So you’re a yogi, and you’re always talking, thinking, working on improving your flexibility. But how often do you work on your mobility? Especially as we age, it is increasingly important to shift the focus to mobility overall.
These 7 poses outlined below will help you with that. They will particularly work on your spine and hips.
These are a bit more intermediate in nature, and use no props!
1. Side Body Stretch – start sitting with the right leg in front of the left. Walk hands out in front of you and over to the left. Keep reaching the hands forward as you fold down. Getting a stretch from the right glute/hip to the right shoulder. Lift up and repeat to the other side.
2. Straddle to 90/90 – Extend the legs out to the sides – it doesn’t have to be far and look like a split, instead focus on being able to tilt the pelvis forward. Bring the hands together at the heart with elbows out to the sides. Keep the weight over the hips. Tilt forward slightly. As you lift up, bend both knees slightly then drop them over to the left. Rotating the torso along with them. Return to center, fold forward, and repeat to the other side. Do it once or twice more.
3. Butterfly Wave – Bring the feet together and open the knees to the sides. Grab hold of the big toes. Keeping a flat back, start to fold forward as far as you can. Then start to round into the fold. Slowly roll all the way back up until you can lift and lengthen again. Repeat through a few times.
4. Skandasana – From downward dog, step the right foot through between the hands.Then bring the right hand inside of the right foot. Rotate onto the left heel. Setting the hips down. Start to straighten the right leg, as you walk the hands to the left foot and bend into that knee to take skandasana to other side. Repeat a few rounds, ending on the same side you started.
5. Low Lunge with Quad Stretch – Turn back to the top of the mat. Drop the left knee down. Reach the right arm back, while bending into left knee and clasping hold of the foot. Pull heel in towards the glute. Getting a bit of a twist in the upper back. Hold for a few breaths, then release.
6. Pigeon Pose – With both hands down in low lunge, slide the right foot over towards the left wrist. Dropping the right knee down behind the right wrist. Square off the hips. Push into fingers, finding a gentle back bend and opening through the chest, Then fold down as low as you like. Hold 5-10 breaths.
Repeat 4 through 6 on the other side.
7. Puppy Pose – From downward dog, drop both knees to the mat. With hips over knees, start to walk the hands forward until you can lower the forehead down. Press the chest and armpits towards the mat.
These 7 poses come from a 15 minute intermediate full body stretch class I shared on YouTube and my app. Check it out below.
Enjoy!
Kassandra
