can relax a little further. Maybe the shoulders, Maybe the chest. Even we may feel that we're completely relaxed. There's some parts of the body that we're still holding the tension. If you notice that, See if you can relax into it. Take an inhale through the nose. And exhale through the nose. Slide the hands next to your body. Tuck the chin, Press into your hands to lift yourself back up. Lean over to the right, Slide the left leg forward. And come into a comfortable seat. Close your eyes or soften the gaze. Sending gratitude to yourself that you carve out the time to practice today. Fold the palms together at the heart center. I bow to you. Namaste.
