Hello,
My name is Melissa Kleehammer and I want to show you one quick but effective yin yoga pose for relieving tension in your low back and in your hips.
You don't necessarily need props but it is helpful to have a couple of things.
I've got two blankets.
I'm just gonna sit on the corner of one and I have another out in front for support for your ankle bones.
Okay,
So I'd like and I also have a low level thin bolster in a block.
You could just grab a pillow from your couch.
So we're gonna sit cross-legged and I want you to think crisscross applesauce.
So I've got my right ankle crossed in front of my left and my legs are kind of away from my inner thighs.
So what I'd like you to do is flex your feet and just rock to each side.
Get the flesh of the thighs out from underneath you and then just hinge yourself forward a little bit.
You likely won't have to go very far before you feel some some stretching in the the deep buttock hip area.
So from here is where you use some pillows,
Some props to support your forehead.
I'm gonna do a combination and then you try to relax your arms out.
Now immediately if you're feeling discomfort you've come to the right place.
Yin is uncomfortable but never should you feel any pain.
No pain in the hips,
Especially no pain in your knees.
You want to be feeling a stretch through the outer thighs,
Outer hips,
Maybe even a little through the hamstrings,
The underside of your leg.
And we stay here for a couple of minutes in this discomfort to stretch very tight tissue around the hips.
So do your best to try to relax your arms.
Have your forehead propped up on something so that you can maximize the benefits of this.
And by that you I mean you can release muscles and tissue along the entire length of your back.
And then you relax the weight of your torso down.
And if you haven't already begin to take some deeper breaths.
We're going to stay on this side for about three more breaths.
And then on your next inhalation very slowly rest yourself up.
Stay with the transition out of the pose.
One hand on each thigh,
Each knee.
And then move your props if you were using any off to the side.
Bring your hands behind you.
Roll your hips back a lot and then straighten out your legs.
And then rotate your leg left and right.
Get high up into your hip.
So now we have to do the other side.
We're going to cross left ankle in front of the right.
Okay once again shift a little side to side.
Get the the flesh of the thighs out from underneath you.
Now this side could be completely different.
So you hinge forward trying to keep the shoulders back for now.
See what your end point is where your body tells you to stop.
And then once again you use a combination of props of your fists to prop up your forehead.
And then from there you try to relax the arms as best you can.
Relax the fingertips,
Toes.
So it feels like we're not doing a whole lot physically.
But what's happening underneath the surface are many things.
We're learning that we can live with a certain amount of discomfort.
As long as there's no pain we're okay.
We're not in any danger of hurting ourselves here and we learn that we're okay here.
But we also in this stillness we can start to learn when something feels off.
Right when we're about to go too far.
We tend to miss those cues when we're moving.
We're beginning,
We're asking the body to release very tight bent tangled tissue.
So when we come out of a pose like this we have even more length and spaciousness in the body.
So even though we're here for a couple of minutes in discomfort we feel much more comfortable in our bodies after.
Try and soften a little bit more.
Soften through the shoulders,
The muscles behind your eyes.
We're going to stay here for a few more breaths.
Hopefully feeling slightly more comfortable in the pose.
Going deeper here isn't trying to get to the floor.
Going deeper is being able to stay longer.
And we'll just stay for another few breaths and very slowly on an inhale press yourself up.
Stay with your body as you transition out.
One hand on each knee and then remove any props that you might have.
Bring your hands behind you to help roll your hips back.
Straighten out your leg and then rotate the legs left and right.
Okay and now let's sit up nice and tall.
Whatever that might look like for you.
One hand on each thigh.
Just taking a moment to acknowledge the changes,
The effects of this one yin yoga pose.
Take two more breaths here and then flutter your eyes open.
Bring your hands to your heart center.
Just taking a moment to be thankful for these few minutes and I hope that you feel even the slightest bit more comfortable,
More free in your body.
Thank you so much for practicing.
