Category: stretching

Yoga Pose of the Week: Reclined Revolved Sage

08/29/2016

reclined revolved sage (parivrtta supta padangusthasana)
shape
(from reclined mountain)
  • Bring left arm out to side in line with shoulder. Straighten arm, point palm up.
  • Bend left knee into chest, hold outside of left foot with right hand. Straighten arm.
  • Push head and right heel down, lift and slide hips four inches to the left.
  • Roll onto outer right hip. Lower left foot to/toward floor.
  • Stay here or straighten left leg.
  • Flex feet, flare toes (more difficult: place both shoulders on floor).
  • Lift chin slightly, look up or to the left.
safety
  • Press outer edge of right foot down, lift ankle.
  • Squeeze feet towards each other.
  • Tone thighs, tighten kneecaps.
  • Press right hand, left foot together.
  • Squeeze left hip, right inner thigh together.
  • Tighten glutes, press tailbone in. Tone, turn abdomen to left.
refinement

  • Lift chest, stretch spine.
  • Extend legs out.

Yoga Pose of the Week: Reclined Lunge

08/22/2016

reclined lunge (eka pada sukha balasana)
shape
(from reclined mountain)
  • Bend left knee to chest, interlace fingers around left foot – shin vertical. Flex foot. Straighten arms.
  • Stay here or bend elbows and bring left knee to floor outside torso (more doable: bend right knee).
safety
  • Press hands, top foot together.
  • Squeeze left hip, right inner thigh toward each other.
  • Tighten glutes, lift tailbone, tone abdomen.
  • Press right heel down, in.
refinement
  • Lift chest, stretch spine.


Yoga Pose of the Week: Triad

08/15/2016
triad (triang mukhaikapada paschimottanasana)
shape
(from staff)
  • Lean to left hip, bend right knee and hold right ankle with right hand. Place right heel against right hip. Point right foot and place top of right foot and shin on floor. Point right knee straight ahead.
  • Bring inner right heel against outer right hip; point foot (more doable: sit up on a block with inner edge of foot against block).
  • Bring hands to floor next to hips, torso upright.
  • Flex left foot.
  • Stay here, or hold left foot with both hands; straighten arms, look straight ahead (more doable: bend left knee, bring thigh and torso together).
  • Stay here, or bring chin, tip of nose to shin; point elbows out (more difficult: hold back of one hand with the other – point palms out).
  • Round back evenly.
safety
  • Before folding forward, the low back must curve in. If the low back is rounding even slightly, keep torso upright; do not fold forward.
  • Tone left thigh, tighten kneecap.
  • Press straight leg down; make thigh heaviest part of pose.
  • Press hands, foot together.
  • Tone abdomen.
refinement
  • Extend elbows out.
  • Stretch spine.

 

Yoga Pose of the Week: Holy Cow

08/08/2016
 
 
holy cow pose (eka pada gomukha paschimottanasana)
shape
(from staff)
  • Cross right thigh over left thigh, place right heel against outer left hip; stack knees.
  • Hold front foot with both hands (more doable: place hands by hips with torso upright).
  • Straighten arms – stay here, or:
  • Place chin on right knee – forearms to floor.
  • Round back evenly.
safety
  • Press outer edge of right foot down, squeeze heel in.
  • Tone left thigh, tighten kneecap.
  • Press thigh and heel down.
  • Press hands and foot together.
  • Tone abdomen.
refinement

 

  • Stretch spine.

Open Your Hip Flexors for Good

01/22/2016

I want to talk about your hip flexors, and why they may seem to be getting tighter over time, even though you stretch them regularly.

First, the anatomy: psoas is a name commonly used for the main hip flexors, and actually refers to 2 muscles, the psoas major and the iliacus, sometimes jointly called the iliopsoas. The ilicaus originates on the inner edge of the hip bones, while the psoas major originates at vetebrae T12 and L1, L2, L3 and L4. They share a joint tendon that attaches at the top of the femur. The iliopsoas is responsible for flexing the hip, as in walking up stairs, the front leg in a lunge, or sitting in a chair.

Often, yogis think they’re stretching the psoas, yet are actually overstretching it.

Generally, when a muscle is overstretched, the fibers contract and grip afterwards, creating more tension and shorter, tighter muscles.

This could result in a chronic feeling of tightness in the frontal hips throughout your day, or in yoga poses.

The fibers are overstretched whenever the tops of the femurs (thigh bones) move forward in the pelvis. The bones put pressure on the bottom fibers of the psoas, resulting in a ‘stretch’ sensation like when you stretch your hamstrings.

But not all sensations are created equal! 

These fibers are delicate and sensitive, and need refined, clean alignment. As a longtime distance cyclist, my psoas was incredibly tight, and I fell into a pattern of overstretch and over-tightening for years. I’ve created space, and have now come to believe that an effective psoas stretch is not high in stretch sensation like we feel when other muscles are opened.

Stop chasing a big sensation in this area, and your psoas will begin to release. 

There are 2 alignment cues you need to remember while opening your psoas:

  1. Tops of the thigh bones BACK
  2. Bottom front ribs BACK
Remember: the psoas will stretch when the hip is in extension (backbend), or the knee is in flexion (bent), or a combo of the two. Think: back leg in a low lunge, bridge pose, and hero’s pose. Watch out for sneaky overstretch, especially in the back leg in asymmetrical poses such as low lunge. Never let the thigh bone of the back leg drop down onto the psoas fibers. Lift the top of your back thigh bone UP (this anchors the thigh bone ‘back’, clearing the hip flexor from strain)., and tone your upper belly to slide the bottom front ribs back.
Avoiding over-stretching is the first key to get more spacious hip flexors. 
So no more hero’s pose on a block with the shoulders to the floor. No more elevated bridge with the pelvis tucked under. No more flattening your low back to the floor when you lay on your back (the tucked pelvis irritates the bottom fibers). No more letting the thigh bone of the back leg drop forward and down. Once you omit all of those from your practice, you’ve stopped overs-stretching and inflaming your psoas.
Now it’s time to stretch smartly and safely. 
Remember: thigh bones back, upper front waistline back. Do this in all poses for clearing, and check out this quick video on the two top openers I recommend for the psoas.
Enjoy, and may your hip flexors be happy and free! Let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions.
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