Hips

Easy pose
Cues:
  • Come to a comfortable seat
  • Find a set where you can lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • You may need to elevate your hips to allow you to straighten your spine
  • Sit in a crossed legged bending each leg with one shin in front of the other

bound angle
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that can allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • On an inhale place the soles of your feet together allowing the knees to come out wide feeling at stretch through the inner thighs
  • On exhale keeping the spine and leading with your chest you can begin to fold forward at the hips once you come to a sticking point you can allow the back to round and allow the head to hang​
  • If you move deeper into the stretch ensuring the movement comes from the hips

Elevated bound angle
Cues:
  • Begin by lying flat on your back
  • On an inhale bring your knees into your chest and hold onto the shins
  • On the next inhale keeping the feet elevated bring the soles of the feet together and bring the knees out wide
  • On an exhale with the musculature in the hips push the knees away from your stretching through the inner part of the thighs

seated figure four

Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that can allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Place the soles of your feet flat on the ground and bring your hands back onto the ground behind you
  • On an inhale bring your left ankle onto your right thigh allowing your left knee to come away from you and externally rotating the left hip
  • You should feel a stretch in the outside of the left hip and in the glutes
  • If you need more intensity in the stretch you can either bring the knees in closer to the body or do figure four pose

figure four
Cues:
  • Begin by lying flat on your back
  • Bring the soles of your feet flat on the floor hip distance apart
  • Have your knees pointing towards the cieling and hip distance apart
  • On an inhale bring your left ankle onto your right thigh allowing your left knee to come away from you and externally rotating the left hip
  • On your next inhale if you have the ROM you can start to bring your right knee in towards you chest and hold onto the back of the leg or the front of the shin​
  • You should feel a stretch in the outside of the left hip and in the glutes
  • There are two ways to feel more intensity in this streatch
    • Move the right knee closer to the chest
    • Move the left knee away from the chest

figure four wall stretch
Cues:​
  • Sitting on the floor bring your right hip to the wall with the legs extended out in front of you
  • Keep the hip as close to the wall as possible as you rotate your seat to the right and bring your legs straight up onto the wall with the feet pointed towards the ceiling
  • Bending your right knee place the sole of your foot on the wall
    • To find this positioning you will have to begin to bring your hips away from the wall
  • On an inhale bring your left ankle onto your right thigh externally rotating the left hip 
  • You should feel a stretch in the outside of the left hip and in the glutes

Figure four twist
Cues:
  • Begin by lying flat on your back
  • Bring the soles of your feet flat on the floor hip distance apart
  • Have your knees pointing towards the cieling and hip distance apart
  • On an inhale bring your left ankle onto your right thigh allowing your left knee to come away from you and externally rotating the left hip
  • On the next inhale bring the arms out wide like airplane wings with your palms down
  • On an exhale drop your right knee and left foot to the right side keeping the hip externally rotating so that your left knee will pointed towards the cieling
  • To intensify the stretch in your left hip bring the right knee closer to the right armpit

frog
Cues:
  • Come into this pose from table top
  • Bring the knees out wide as wide as you can
  • You should have close to a 90° angle in your knee joint
  • Curl your toes towards your shins and have the outside edges of your feet point down towards the ground
  • Come down onto your forearms
  • To increase the intensity of the stretch you can:
    • Press your seat back towards your heels
    • Bring your knees out wider
  • To lessen the intesity of the stretch you can shift the body forward bringing the seat away from the heels

half frog
Cues:
  • Start by lying flat on your stomach placing your forearms in front of you and lift your chest a few inches off the ground
  • On an inhale keeping your left leg on the ground start to slided your left knee forward towards your left armpit keeping your hips in the same position as your knee moves foward
  • Engage your foot curling your toes towards your shins and allow the inner part of your foot come close to the floor
  • Keep the right leg extended behind you​

baby cradle 
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that will allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Extend both legs out in front of you
  • On an inhale externally rotate your left hip allowing the left knee to come away from you
  • Hold onto your left foot with your right hand and lift the foot off of the ground bringing it in towards the midline of the body
  • You may have the ROM to place your left foot on the inside of the right elbow and wrap your left elbow around your left knee cradling your leg like a baby

Dragon Fly
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that will allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Extend both legs out in front of you
  • Keeping a long spine start bring your legs out as wide as your ROM allows keeping the knees soft
  • Curl the toes of both feet back towards the shins
  • On an inhale feel your spine lengthen from your tailbone to the crown of your head
  • On an exhale leading with your chest begin to bend forward at your hips bringing your upper body down towards the middle of your legs
  • You can place your hands on your legs or you can bring your arms in front of you on the ground
  • Once you come to a sticking point you can allow the back to round and allow the head to hang​
  • To move deeper into the stretch ensure that you are folding forward from the hips
    • ​

Half Dragon Fly
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that will allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Extend both legs out in front of you
  • Keeping a long spine and your chest pointed straight foward bring your left leg out wide and curl the toes of the left foot back towards the shin
  • Bend your left knee and bring the sole of the left foot to the inside of the right leg
  • Curl the toes of both feet back towards the shins
  • On an inhale feel your spine lengthen from your tailbone to the crown of your head
  • On an exhale leading with your chest fold forward at your hips with your upper body coming straight over your left shin
  • You can place your hands on your legs or you can bring your arms in front of you on the ground
  • Once you come to a sticking point you can allow the back to round and allow the head to hang​
  • To move deeper into the stretch ensure that you are folding forward from the hips​

Deer
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that will allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Extend both legs out in front of you
  • Keep your left knee out in front of you bending your knee joint to  approximately a 45° angle with your left knee pointed out to the side 
  • Bend your right knee and bring your right foot back behind you
  • Place the sole of your left foot on your right thigh above the knee
  • On an inhale feel the spine lengthen
  • On an exhale twist through the spine and turn the upper body towards the right side

Dragon
Cues:
  • Come into this pose from a runner's lunge
  • Ensure that your:
    • Foot is pointed straight foward
    • Knee directly in line with the ankle and that you can see your toes in front of your knee
    • Hips are square
  • Place your back knee down onto the mat keeping the back toes tucked under
  • On an inhale heel toe your front foot to the outside edge of the mat placing both hands on the inside of the lead leg
  • On an exhale shift your front knee forward or bring your back knee back until you feel an intense stretch in the hip flexors of the back leg
  • To deepen this stretch you can also bring the forearms onto a block or onto the ground

upright dragon
Cues:
  • Come into this pose from a low runner's lunge
  • On an exhale shift your front knee until it is about an inch in front of the toes
  • On an inhale bring your left knee back enough that you feel a stretch in the hip flexors of the back leg
  • On your next inhale bring your upper body up to an errect position and place your hands on your thigh
  • On an exhale press the heels of your hands down and forward on your thigh so that you feel a stronger stretch in your hip flexors
  • Ensure that your upper body is as it would be in mountain allowing the shoulders drop back and down while keeping the neck long

Dragon with Hip opener
Cues:
  • Come into a low lunge position
  • For more padding under your back knee you can use a small foam block or fold the side of your mat in
  • Inhale bring your lead foot to the outside of the mat placing your hands on the inside of the foot
  • Feel the front hip come back and the back hip pull forward so that the hips come into a more neutral position
  • On an exhale start to bring the knee of the lead leg forward towards the toes
  • On an inhale turn the lead foot to a 45 degree angle pointing the toes to the top corner of the mat
  • Exhale and allow the lead knee drop out to the side externally rotating the hip

Firelog
Cues:
  • Come into this pose from easy pose
  • Place both of your shins on the ground with the right leg in front of the left
  • Dependent on your ROM you can bring your right shin on top of your left placing your right foot on your left knee and bringing your knee joints towards a 90° angle
  • Another alternative is to begin with your left leg straight out in front of you and place your right foot on your left thigh right above the knee and bring your right knee joint towards a 90° angle

Goddess
Cues:
  • Come into this pose from mountain pose
  • Bring your feet out wide past shoulder width 
  • Turn both of your feet towards a 45° angle
  • On an inhale bring your arms overhead
  • On an exhale bend into the knees pushing your hips back and keeping your knees traveling in the same direction as your toes coming into a wide legged chair
  • At the same time bend your elbows and shoulders towards a 90° angle with the palms facing forward

happy baby
Cues:
  • Begin by lying flat on your back
  • On an inhale bring both knees into your chest 
  • Keeping the tailbone on the ground bring bring your knees out placing your arms on the inside of your legs while holding onto either your shins, ankles or the outside edges of your feet 
  • On an inhale bring the soles of both feet to where they are facing the ceiling
  • As you do this allow your knees to come to the outside of your torso towards the ground

Half Happy baby
Cues:
  • Begin by lying flat on your back
  • On an inhale bring your knees into your chest 
  • Hold onto your right shin
  • On an exhale extend your left long placing your heel onto the ground with the foot engaged curling the toes back towards your shin
  • On an inhale bring your left arm onto the ground coming straight from the shoulder socket like an airplane wing
  • Place your right arm on the inside of your right leg and hold onto your shins, ankels or the outside edges of your feet
  • On an inhale bring the sole of your right foot to where it is facing ceiling
  • As you do this allow your right knee to come to the outside of your torso towards the ground

Hero
Cues:
  • Begin in a kneeling position
  • Keeping your knees together start to separate your feet behind you bringing them wider than your seat
  • Allow your seat to come towards the ground relaxing the hips
  • If your seat does not reach the ground you can sit on either a larger yoga block or a small foam block​

IT band twist
Cues:
  • Start by lying on your back holding both knees into your chest
  • Extend your right leg fully, straight ahead and on the ground
  • Place a strap over the left foot
  • Bring the upper leg and your hip towards a 90 degree angle
  • Keep your knee as bent as you need to bring your hip and upper leg towards a 90 degree angle
  • Hold onto the strap with your right hand and extend your left arm straight out from shoulder like an airplane wing with the palm down
  • On an exhale allow your left leg come across the body towards the right, twisting through the spine. 
  • Turn your gaze to the left

pigeon
Cues:
  • Your front leg should out towards a 90 degree angle at the knee, with the outside of your shin placed on the ground and the hip externally rotated
  • Ensure that the toes of the front leg are curled towards your shin 
  • Fully extend the opposite leg behind you straight from your hip joint
  • Depending on the length of the hold the toes of the back leg may be tucked or untucked
  • If you are open enough to you can start to bend forward at the hips bringing the upper body close to your front shin possibly coming onto your forearms or resting your head on the ground
  • If this pose creates pain in the knee of the lead leg an option is to come into figure four pose
  • You can also place a bolster under hip of the front leg

pigeon with quad stretch
Cues:
  • From pigeon with the left leg forward place your left palm on the ground and bring the left arm towards straight bring the upper body towards an erect position
  • Inhale bend the right leg and bring your right heel towards your seat
  • Reach around with the right arm and hold on to the right foot stretching in the right quadriceps
  • If you feel balanced enough with a strong sense of stability in the left hip joint you can bring right hand off of the ground and the torso towards an even more erect position

Revolved Goddess

Yoga Squat
Cues:
  • Begin in extended mountain pose
  • Bring your feet just past shoulder distance turning them towards a 45°
  • On an exhale bring the palms together and the hands through the centre of the body while bending into the knees and lowering the hips towards the ground
  • Come down as deep as your ROM allows you to and bring your elbows to the inside of the thighs pressing them away from each other

Clam Shells 
Cues:
  • Lie on your right side supporting your head​ with your right hand
  • Bend your knees towards a 45° angle
  • On an inhale lift your left knee up and away from the bottom leg externally rotate at the hip
  • On an exhale slowly lower your left back on top of the right

Hip Adduction
Cues:
  • Lie on your right side supporting your head​ with your right hand
  • Cross your left foot overtop of your right thigh and place the sole of your left foot onto the floor with your knee pointed towards the ceiling
  • Keeping your right leg straight on an inhale lift your right leg off of the ground
  • On an exhale lower your right leg the back down to the ground slowly

Shoelace
Cues:
  • Sit in a comfortable position that will allow you to lengthen your spine from tailbone to the crown of the head
  • Extend both legs out in front of you
  • Keeping your left leg extende cross your right thigh over top of your left thigh allowing the right hip to externally rotate feeling sensation in the outside of the right hip
  • If your range of motion allows you to bend the left leg bringing your heel towards your seat and place the right knee directly over the left
  • If you want to further intensify this pose you can fold forward at your hips

wishbone
Cues:
  • Start by lying on your back holding both knees into your chest
  • On the next inhale cross your right leg over your left and hold onto the outside edge of both feet
  • On an exhale bring your heels in towards your seat your feet and your knees in towards the chest

Groin stretch with strap
Cues:
  • Start by lying on your back holding both knees into your chest
  • Extend your right leg fully, straight ahead and on the ground
  • Place a strap over the left foot
  • Bring the upper leg and your hip towards a 90 degree angle
  • Keep your knee as bent as you need to bring your hip and upper leg towards a 90 degree angle
  • Hold onto the strap with your right hand and extend your left arm straight out from shoulder like an airplane wing with the palm down
  • On an exhale keeping your hips flat on the ground allow your left leg to drop out to the left side stretching the inside of the thigh

Fire Hydrant
Cues:
  • Come into table top
  • Keeping your pelvis in a neutral position on an inhale externally rotate your left hip bringing your knee off of the ground and out like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant
  • As you lift the leg ensure that both sides of your pelvis are even avoiding having one side stacked over the other

Elevated Hip rotations

King Arthur Wall Stretch
Cues:
  • Come to the wall and start in a kneeling position with your back facing the wall
  • Bring the top of your left foot and your left shin onto the wall
    • If you have sensitive knees you will want to bring either all small foam block or a blanket under the knee
  • Bring your right foot forward into a lunging positioning with your knee directly over your ankle with your hands on either side of the front foot feeling a strong stretch in your quads
  • If you need more intensity in this stretch begin to bring the upper body up and your hands onto the right thigh