This practice is perfect to create flexibility in your hips and your hamstrings.
You do not need any props,
But if you wish,
Maybe a block can come in handy as I was just sitting on one.
But we're actually going to start in easy pose.
So join me in a cross-legged seated position.
Root your sit bones into the earth beneath you.
Close down your eyes.
Take a deep inhale,
And on the exhale,
Start to walk your hands out in front of you,
Coming into this forward seated pose.
Once you reach the point of stretch,
Your point of resistance,
Relax into the breath and begin to focus on what is it you wish to gain from your practice today.
What are you seeking physically,
Mentally,
Or emotionally?
On the next inhale,
Walk your hands back towards your feet,
Towards your knees.
Change the cross of your legs,
Coming into the opposite foot in front with a straight spine.
On the next time,
Take a deep inhale,
And on the exhale,
Close down the eyes,
Walking the hands out in front of you.
When you reach that point of resistance,
That stretch,
No pain,
But a stretch,
Relax into the breath.
At the same time,
Staying focused on what it is you wish to gain from your practice today.
On the next inhale,
Bring the spine upright,
Bring the hands back towards your feet,
Your knees.
Bring the soles of the feet together,
Coming into this lovely butterfly pose.
Anchor your sit bones into the earth beneath you,
And take a deep inhale with a straight spine,
And as you exhale,
Gently tuck the chin into the chest,
Bowing forward and checking if your heels may want to move further away from you or come closer to your sit bones.
Moving mindfully and gracefully into the fold,
Once you reach your point of resistance,
Relax into long,
Deep breathing,
Staying focused on your intention at the same time.
On the next inhale,
Start to release the pose by rolling up one vertebrae at a time,
Coming to a straight spine,
And then extending the legs out into this lovely dragon pose,
Or wide-legged,
Seated forward fold,
With a straight back.
Take a deep inhale,
And on the exhale,
Come forward very mindfully and purposefully.
Allow the chin,
The neck,
And the shoulders to relax.
Release into that long,
Gentle,
Relaxed,
Deep breathing,
Staying focused on your intention.
On the next inhale,
Start to release the pose,
Coming to an upright spine.
Gently bring the knees together,
And extend your left leg out straight in front of you.
Hug your right knee into your chest,
And then opening the right knee.
This is where the block may come in handy if you wish.
If your right knee does not reach the ground comfortably,
You can use your block and put it under the knee so that the knee and the leg is supported,
So you can go deeper into the stretch.
With a straight spine,
Take a deep inhale,
And on the exhale,
Walk the hands along the side of the leg,
The left leg,
Or on top of the leg.
Maybe you'll take hold of the big toe,
Or wrap your hands around the left foot.
Mindfully and purposefully,
Fold into this beautiful,
Deep stretch of the left hamstring.
Use your long,
Deep breathing to relax into the fold to create the flexibility in the left leg,
And stay focused on your intention.
On the next inhale,
Gently release,
Coming to an upright,
Straight spine.
Extend the right leg out,
And bounce out the legs,
Tap them out,
Whatever comfortably,
Intuitively feels comfortable,
Ready for the other side,
And any little micro-movements that will help you prepare for the other side.
When you're ready,
Bend the left knee with the right leg extended out,
Hug the left knee into your chest,
Open the left knee out,
And notice if the knee wants any support under a block,
Or a pillow,
Or a blanket,
Whatever serves you,
Or no support at all.
With a straight spine,
Take a deep inhale.
As you exhale,
Come forward,
Honoring that the left side and right side may be a little different,
But moving mindfully,
Gently and purposefully,
So that you can go deep into the stretch,
Opening up the right hamstring,
At the same time opening up the left hip,
Staying focused on your intention,
And relax into long,
Deep breathing.
On the next inhale,
Start to release the pose,
Coming to a straight,
Upright spine,
And extend the left leg out.
Make any micro-movements,
Massaging the legs,
Tapping them,
Whatever helps you to feel relaxed in your practice,
And ready to move into the next pose.
For the next pose,
Both legs are extended straight out in front of you,
And with a straight spine,
We're going to fold into this forward,
Straight-legged,
Forward bend.
With a straight spine,
Take a deep inhale,
Tuck the chin into the chest,
Bring the hands forward,
And once you find the point of resistance,
Fold the neck into the chest,
The chin into the neck,
And allow the shoulders,
The head,
And the neck to completely release,
Relax,
And let go.
On the next inhale,
Releasing the pose and coming to a straight,
Upright spine,
Coming through to tabletop,
And moving into some cat-cow,
And move with your breath,
Move with your body intuition,
Bringing the spine to neutral.
Step your left foot on the outside of the left hand,
Coming into a lizard pose,
And this is where the block may come in handy as well.
If you wish,
Use the block to support your hands to release deeply into the pose,
And the block can be on the high end,
The middle,
Or the low,
Or if you wish,
You just bring the palms down onto the ground.
Play with it until you find the stretch that works for you today,
And when you find that place,
You can keep the head in alignment with the spine,
Or you could tuck the chin into the chest,
Releasing into the pose.
Listen to your body intuition.
Use your breath to bring the healing prana into the area of the body that wants to expand into being more flexible,
And stay focused on your intention.
And from here,
To release the pose,
We're going to move into pigeon pose on the left side.
Move very gently and mindfully with the left knee behind the left wrist,
And when you find that anchor,
That balanced feeling that you're being supported by Mother Earth,
You can stay up on your hands,
Come down on your elbows,
You can even take your forehead to the ground.
Honor your body's intuition,
And use your breath to go deeply into the pose,
Staying focused on your intention.
On the next inhale,
Begin to release the pose.
And as you release it,
Roll over onto your left sit bone,
And taking the right foot on the outside of the left knee,
You can also extend the left leg out straight.
Listen to your body intuition for what works for you today.
And once you find it,
With a straight spine,
Take a deep inhale,
And then extend your right hand behind you,
And inhale the left arm high up to the heavens,
And take hold of the right knee,
Or place your left elbow on the outside of the right knee.
Whatever suits your body and your practice today.
Use your breath.
Go deep into the pose,
To the point of your resistance.
On the next inhale,
Release the pose and come around to the left for a counter pose.
Releasing the pose fully,
And coming back into tabletop.
Take a couple cat-cows,
Or maybe wag the tail,
Or some figure eights,
Whatever serves your body today.
Preparing for the right side,
And then bringing the spine to neutral,
Stepping the right foot on the outside of the right hand,
Coming into lizard pose.
Again,
You can use your block for any added support,
Or just your hands.
Listen to your body intuition.
And once you find that full stretch,
That point of resistance,
Tuck your chin into your chest,
Allow the neck to go closer into the chest as well,
And the shoulders also relax.
Or,
You can keep the head in alignment with the spine.
Play with it,
So that you can feel what your body wants in order to release into this beautiful stretch into the hip,
This deep stretch.
And once you find that spot,
Relax into the breath,
Staying focused on your intention.
On the next inhale,
We're going to transition to pigeon pose.
Gently and mindfully,
Bringing the right knee behind the right wrist,
Moving purposefully into the full expression of your pigeon pose.
And when you reach that beautiful point of resistance,
The full expression,
Relax into the breath,
Keeping the focus on your intention.
On the next inhale,
Start to release the pose.
And as you come upright,
Coming over onto the right hip,
Take the left foot on the outside of the left knee.
You can keep the right leg bent,
Or you can extend the right leg straight out in front of you.
Hug the knee in,
Place your left hand behind you,
And inhale your right hand high up to the heavens.
And then take hold of the left knee,
However it suits you,
Honoring that it may be different than the first side.
Use your breath to go deeply into the pose as you stay focused on your intention.
Gently release the pose,
Coming around towards the right for a counter pose,
Counter twist.
Come back to center.
Bend your knees and very gently roll back onto your mat.
Hug your knees into your chest.
Rock back and forth on the lower spine,
The lower back.
Hug the right knee into your chest.
Extend your left leg flat onto the mat.
Extend your leg straight up to the heavens and take hold of the right leg,
Either behind the right thigh or behind the right shin,
Or even taking hold of the right toe.
Use your breath to go deep into this hamstring stretch.
Stay focused on your intention.
Gently release.
Hug the right knee back into your chest.
Switch legs.
Bring the right knee into your chest.
Extend your right leg out flat on the mat beneath you.
Extend your right foot high up to the heavens.
And mindfully feel where the full stretch,
The full expression of the pose works for you.
Maybe the hands are behind the left thigh.
Maybe they're behind the left shin.
Maybe you're taking hold of the left big toe.
Once you find that deep stretch,
Relax into the breath.
Stay focused on your intention.
Gently release the pose,
Hugging the left knee into your chest.
Bring both knees into the chest.
Roll back and forth on the lower spine,
The lower back.
And to finish our practice,
We'll come into happy baby.
You can stay still in your happy baby or you can rock back and forth.
Listen to your body intuition.
Enjoy this last deep stretch,
Opening up the hips.
Put a smile on your face and relax into your happy baby.
When you're ready,
Release the pose with a little hug of the knees into the chest.
And come down onto your mat into Shavasana.
Allow yourself to completely release,
Relax,
And let go.
Bring your awareness back into your body by wiggling your fingers and your toes.
And take this moment for any body stretches,
Movements,
That will feel perfect in completing your practice before we come up into an upright seated position.
Once you reach your upright and seated position,
Bring your hands together in prayer pose.
Bow your head to your heart center,
Honoring yourself for taking the time to practice today.
And with a smile on your face,
Revisiting one more time that intention that you set for your practice today.
And close our practice together by bowing towards one another.
Namaste.
