Yin Yoga For The Hips - Be Present

This seated Yin Yoga practice is a deep stretch for the hips. Poses are held for about 3 minutes each. Always listen to your body and breath and find variations or adjustments that work best for you. Be sure your knees are comfortable, and come into the poses slowly. The joints and fascia, or connective tissue, is the area of focus in Yin. We will be mindful of our breath, sensations in the body, and reactions of our minds. Be sure to drink water after your practice. Namaste!

Transcript

Welcome to this Yin practice.

This practice will be focusing on the hips and we will be focusing our mind on being present and aware and having a sense of detachment.

Just notice whatever is going on in your body and your breath.

So we are going to start today's practice in a butterfly pose.

So come to a seat with your feet in front of you,

Knees bent,

Soles of the feet together.

You might choose to sit up on a blanket which will make the pelvis a little easier to tip forward.

So we are going to be holding this pose for several minutes and as with all Yin poses,

It gives us an opportunity to turn Yinward.

You might choose to close your eyes and begin to tune in to sensations in your body.

When we come into a Yin pose,

We want to come slowly into it until we feel a sensation of stretch and then we are going to hold for time.

So finding your position when you feel that sensation of stretch is called coming to your edge.

So you may not want to go as deep as you might normally in maybe a traditional Hatha or Yang practice because we are holding these poses longer.

We are also going to be softening into these poses,

Relaxing the muscles.

This way we can get into the joints,

The fascia,

That connective tissue throughout the body.

And a Yin practice is really great for balancing the Yin and Yang.

It's great for the joints,

Helping to keep us healthy and flexible.

So as you come into these poses and hold it for a period of time,

Usually at least three minutes,

You may notice some other things going on.

The mind might react in certain ways.

The mind might want to change what is happening.

It may want to run away from what is happening to examples of the fight and flight response.

Or you might want to decide to just sort of suffer through what is happening,

Being the victim.

Of course the wisest response is to be aware with detachment.

Just notice what is going on without judging or criticism.

Having that sense of curiosity.

So as you notice the mind maybe coming into one of those other reactions,

Just notice it and see if you can just gently bring an awareness to your breath and a sense of presence.

Focus on your sensation,

Your breath.

Bringing your awareness to the present moment without trying to change anything.

So begin to deepen your breath here.

Take a nice full inhale and an open mouth sigh of an exhale.

Let it go.

And then slowly use your hands and arms and bring yourself back upright.

Pause for a moment,

You might notice a sensation.

Maybe feeling a little bit like a momentary sense of fragility or vulnerability.

That's actually what we want in the end.

So widen the feet,

Keep the knees bent and we're just going to drop the knees over to the right or left and turn the opposite way.

Windshield wipers.

And then inhale the knees back up and allow the knees to go over to the other side and a gentle twist in the opposite direction.

Just a brief movement or position that helps the body sort of neutralize.

Sometimes the counter pose is just the other side if we're just doing one side.

So our next pose is going to be shoelace.

So this gets into the hips a little bit deeper and you might notice the picture of this recording with the knees on top of each other and the feet to the outside of the opposite hips.

This may or may not be accessible to some of you.

If the bottom knee complains just a little bit,

You could place a blanket or block under it.

And likewise if the top knee is complaining,

You could have a prop to support that knee.

But if there's any sharp sensation,

That's your body's way of saying come out of the pose now.

And if the bottom knee is just not being comfortable,

You can keep that leg straight and come into half shoelace.

So with the right knee on top,

We're going to again start to hinge forward from our hips slowly until we begin to feel a sensation of stretch in the outer right hip.

You may also feel a stretch in the outer left hip a little too.

Come to your edge and if you have blocks handy or a bolster or whatever you like to use,

You could make use of those props to rest your forearms on.

I like to rest my forearms and just give my hands and wrists a little bit of a break.

But it's totally an option,

Whatever you prefer.

And as you're holding these yin poses,

Again you can focus on your breath.

You could notice sensation.

And you can also imagine the bones sinking towards the earth as if the muscles are releasing their hold of the bones,

Inviting a sense of opening into the joints,

A releasing of tension and tightness around those areas.

Breathe here just normally.

And maybe eyes are closed.

If there's any movement in your head or neck you're wanting,

Feel free to find that.

And maybe with each exhale,

Invite those hips and legs to be a little bit heavier.

Soften and release.

There's always going to be one side that's also a little tighter,

A little more uncomfortable.

Yin is a great practice to become more at ease with being uncomfortable,

Being okay with being uncomfortable.

Stay present and aware.

Begin to deepen your breath.

And take a nice deep inhale and an open mouth sigh of an exhale.

And then on your next inhale,

Press yourself back upright.

Lean back on your hands.

Groaning is okay.

Uncross those legs.

Notice sensation.

If you would like,

Maybe one set of windshield wipers on each side.

And then when you're ready,

Crossing your left leg over your right like you're sitting in a chair and coming into shoelace on the other side.

So the left knee is on top of the right.

Feet are either close to the hips or away,

Whichever feels best to you.

And when you're ready,

Begin to hinge forward from the hip crease.

Find your edge.

Again,

Either just leaning on your hands a little bit or using those props.

And breathe here.

Stay present with your breath.

And notice if this is your tight side or your tighter side.

We all have differences in our bodies.

Acknowledging those differences and accepting them as they are.

You can send your breath to the areas of most sensation of stretch.

Maybe visualizing the breath going to those areas in the outer hips.

Softening and releasing where you feel the most tension and tightness.

Encouraging those areas to lengthen and soften and let go.

We hold a lot of tension,

Tightness,

Sometimes even emotions and trauma in our hips.

It's not uncommon when coming into deep hip stretches for people to sometimes experience an emotional release.

You may not even know why,

But tears might start to flow.

You can always control the situation either backing off a little if it's too intense or breathing through it,

Acknowledging that you're releasing something you needed to let go of.

Maybe open mouth sighs of an exhale.

Those are great to help release.

Whatever you decide is right for you.

Few more breaths here.

Begin to deepen your breath.

Take a nice full inhale and an open mouth sigh of an exhale.

Let it go.

Then slowly on your next inhale,

Press yourself back up.

Lean back on your hands.

Uncross those legs and again maybe a couple windshield wipers.

Then we're going to come into a straddle.

We're going to sit maybe again on a blanket to raise the hips,

Especially if you come into a straddle,

A V shape,

And it feels like you cannot tip the pelvis forward to lean forward,

Then you may benefit from sitting on a blanket.

From here,

Again legs are out in a V,

And start to walk your hands forward so that you're tipping the pelvis forward,

Leaning on your hands.

You're going to feel this in the legs as well.

If hamstrings are too tight here,

You could roll up a couple small towels and place them under your knees.

Find whatever variation suits you best.

Then again coming forward,

You might opt for resting your forearms on a couple props.

Maybe those blocks come in handy again like little arm rests.

Have that sense that you're tipping the pelvis forward,

But remember only come as far as feels appropriate to you.

This is your practice.

Listen to your body.

Find your edge where you're feeling that sensation of stretch and breathe here.

Notice where you're feeling the sensation.

This might be a deep stretch for the adductors,

The inner thighs.

Do your best to keep the spine fairly long here rather than rounded,

Wherever it feels right to you.

Possibly some of you might be on your elbows,

Maybe the elbows on the floor or blocks.

You can also bring your hands into prayer and rest your head on the back of your hands or thumbs.

Find your variation.

Again notice the mind's response.

Notice if it's usually the same response.

If you tend to go towards that fight response or try to change things or when things become challenging you want to run away,

That flight response.

Or do you usually give up and play the victim,

Suffer through it?

Notice what is usually the one that your mind goes towards and see if that relates to other challenges in your life.

And when you do notice it,

No need to criticize yourself or judge yourself,

Just notice it and just bring your awareness back to the present moment.

Acknowledge what your mind tends to do and see if you can just bring a little softening to that.

Maybe begin to focus on your breath,

Focus on this moment without judging,

Without attachment and then begin to slowly deepen your breath.

Take another nice big inhale and an open mouth sigh of an exhale.

Let it go.

Slowly on your next inhale use your hands and arms and press yourself back upright.

Pause here.

And then bring your hands under your thighs as you bend the knees and slowly bring one foot in and then the other.

And you might transition now into a table pose,

A little counter pose here in a different position.

And maybe a few cat cows would feel nice.

Some of you might choose to go into a downward dog.

That can feel really nice as a counter pose to many yin poses.

So just take a few breaths wherever you are.

Any movement that feels good to you.

And when you're ready just come to a comfortable seat,

Maybe with your eyes closed and pause for a few moments.

Notice your breath and notice how you feel.

Remember to drink plenty of water after you finish your practice.

We'll have a few moments of silence here as you just pay attention to your body,

To your breath,

Being mindful of this present moment.

When we're finished,

You'll hear a bell sound.

Thank you for joining me today.

Namaste.

Namaste.

Namaste.

Reviews

Wow! That went by quickly yet sooo effective!
Thanks so much Pam!

Excellent!
Q: In straddle pose, legs in V are toes pointed up to sky or out in front of you?
Thank you.

Yes that helps! Thank you Pamela! Namaste!!🙏

Really nice gentle work for opening the hips. The prompts are very insightful, and can be carried throughout the day. 🙏

Hello beautiful 🌼🌼🌼🌼Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice and your inspirational word’s 🌼🌼🌼I’m feeling sweet and relaxed like having a delicious ice cream on a sunny day🍒be well 🙏Namaste

Absolutely wonderful practice! Challenging positions; great rewards!! Thank you for the clear cues and perfect pace, Pamela!🙏🏼❤️

A wonderful guided practice for the hips and lower back.

Namaste 🙏

I do yin yoga and also teach yoga, so I found it really good, though it was totally on imagination to think of a pose but as I already do yin yoga so it went easy for me also you guided well :)

your voice was soothing during practice and calming, thank you for the wonderful practice.

thank you! I really love these little practices in the morning.