A 20-minute lower body yoga stretch targeting the hips, glutes, hamstrings. If you are feeling tight and have sore muscles in the lower body, this deep stretch will help create flexibility and mobility in the lower body.
Meet your Teacher
Nova Scotia, Canada
Transcript
Hello, Welcome to my channel. My name is Megan and I am going to take you through a yoga stretch, A yoga flow that really targets the lower body. So a really great lower body stretch. We're going to get into the hips, The glutes, The hamstrings, All the things. And if you are ready grab your mat and let's get to it! So let's begin in extended child's pose. So bring your big toes together, Knees are nice and wide, As wide as you'd like them to be. And then crawl your hands forward and come to place your head on your yoga mat. Just take a moment here to settle into your body. Take a moment and ground yourself. Feel centered. Before we flow with our yoga flow. Take some deep belly breaths into the belly. And as you exhale, Let it go. Let all the air out. Keep going. Beautiful. On your next inhale. Pull yourself up to a tabletop pose. Draw the knees in together. And we'll take a couple of rounds of cat and cow. So as you inhale, Drop your belly, Shine your heart forward. And as you exhale, Really arch through that back, Tuck the chin in. Inhale to drop your belly, Shine your heart forward. And as you exhale. Move into your cat pose. So keep going. Maybe moving your hips a little from side to side if you'd like to get into the side body. Beautiful. Take one more round wherever you are. And then come back to your neutral tabletop pose. Curl your toes underneath. And come to sit back onto your heels. So this might feel good enough. If you'd like to go a little bit more. Walk your hands up onto your thighs, Sit back, Make sure that pinky toe is curled underneath. And all you're doing here is just breathing. This is a really intense pose. But it's so good for the fascia of our feet. And helping us to cultivate flexibility in our bodies. Beautiful. Come back through her. To tabletop pose, Just tap the tops of the feet out. And from this pose, Go ahead and extend your right leg behind you. Rock a little front and back. Just waking up the hamstrings. And then from here, Go ahead and pick that leg up, Bend at the knee and take some knee circles. So try not to rock too much in the body. The core is nice and strong here. Reverse go opposite way. Beautiful, Set that knee back down, Second side. Extend that left leg behind you, Rock a little front and back. Beautiful, Then pick up that knee. Bend at the knee and take your knee circles. Press down into all 10 fingerprints. Of your hands. Go ahead and reverse. Opposite way. And place that knee back down. Walk your hands out in front of you slightly, Curl your toes underneath, Lift the hips up and back, Downward facing dog. Paddle the feet here. Drawing one knee in. And then the other. And then find stillness in your downward facing dog. Deep breath in. Long breath out. Cool, Bend through the knees and then begin to just walk, Really articulating through your steps. As you walk to the top of your yoga mat. Feet are hip bone distance apart, Find your forward fold. Bend through the knees, Especially if the hamstrings are tight. And from here you're going to cross that right foot behind your left. And then walk your hands and your body over towards the left side of your mat. Bend a little deeper. So that right leg should be straight. There should be a bend in that left knee and you should feel this. In that IT band area. And then come back through to center. Take that right foot, Step it back behind you, Drop that back knee coming into a low lunge. Move your hair out of the way. Front knee is stacked over your front ankle. Just take a few deep breaths here. Perfect! From here you're going to curl the back toes underneath, Pick up the back knee, Plant the hands flat onto your yoga mat, And take that left knee behind the left wrist. Coming into your pigeon pose. So that right leg is behind you, Nice and long. The heel of your left foot can be in close towards your body. And just take a moment here to Find your center. So if you notice you're really rocking over to one side, You can take a block and place it underneath your glue. And you might feel really really good here or go ahead and begin to fold forward. Coming all the way down to your forearms. Or all the way down, Head touches your mat. We're here for 10 full breaths. Beauty and then begin to come all the way back up. You can hold here for another few breaths, Or if you'd like, Bend that back knee. See if you can reach back behind you. And draw that knee in. And then release. Pick up that back knee. Step back to your downward facing dog. Find a few breaths here. Cool, Let's go to the other side. Bend through those knees, Begin to walk your way to the very top of your mat. Find a nice forward fold. And then take that left foot, Cross it behind the right, And begin to walk your hands over towards the right side of your body. Your left leg is straight, Your right knee has a slight bend in it. And then come back through the center, Pick up that back knee. And step it back behind you coming into your low lunge. Hands are on your yoga mat. Take a few deep breaths here. Beautiful, And then pick up that back knee, Plant your hands flat on your mat, And take that right knee behind your right wrist. Your right foot can come in towards the body. Extend through that back leg. And find your pigeon pose. So staying here if this feels good or begin to come on down. All the way down towards your forearms or all the way down towards the mat. Take another few deep breaths here. And then begin to come all the way up. Staying here if you'd like or bend through that back knee. Reach back behind you, See if you can grab. That ankle and just draw it in towards the glute. And then release it down. Plant the hands down, Pick up that back knee, Step back to your downward facing dog. Breathe it out. Go ahead and just take a few deep breaths here, Finding any form of movement or not that feels good to you. And then widen your feet as wide as your yoga mat, Heels in, Toes splay out, And begin to walk your way back towards your feet. Coming down into a malasana or your yogi squat. Adjust your feet if you need to. Hands can stay on the mat or Use your elbows to open up the knees just a little bit more. Awesome. And then from here, As gracefully as you can. You're just gonna place the hands behind you, Come to have a seat. I'm just gonna. . . Center myself on my mat. Send the legs out long in front of you. Take that right ankle, Cross it. Over top of that left knee, So just above it. And then, Hands come behind you, Bend through that left leg as much as you'd like. So the closer you can get that left heel towards the body, The deeper the stretch. And then just rock a little from side to side if that feels good to you. Getting a nice juicy hip stretch. And then go ahead and straighten through that left leg. Take that right knee and cross it over top of that left knee. We're coming into a half. Shoelace pose. So this is really going to target your hamstrings. Sit up nice and tall. And then you're gonna feel this almost right away begin to walk your hands out in front of you. And fold forward any amount. Really round through that spine, Make this a nice passive fold. You should be feeling this in the left hamstring. And then roll all the way back up. Release your right leg. Legs are out in front of you, Hands are still behind you. Lift those hips up towards the sky, Reverse plank pose. Deep breath in. Exhale, Release, Come back. Nice, Strong. Pose, Take that left. Ankle, Cross it over the right knee, Hands behind you and once again we're going to bend through that right knee. And see if we can find our seated pigeon pose on the other side. And then straighten through that right leg. Cross the left knee. Over top of that right one. Best you can and then begin to walk the hands forward and Fold on down. Beautiful. Come all the way back up through the center. Release your left leg, Point through the toes, Hands come behind you, Lift the hips up and back, Squeeze. Through those glutes. Reverse plank. And release it down. Come to take a seat. Any way that feels good and comfortable to you. Close down your eyes. And take a few deep breaths here. Finding your breath. Coming back to center. When it feels right to you. Bringing the hands together, Palms to touch in front of the heart. And taking a moment to find gratitude and appreciation for committing to yourself and to your health. And to your well-being. Draw the thumbs right up to the third eye, That place between our eyebrows. It's that inner teacher and the inner guidance that resides within all of us. We bow forward and say Namaste. At it. Until next time.
