Hip Opening Stretch

Hip Opening Stretch is a gentle yoga practice designed to release tension, improve mobility, and create more space through the hips and lower body. Through slow, mindful stretches and breath-led movement, you’ll gradually explore opening the hip flexors, glutes, inner thighs, and surrounding muscles with care and awareness.

Transcript

Hello everybody, Today we're going to be doing a deeper, More restorative stretch, Just to work any part of the body that is feeling a little bit tight, A little bit sore. Hopefully you feel a lot more refreshed and better after this. Let's get started with a little bit of breathing. So sitting tall on the sit bones, You can have your hands on your knees, Closing the eyes here. Tuning back into the body. Softening the shoulders. Softening the belly. Softening the facial muscles. Any areas of tension in the body you may be holding on to. Taking three more rounds of breath here. And when you are ready slowly opening the eyes. Take both arms up, Full stretch. Next release. Again inhale full stretch. Lamping the sides of the body and really. And again, Inhale full stretch. As you release, Can you twist towards the right? Release the left hand to the right knee, Right hand behind you. Lengthen tall, Exhale, Turn and twist. Now slowly come back to center. Keep the left hand where it is. Take the right arm up and over for your side stretch. So pulling onto the right knee, You can roll the left shoulder in, Really stretch and lengthen the right side. Come back to center, Right hand to left knee, Chin to chest, Round in. Slowly come back up, Release the left hand behind you coming to your twist. Very nice, Coming back to center. Left arm comes up and over for your side stretch. Breathing into the left side body. Can you lengthen even more with the left finger? Come back to center. Left hand to right knee. Chin to chest. Round in. And slowly come back to center. Very nice. Let's come into a downward dog. Hands to the floor. Feet stepping back. Hips are piking up towards the ceiling. You can take this time to walk up the legs, Walk up the calf muscles. Can bend both knees, You can walk the legs one by one. Coming into your pigeon pose on the right side, Take the right knee towards the right. We'll see. The shin is parallel as you lower the hips towards the floor. Now if the right hip isn't touching the floor, You can place a blanket or pillow underneath the right hip so it's more comfortable. You can stay here, Stay upright, Or you can lower the forearms on the floor. Release the head to the floor. Slowly coming back up. Hands to the floor. Pushing back into your downward dog. Switching sides take the left knee to the left wrist Chin is parallel. And you lower the hip towards the floor. Again, Adjusting or modifying if you need to. Stay upright or lower down to the elbows. Head and neck relax. Slowly come back up. Hands to the floor, Pushing back, Downward dog. Take the right leg up towards the ceiling, Bend the knee, Open the hip. So you come into a little twist over here. Now take the right foot outside the right hand coming into your lunge. Can stay upright or you can lower your elbows to the floor. Shifting the body forwards and backwards. If that feels comfortable for you. The back knee can come onto the floor if you want. Or you can keep it off for a deeper stretch. Hands back to the floor, Step it back, Downward dog. Take the left leg up towards the ceiling, Bend the knee, Open up the hip. But keep pushing the mutt away from you. Now step forward, Left foot outside of the left hand. Back thigh lifting up or knee to the floor. Lowering the elbows towards the floor if you can, And then rocking the body forwards and backwards. Hands back to the floor. Pushing back downwards up. Again, Right leg comes up. Open out the hair. Now this time step the right foot in between your hands. Back knee to the floor. Hands come onto your hips. Now from here, Stay in a 90 degree angle first. Can you scoop the pelvis underneath? Then sink the hips a little bit lower. So you should feel more into the front hip flexor over here. Good. Stay in whole. Try not to arch the back too much. We want to target more of the hip over here. Now stay here. If you want to deepen the stretch, Left hand to the floor, Pick up the left toes, Swing the right hand back, And catch the heel. You can use the hand to pull the heel closer towards your hips. For the release. Step it back downward. Left leg comes up towards the ceiling, Bend the knee, Open up the hip. Stretch really well. Now step the left foot forward in between the hands, Back knee to the floor, Coming up into 90 degrees first. So square your hips. So let's pull the left hip back, Right hip forward. Now pelvis scoops underneath. So you can really feel the right thigh. Then you sink the hips forward and down. So really small movements here to feel into the front thigh. Very good take the right hand to the floor. Pick up the right toes, Swing the left hand back and catch the heel. Only if you want to deepen the stretch, So just an option here. Keep the right heel pulling into the hips as you rotate the chest open. Slowly, Really. So before step back downward dog. From here, Can you lift the heel slightly off the floor, Bend the knees and peg the hips up towards the ceiling. With the knees bent you should feel more to the upper back, More into the shoulders. Holding here. Deep breathing into the back of the body, Into the shoulder blade. Now straighten both legs. Ground the heels towards the floor. Use the floor child's pose. Standing high on your fingertips. Crawl the fingertips forward and then walk your hands over towards the right. Fold the body on top of the right thigh and stretch forward. So for this one, You should feel the left side body lengthen. Breathing deeply here. Come back to center, Stretch forward, And then curl over towards your leg. Walk the fingertips forward, Lengthen and reach. Coming back to center, Child's pose. And then rising all the way back up. Return to face the front. Sitting on your heels or a comfortable seated position, Have the hands onto your knees. Soften the shoulders and close the eyes here. Finishing off with a few rounds of bread. And when you are ready, Slowly open the eyes. And that is it for today. Thank you for joining me on the mat.