Release Your Hips and Lower Back

Through mindful yoga movements and supportive breath, you’ll begin by releasing tension in the hips, legs, and lower back, helping the body soften and regain mobility. From this stable foundation, strength and balance can gradually return—allowing the lower body to move with greater support and confidence. The result is not force, but transformation—from the roots up. This class uses a strap.

Transcript

Let's begin by sitting cross-legged on our mat, Rock from side to side, Pulling the flesh away from your sit bone, And then rest your hands on your thighs, Either palms up or palms down. Softly close your eyes. Take a few moments of silence to clear your mind, To find ease in the body. Take a full breath in, Exhale, Drop your chin down to your chest, Inhale, Lift, Exhale, Drop, Inhale, Lift, Exhale, Drop. Take two more deep breaths here, Allowing the neck and the shoulders to soften. Inhale, Lift your chin, Returning to your natural breath, And now I invite you to softly open your eyes, And then fully opening your eyes. Today's practice will be on our backs, And we'll use our straps there, So let's make our way to our back, Have your strap nearby, Set any other props to the side, Knees bent, Feet hip distance apart, Arms either in a soft A or out in T position, And just wind your wiper your knees side to side, Keeping the shoulders on the mat, And then pause with your knees to the right, Pause with the knees to the left, Bring the knees back to center, Take your strap, Put it on the bottom of the right foot, Across the ball of the foot, And draw the knee into the chest, Extend the leg forward, Keeping the leg parallel to the mat, Foot is flexed, You've got the strap to help support the leg, Let's find some length here, Hug the knee into the chest again, Using the strap, Go a little deeper, And let's change legs, Put the strap on the bottom of the left foot, Hug the knee into the chest, Extend the leg straight, Keep the leg parallel to the mat, You've got the strap to support it, Push the heel away, Hug the knee into the chest again, And let's change legs, Put the strap on the bottom of the right foot, Extend the left leg long, Flexing the foot, Hug the right knee into the chest just a little bit more, And let's change legs, Put the strap on the bottom of the right foot, Extend the leg straight up to the sky, Keep the tension on the strap, The foot is flexed, You can lower the leg a little, If the hamstrings and the calf muscles are tight, Hug the knee into the chest, Extend the leg up to the sky, Again, You can lower it a little, And let's change sides, Put the strap on the bottom of the left foot, Lengthen the right leg long on the mat, Hug the left knee into the chest, Extend the leg up to the sky, Again, You can lower it a little, Hug the knee into the chest, Extend the leg up to the sky, Bend the knee, Put both feet into the strap, Hug both knees into the chest, Feet hip distance apart, Bring the heels down to the mat, And if your strap is long enough, Straighten both legs with the strap on the bottom, Push the heels away, If the strap isn't long enough, You can let go of the strap, Find some length there, And then release the strap, Bring the right hand to the top of the hip, Push the hip away from the shoulder, Lengthening the right side, And release, Now do the left side, Left hand to the top of the hip, Push the hip away, Lengthen the left side, And release, Put the right hand to the top of the hip, Push the hip away, Take the left arm up to the sky, And then drop the thumb on the mat overhead, You're extending the left arm away from the hip, And you're pushing the right hip and leg away from the right shoulder, And soften, Let's change sides, Left hand to the hip, Extend the right arm up, And drop the arm overhead, Push the left hip away from the shoulder, Extend the right arm, We're working cross body here, And release, Extend both arms overhead, Point the feet, Extend the arms away, Opposite stretch, Slide the arms to the right, Feet to the right, Cross the left ankle over the right, Lengthen the left side, We already created some space there, Let's find a little bit more, Uncross the ankle with your feet at the center, Then slide your arms to the left, Feet to the left, Cross the right ankle over the left, Find some space on the right side, Uncross the ankle, Move the feet, And then the arms back to center, Bend the knees, Take your arms into T position, So the palms are facing up, Drop your knees to the right, Look left, Drop your knees left, Look right, Drop your knees right, Look left, Drop your knees left, Look right, And come back center, We're going to use our strap again, Put it on the bottom of the right foot with the knee bent, You're going to keep the leg bent 90 degrees as if you're sitting in a chair with the foot flexed, Push the knee and the foot away from the top of your head, Pull the strap back, And release, And again, Keep breathing, And release, And one last time, And release, Let's change feet, Put the strap on the bottom of your left foot, The knee is bent 90 degrees, The foot is flexed, Push the knee and the foot away from the top of your head, Pull back with the strap, And release, And again, And release, And one more time, And release, Set the strap to the side, Shake your hands out a bit, Open and close the fingers a few times, We'll go back to the right leg, The knee is bent, The foot is up off the mat, Flexed, Stack your hands on top of the thigh, We're going to go in the opposite direction, The knee and the foot towards the top of your head, Push away from the top of your head, And release, And again, And release, And one last time, And release, Shake your hands out a little bit before we do the other side, And then lift the left foot and the knee, Hands stacked on the thigh, Change which hand is on top, The knee and the foot towards the top of your head, Push away with the hands, And release, And again, And release, And once more, And release, Shake our hands out, Bring both feet to the mat, And rest your arms down by your side, Take a couple of deep breaths here, We'll start by pressing the tailbone down into the mat, Let the belly lift, And then tailbone up to the sky, Back is flat, And again, Press the tailbone down, Let the belly lift, Press the tailbone up to the sky, Press the back of the body into the mat, And release, Bend both knees, Lift the feet, Bring the knees close enough to the chest that you can put your hands between the knees, Press in with the knees, Out with the hands, And release, And press, And release, And once more, Press, And release, Bring your feet to the mat, Rest your arms down by your side, And take a moment to notice how your lower back feels, That mini sequence was good for the lower back, Now we're going to take our strap again, Put it on the bottom of the right foot, Hug the knee into the chest, Extend the leg up to the sky, Flex the foot, And then lengthen the left leg on the mat, Pushing the heel away, Flexing that foot as well, And then we're going to take our strap again, Put both ends of the strap in your left hand, Right arm out in T-position, Drop your leg over to the right, You've got the strap to help support you, Bring the leg back to center, Put both ends of the strap in your right hand, Left arm in T-position, Drop your leg over to the left, We're going cross body there, Come back to center, Keep the strap in your right hand, Extend and drop the leg to the right, Bring the leg back to center, Put the strap in your left hand, Right arm in T-position, Drop your leg to the left, Come back to center, Hug the knee into the chest, And let's change sides, Put the strap on the bottom of the left foot, Lengthen the right leg long, You can hug the knee into the chest, Extend the leg up to the sky, Put both ends of the strap in your right hand, Left arm in T-position, Drop your leg to the left, Cross body, Leg back to center, Put the strap in your left hand, Right arm in T-position, Drop your leg to the right, Come back to center, Keep the strap in your left hand, Drop the leg to the left, Come back to center, Put the strap in your right hand, Left arm in T-position, Drop the leg to the right, Back to center, Take one end of strap in each hand, Put both feet into the strap, Hug the knees into the chest, Bring the heel to the mat, Slide the legs long, If your strap is long enough, Keep the strap on the bottom of the feet, If not, Let the strap go, And then bend both knees, Hugging the knee, Right knee into the chest, Let the knee drift forward, And then we're going to take the knee wide, Foot in the center, Take the knee towards the shoulder, Let the knee come back to center as the leg moves forward, And then hug the knee into the chest again, And let's change sides, Left knee into the chest, Let the leg move forward, The foot stays in the center, The knee goes wide towards the shoulder, Draw it a little bit closer to the shoulder, Let the knee come forward and back to center, And then hug the knee into the chest again, And release, Bring both feet to the mat, We're going to cross the right ankle over the left thigh, Use your right hand to guide the knee away from the chest, Foot flexed, Release, Both arms into T position, Palms up, Wind your wiper, The legs as one unit, Side to side, One hip rolls up, And then the other, Take your time here, Bring the legs back to center, Left hand on the outside of the knee, Draw the knee across the opposite hip, Look at the right hand, This is a gentle stretch, Do not overstretch here, Release the knee, And we'll change sides, Cross the left ankle over the right thigh, Foot is flexed, Use the left hand to guide the knee away from the chest, Both arms in T position, Wind your wiper, The legs as one unit, Side to side, One hip rolls up, And then the other, Bring the legs back to center, Right hand on the outside of the knee, Draw the knee across to the opposite hip, Look left, Gentle stretch here, Release the knee, Bring both feet to the mat, Arms down by your side, Roll your shoulders under, For bridge pose, Two options for bridge pose, You can roll up the traditional way, Or if you have osteoporosis, Or a spinal injury, Lift up with a flat back, Inhale, Lift, Slowly, Squeeze the shoulder blades together, Press them down into the mat, Press your feet down into the mat, Lifting the hips a little bit higher, Slowly come down the same way you came up, Take your arms in T position, Lengthen the left leg long on the mat, Flex the foot, Keep the right knee bent, Tuck the right toes underneath the left knee, Drop your right knee over to the left, Rolling over onto the left hip, Both shoulders on the mat, You can even press the right foot down into the mat, To get a little more leverage, Rolling over to the left, And roll back to center, We'll change sides, Lengthen the right leg long, Flex the foot, Bend the left leg, Tuck the left toes under the right knee, Drop the left knee to the right, You can press the left foot down a little more, For leverage, To roll over onto the right hip, And roll back to center, We'll do each side again, Lengthen the left leg long, Bend the right leg, Tuck the right toes underneath the knee, Roll over onto the left hip, Dropping the right knee to the left, Notice how it gets easier the second time around, Roll to your back, Straighten the right leg, Bend the left leg, Tuck the toes underneath the right knee, Keep the right foot flexed, Drop the left knee to the right, Rolling over onto the hip, And roll back, Bend both knees, Arms are still in T position, Cross the right knee over the left knee, Squeeze the thighs together, Hug your shoulders with the left arm underneath, Walk the fingertips back, Open your arms wide, Let's change sides, Cross the left knee over the right, Squeeze thighs together, Hug the shoulders with the right arm underneath, Open your arms, We'll change sides, Right knee on top, Squeeze the thighs together, Hug the shoulders, Left arm underneath, And then you can go into eagle arms or just continue hugging the shoulders, Squeeze the thighs together, Squeeze the arms together, Open the arms wide, Change sides, Left knee on top, Squeeze the thighs together, Hug the shoulders, Right arm underneath, You can also go into eagle arms here, Open the arms wide, Uncross the leg, Feet hip distance apart, Drop your knees to the right, Look left, Drop your knees left, Look right, Come back to center, Bring your arms in a soft A by your side, Palms facing up, Lengthen one leg long and then the other leg long, Let your feet flop open right into Shavasana, You also can support your knees with a pillow or some blocks under your knees to be a little more comfortable, Begin to deepen your breath, Wiggle your fingers and your toes, Move and stretch in whatever way feels good to you, Bend your knees, Rolling over to your right side, Using your hands to push up the ceiling, As you bring your hands in prayer position, Take a moment to notice what you notice, A clear mind, A body that's open and spacious, Total relaxation, The light in me honors the light in you, Peace and namaste.

Reviews

Thank you Linda! I love a good practice on the back and this is great! 💚💚💚