Relieve Tight Hips & Low Back | 22 min Therapeutic Yoga

A 22-min therapeutic yoga practice to release tight hips & lower back — and restore ease of movement.
As we age, dropping estrogen levels can bring extra tightness and stiffness to these areas. This practice addresses that with slow, controlled movements designed to help your fascia stay hydrated, encourage easier movement, and leave you feeling more comfortable in your body.
And an added benefit: slow mindful movement helps to regulate your nervous system so you feel calmer afterwards.

Transcript

Welcome, I'm Phyllis. Today we'll do some gentle movements to help ease hip tightness or stiffness. You might've noticed as you get older, Your hips, Other parts of your body feel a little tighter. Our estrogen levels decrease as we get older, Which can cause our fascia to become a little more sticky. So we'll work at some gentle movements to help release that. Today for props you're going to just need a big rolled up blanket or towel or bolster. And then a block. So we will start leaning back into our hands. And then taking the feet out a little wider. Let one knee come down, Let the other knee open out to the side. So both knees are going to go over to one side. Coming up. And then over to the other side. And coming up and over. Just a few more this way, Just moving. Nice and gentle. All right, The next time that you go over to one side, So I've gone over to my right. You're going to pick up your left hand then, So that back hand, And it's going to sweep across like you're slicing through the horizon. Go to the back, A little twist to the back, And then take that arm, Open it, And make a big rainbow shape. And then do that again, Sweep across. So we're targeting here our hips, Our spine, And our shoulders. Of the fascia is one big connective tissue. Matrix or web throughout our whole body. And then bring that back arm down now and you're going to switch over to the other side. So just taking your legs over, You can prop yourself up as needed. Open. I also have a variation here if you like in the chair. So you might want to check out that video of the variation for hips. In the chair. All right, Last one here. And then coming down. All right, The next time we're going to go back over to that right side. So now you have that right leg forward, Left leg back. Again, You can prop your hips up if you need to. And then you're going to take your hands to that front shin and walk out a little bit. This is a variation of pigeon. You could take your block here if you like and let your arms just rest on the block or you could be up on your hands or you could be lower down. So you're going to feel. Gentle stretch, It should feel gentle in the hips. That front leg. And then coming up. Switching over to the other side. Again, You can grab onto that block if you want. So you're in the front of that shin. So I'm not at the thigh. I'm not in a twist here. So I don't want to twist to the back. I'm just going leaning right over. And then coming up. Just removing that block and then just coming back to center. Then we'll take our legs, Bring them in towards each other first, So crossing them over. Again, Prop yourself up if you need to. Just do a few stirs with the upper body around. And as you begin to stir, You might want to lead with the heart forward as you come across. And then you can round the spine as you go back. So as you lean forward, Leading with the heart. And then exhale back. Let's go the other way, Inhale. Rounding. Last one here. And then coming up and then take one arm and just let it rest on the thigh just kind of below the knee or above the knee. We're not going to really put too much pressure in it. So I want you to just, You're gently going to put a little bit of pressure in. I lied there. A little bit of pressure. And then you're just going to turn to the other side. And then switch other sides. You're just adding that little bit of pressure, And then you're looking towards the other side. You'll feel that around the shoulder all the way down the back to the hip. And then another option, You can keep the legs crossed or open them a little bit more. This can feel a little more intense, So just be mindful. So if the legs are open a little more, You're still gonna lean on one side and then look down. Towards the other side. Coming back. Lean on the other side. Look down towards the opposite knee. And then come back to center. All right, Bring the feet up or the knees up and then tuck the legs underneath you. We're gonna come to all fours. If being on your hands doesn't work, You could have your big bolster here in front of you, And you could have your forearms on the bolster. So just start by taking the hips to one side and looking over the opposite shoulder. Feel that all the way along the side of the body and then go the other way. Taking the hips over to one side, Looking over the opposite shoulder. Feel the whole side body. Do one more each way. And now moving through Cat Cow. What I want you to do first before we go into what we call cow, It's going to have, You're going to have the tops of your feet down onto the floor. Start to tip the tailbone up starting to look forward a little bit so you'll feel the back arch but I want you to feel the whole front body so we have this fascia line in the front of the body, Right from the tops of the feet up to the chin if you can feel that. And then you're going to curl the toes under, Take an exhale, Start to tuck the tailbone. Feel that now in the whole back body all the way up to the head. So from the soles of the feet all the way up to the head. And then inhale, Flatten the top parts of the feet out. If that causes you pain to look forward, Just look towards the front of your mat. Or even keep your gaze down if that feels better. And now start to add all those movements together. So start to take your hips over to one side. Rounding the spine, Hips go over to the other side, And then letting the back arch. So stirring the upper body around. And then go the other way. So when we target the hips. It's kind of unavoidable that we're going to target also the spine and the shoulders. So everything is connected and the shoulders and the hips are the main joints that come off that spine. All right, And then come right back to center. Take one leg, You're going to extend it out to the side. Now if it feels better for you to have it back a little bit, That's okay. And you could still keep your arms here on the forearms on a prop if you need to. It gets a little bit more intense as your arms come down right to the floor. So you might want to be propped up if being on your hands doesn't work. So you're gonna take your hips back a little bit, Feel this around the inner thigh and the muscles that connect all the way up to the pelvic floor. And then just do one more. And back, And then bring that knee in, Take the other leg out. Again, Adjust the leg as you need to. And then you're just going to gently bring your hips back. Always avoiding any pain or any strain. Last one. And then coming back in, Bring the knees in. This time we're going to take the knees a little bit wider apart. And you're going to take the bolster or the prop, Whatever you have in front of you. Also an option to place something beneath or between your thighs and your calves. That can also help for your hips to support them. Otherwise, We're going to take ourselves back and let your chest rest on the bolster. So I have kind of a smaller one here. It's a homemade one. I'm going to just support my head here with my hands. Or you can take it forward a little bit. You can even turn your head to one side. And then if you had your head turned to one side, Just turn it to the other side. And then coming back up from that. So remove that prop from you. Keep your hips back or wherever they're comfortable. You're gonna take your hands and walk them off the mat over to one side. And I'm up on my fingertips. And then I'm gonna tip one shoulder up, One shoulder down. And then tip the other shoulder up, Other shoulder down. Do that again. And then walking your hands back to center, Over to the other side. Again, One shoulder up, One down. This should feel nice around the spine, Around the hips. And the shoulders. All right, And then walking your hands back to center. Coming back to all fours, We're going to take one leg forward. Stepping it forward and you could use blocks on either side of you if that feels better to have your hands up higher. Otherwise, We're just going to do a little lunge forward. You could also have a little extra cushioning underneath your knees. So I have a carpet and a mat, So I already have a little extra cushioning. Otherwise, If I just have a hardwood floor and a mat, I usually do add a little extra cushioning for my knees. We're just shifting back and lifting the toes. And then shifting forward into a lunge. And let's do one more here. The next time you're going to come forward, You're going to bring both hands to the inside of that front leg and then walk that foot out towards the edge of the mat. Walk your hands in towards that foot. And then just do a little. Shift there and back. It just kind of changes it a little bit. You don't have to go very big for this one. And then walking your hands back, Walk that foot back underneath you, And then take that leg behind you. Step the other leg forward, So you can use your hand to help assist it going forward. And then from here, We're just going to hinge forward. And then hinging back, Maybe lifting those toes. You can take the hands with you so the hands could walk back with you. Or the hands can just stay at the front, Your choice. If it feels too much, Then you just bring your hands back with you. All right, The next time, Stay there. Bring that outside hand to the inside of that front leg. Heel toe that foot out just a little to the right. Edge of the mat. And then a little lunge forward. A little shift back. So these are smaller now. Last one here. And then come back to center. All right, Walk that foot back in. Take that leg back And then we're going to come up and grab onto your. Nice big rolled up towel or blanket. So you do want it a little higher up to help support. If you need something even higher, You can use something higher and then grab a block. So we can first start by just doing a one leg squat. Now, If you don't need that bolster underneath you, You don't have to use that, But this can be a nice way to start to get into your hips if doing a full squat doesn't work. Just notice how that feels on that side. And then you're just gonna switch, Take the other leg. Adjust yourself if you need to. Ah, Breathe. So if that feels okay for you. You can keep alternating or take both legs out. So again, Having our hips propped up can make this a lot more accessible than thinking we need to just be in a squat without any support for the pelvis. So this is still very beneficial. Take another deep inhale. And exhale. All right from here, Bend one leg. You're going to take the other leg and extend it out so it is out from you, Not forward, It's out from the side. And then take that block that you had. I'm going to just place it around the thigh at the highest height. But first just start to flex and point that foot. And then rotate that foot out and in. So feel how this comes from that hip joint internally rotating out, Externally rotating out. One more. Right, And then from here, You're going to take that same elbow and let it rest on the block. So if ever you get to a point where you feel like, Yeah, That's enough for me, You're just going to stay there so you don't have to go any further. Another option would be to let your head lean on that hand and the other hand can go to the back of the hip. So you could stay there. Or you could take that top arm maybe and reach it all the way up and over. And how that feels. You might even want to look up a little bit, You can even take the hand off the head off the hand or just keep the fingers kind of lightly supporting the head. And then coming back, Bring that arm down. Coming all the way up. Let's bring that leg in and we're just going to switch to the other side. So block goes by the thigh. And then elbow down, See how that feels. You can adjust where the block is. You could take it out further if you want more. So their hand can go to the hip. Head can maybe rest. And then the next option would be to take that arm and extend it over. Feel that opening on the side of the body. Next option would be to maybe look up underneath that hand. So you're looking up to the ceiling. You have any neck issues that might not feel good to do for your neck, So just keep your gaze forward, Keep the head supported then, So very important. Keeping that head supported. All right, And then you're just gonna bring that arm down and coming all the way up. All right, For our last one, We have a resting, A restorative pose. You're going to take that blanket, Unfold it. This is to allow the body to let go. And I'm going to give you a few different options. So this is going to, The blanket is going to be unfolded, But we still have a little bit of height and we're just bringing our hips or pelvis down onto that. And then option two, Cross your forearms over each other and let your head rest. On the forearms. Now I have my head turned to the left side. So whichever way you have your head turned to, There is an option to take that same knee and slide it up. You might even want to place it on that blanket if you want, Or just slide it up a little bit. If this doesn't feel good, Then just omit. Raising the leg up. So right now we want to allow the body to let go. This pose can help too. Release tension as long as we don't feel tension in this pose. So adjust yourself if you do. If it doesn't feel restored before you adjust. So it might even feel better for you to have your forehead resting on your forearms. Instead of your head turned to one side. Feel the breath moving through the body. Allow the body to sink into the mat. We'll stay here for a few more breaths. And then if you had that leg bent, You're just going to slide it out long. Bring your head back to centre first. Let both legs extend out. Let your forehead Rest on the forearms. And then take your head perhaps and turn it to the other side. And then whichever side your head is turned to, You're going to take that leg. And slide it up. You might even wanna lift it onto that support. If that doesn't feel good, Just slide it up a little bit. You don't have to go far. And bring your awareness to your breath. Notice the back body expanding. As you inhale. And the whole body softening and letting go on the exhale. And then if you had your knee up to the side, You're going to slide the leg out, Bring your forehead back down so the head is at center again. Take two breaths here. You're welcome to stay here longer if this heals. Nourishing for you. Or we're gonna start to bring the hands underneath the shoulders, Curl the toes under. Gently pressing yourself back up to all fours. You might want to take a moment in child's pose again. And then bringing yourself up. Sitting however it's comfortable. I'm just going to sit on my blanket right now. It's right here. And then we're gonna bring the palms together, Rub them together, Get some heat in our palms. And then we're gonna cup the palms over the eyes. Take a nice deep inhale. And then exhale out through the mouth. Let's do that one more time, Rubbing the palms together. And cupping the palms over the eyes, Nice deep inhale here. And exhale. Bring the palms together, Thumbs to the heart center, Just bow down towards your fingertips. Thanking your body. That is able to move. Thanking your mind. And your spirit. Open up your eyes. Thank you for joining me. Until next time, Feel free to check out my other videos I have to support your well being.