You have made it to the official slowing down of the practice. This part of the practice allows you to go evey more internal as we slow down and do some longer holds in stretches. In Opening, the poses are here to open your hips. For many people, this is their favorite part of the practice. Many feel very tight in their hips and this helps to relieve that sensation. While this is a great way to release the tightness sensation, sometimes it is not a long term solution. Strengthening your hips tends to be the thing that helps to decrease the tightness sensation. It seems counterintuitive, and strength is really important. And the good news is you did a lot of strengthening at the beginning of the practice for your hips. All of the balance poses are incredibly helpful to improve your strength. Okay, let’s get ourselves to rest now!
Half Pigeon
This pose stretches the muscles through the outer hip. It also helps to decrease the activation of the muscles as you have used them substantially throughout the practice. If you have knee pain or pinching in your hip in this pose, please see the modifications so that you do not experience this during the practice.
Alignment:
- Knee comes to same wrist
- Rest shin onto ground (if you have the mobility, you can move your shin so that it starts to line up with the front of your mat, however, this may not be possible for everyone)
- Back hip pointer is facing down towards your mat
- Forehead rests on mat
- Arms reach out in front of you
Modifications:
- Place a block under your front hip
- Place a block underneath your front knee
- Place a block under your forehead
- Lay on your back and perform figure four (great option for hip or knee pain)
Benefits:
- Stretches hip muscles of front leg
- Stretches hip flexor of back leg
- Slows breath and heart rate
Double Pigeon
This pose also stretches the muscles through the outer hip. It helps to further open your hips up for the upcoming pose savasana. It is a seated pose which helps to steady your focus and create more presence.
Alignment:
- Stack your shins on top of each other
- Place your top ankle bone across your bottom thigh
- Flex your feet
- Fold forward with a straight spine
Modifications:
- Straighten bottom leg
- Sit tall instead of folding forward
- Place block underneath top thigh bone
Benefits:
- Stretches outer hip muscles
Frog
This pose stretches the inner thighs, the opposite side of the hips from half pigeon and double pigeon. It can be a tough pose because of how we move throughout the day. Our legs tend to be close together to support us in standing and walking, so stretching the inner thighs can be very sensitive. Make sure to move slowly in and out of this pose.
Alignment:
- Move your knees wide apart as possible
- Bring knees in line with hips, and ankles in line with knees
- Flex feet
- Rest on chest or on elbows
Modifications:
- If this bothers your knees, you can take a seated wide straddle
- Place a block or pillow under your chest for more support
Benefits:
- Stretches inner thighs
- Help to bring you into a more relaxed state