Freedom in the Hips

Welcome back. So in this practice, we're going to get into the hips quite a bit. So we'll find some opening through the hips with wide lunges and hip opening postures. So we're going to start on our back. So I'll meet you there. So bringing the soles of the feet together, letting the knees open up wide, coming into Supta Vada Konasana, and then just softening the shoulders. And just take a moment to bring the palms of your hands together. And we'll start to generate some heat between the hands. So just rubbing the hands together, taking a couple seconds here. And then when you feel ready, bring the hands to your body. So one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly, and just taking a moment to close the eyes and arrive. Start to notice your breathing. Start to shift the awareness from the external to this internal space. And we'll begin with a brief breathing practice together. So taking a big breath in, feel the belly fill up, and then bring the breath all the way up into your heart space. And then as you get to the top of the inhalation, find a brief pause, and then let it out. Feel the fall of the exhalation. And then as you get to the bottom of the exhalation, again, just find a very brief pause. And then we'll continue with that. So inhaling. Pause. And then exhale. Soften and pause at the bottom of the exhalation. Good. Just a couple more like that. Inhaling. Brief moment at the top. And then exhaling. Brief moment at the bottom. Good. One more round. Inhaling. And exhale. Beautiful. And then go ahead and take your hands to the outsides of your legs. Hug your knees into your chest. And just find a little bit of a rock from side to side. So start to massage out the low back. And you might take your knees in circles in one direction, getting into the hips a little bit here. And then maybe take the knees to the other direction. Just let that feel really nice and supported. Good. And then let the soles of the feet come back down to the earth. Cross your right ankle on top of your left knee. So you're finding this figure four shape in the legs. And then go ahead and start to draw your legs in towards you, flexing through both feet. And you can interlace the hands either behind that left thigh or on top of that left calf, if that feels good, right on that shin. But wherever you're at, soften the shoulders. And then just take a few breaths, sending the breath to wherever you feel this in the body.

Nice. And then let your arms come out on either sides of your shoulders with the palms facing up. Cross your right leg over your left and then just drop your knees to the left briefly, finding an eagle spinal twist. So you might gaze toward the right or you can keep the gaze straight up if that feels better for you. And just ringing out the spine here. Good. Take a big breath in. And then as you exhale, come back up through center. And we'll just take that all to the other side. So crossing your left ankle on top of the right, flexing the feet, and then draw the legs in towards you. You might lift your shoulders up to get there, interlacing the fingers. And then if you lifted the shoulders, see if you can bring them back down to the earth and soften. And you can flex through both feet, start to draw the legs in towards you and find this opposing action of the right leg drawing in and the left knee kind of opening up and away from you. And sending the breath to wherever you feel this. Last couple breaths here. Nice. And then you can release the arms on either sides of the shoulders, palms face up, cross the left leg over your right like you're sitting in a chair. You might even hook that foot behind the right calf. And then drop your knees to the right side this time, maybe gazing toward the left. I'm just taking a couple breaths here and eagle spinal twist. Nice. And then slowly unravel, come back through center, hug your knees in, and then just invite a rock up and down along the length of the spine a few times. And we'll rock all the way up to seated, coming to all fours. So finding your way into a tabletop position with your shoulders over the wrists and your hips over your knees and just finding some cat cows to warm the spine. So as you inhale, melt the heart forward, invite an arch in the spine. And then exhale round, draw the navel in toward your belly or draw your navel in toward your spine rather and round. Good. And then again, inhale, lengthen, inviting an arch. And then exhale, draw the navel in toward your spine and round. I'm just taking one more like that. Inhale, look up, lengthen, and exhale round. Good. And then coming back to a neutral spine, you take your right knee out to the right. So kind of like you're a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. That's a nice visual. So just taking this here and we're going to start to take some circles with your leg. So as you bring the right knee down and around, just find that strengthening in that right hip, finding circles with the legs. Good. In one direction here. Good. And then just taking it to the other direction. So making the circles go toward the other way away from you. Find your breath. Good. And then next time you're back just straighten through that right leg, reaching the right toes and heel behind you. And then draw your right knee to the outside of your right tricep, draw the navel in toward your spine, and then look forward, step your right foot on the outside of your right wrist. So you're coming into this wide lunge here and then come on to your fingertips for a moment. Lift through the chest. Good. And then straightening through that front leg, finding a wide leg, Ardha Hanamanasana, lifting through your right toes, coming onto that right heel. And you can start to fold forward any amount here, drawing your right hip back. One more breath here, just feeling into the back of that right leg. Nice. And then rebend and just come back to a tabletop position. Let the right knee come down and then we'll take that to the other side. So taking the left leg out to the left, you can flex the foot and then just start to make some circles with that knee so that we're strengthening the hips here as well as opening them up. You'll probably feel this in the glutes.

Good. And then taking it to the other side. Nice. And then the next time you're back, just straightening through that left leg, find length, take a big breath in and then draw the left knee to your left tricep. Good. Step the left foot right outside of that left wrist and then come on to your fingertips, lift through the heart, take a big breath in. And then exhale, start to straighten through that left leg, lift your left toes, find length in your spine, and then you can fold any amount here, just keeping the toes nice and active and sending the breath to create some space in the back of that left leg. Good. And then when you're ready, re-bend and then this time we'll tuck the toes and step right back to downward facing dog. So spreading the fingers wide, lifting the hips up and back. And then any movement that feels good here, so maybe pedaling it out through your feet or swaying your hips from side to side, starting to feel into the backs of the legs. If the hamstrings are a little tight this morning or this afternoon, whatever you're practicing, you can always put a nice bend in the knees or step your feet as wide as your mat. That might feel a little better for you. Good. And then when you're ready, inhale, take your right leg up and back, put a bend in your knee just to open up the hip and you can flex that foot in toward you. Good. And then from here to continue opening through that right hip, start to take some big circles with your legs so the knee can drop down and around here, taking it three times in one direction, just really finding that nice space in that right hip. And then whenever you feel ready, maybe reverse the direction, bringing the knee down and up and around, taking that a couple times. Good. One more time here. And then start to square your hips to straighten through that right leg. Draw your right knee to the outside of your right elbow. And then again, step the foot to the outside of your right hip so that you're in this nice wide lunge. Come onto your fingertips, lengthen through your spine here and then let's flatten out the left hand. You might have a block under that left hand. And then sweep your right arm up and just find this nice opening here, twisting to the right, taking a straight to the right, taking a few full deep breaths here. You may roll the wrists out a few times if that feels good for you. Hmm. And then take a big breath in, take the right hand down and then we're going to step the left foot to the outside of your left wrist, coming to the front of the mat, bending both knees, and then bringing your hands to your heart, yogi squat, malasana. Good. And then hands come back down to the earth, parallel the feet, come halfway up and lengthen through the spine. Inhale and then exhale. Just find a fold over your front legs, letting the torso drape down, head heavy. Good. And then inhale, come halfway up again and we'll step the right foot all the way to the back of the mat. Hands come on the inside of your left foot this time, wide lunge, and then right back to downward facing dog. Step the left foot back and breathe. Good. Take a big breath in, side out the mouth. Good. And coming to the left side. So inhale, sweep the left leg up, bend the knee to open up your hip. Good. And then maybe invite some circles here to find that opening through the left hip. So finding three in one direction. And then taking your circles the other way. So dropping the knee down, opening up the hip, taking two more. Last one here. Good. And then start to straighten out your legs, square your hips. And then again, we'll take the knee to the outside of that left elbow, step your left foot to the outside of your left wrist, come on to your fingertips for a moment, lengthen through the spine, and then keep that length in the spine, plant the right hand down, sweep your left arm up and twist, opening through the chest, hugging the left hip in, and just finding that ringing out through the spine.

Yeah. And then let the left hand come down on the inside of that left foot. Step your right foot to the outside of your right wrist and then bend the knees, sink the hips down, bring your hands to your heart, malasana, feel the length in the spine, the opening through the hips, and then fingertips down, come halfway up, inhale, parallel the feet, fold over your legs. And then again, inhale, lift halfway up. And this time, step the left foot back, hands on the inside of the right, wide leg lunge, plant the palms, downward facing dog, exhale. Good. And then rise high up onto your toes, put a deep bend in your knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, come to the front of the mat, inhale, lift halfway up, lengthen, exhale, fold, uttanasana, and then root down through your feet to rise all the way up to stand, sweeping the arms up over your head, and then hands to your heart, exhale. Taking a couple breaths, maybe closing the eyes, then just take a moment to notice how you feel, check in. And then from here, come to chair pose, so uttanasana, sink the weight back down into your heels, sweep the arms up, take a big breath in, and then exhale, fold down over your legs, uttanasana, inhale, lift halfway up, lengthen through your spine, and then plant your palms, let's step back to plank pose, top of a push-up, pausing here for a moment, bring the shoulders right over your wrists, press back through your heels, and then draw the navel in towards your spine so that your hips are in line with your shoulder blades. Now you're welcome to lower your knees here if you'd like, otherwise lower all the way down to your belly. Good. And then untuck your toes, take your fingertips out to the wood on either side of your mat, it might be a rug for you wherever you're at, and then start to bend the elbows, peel the chest up off the earth, press into the tops of the feet, and just lift up into this modified cobra pose. Good. And then lower all the way back down, bring your hands back to your side ribs, tuck your toes firm your thighs, lift all the way back up to plank pose, inhale, and then exhale downward facing dog. Inhale your right leg, sweep it up and back, put a bend in your knee to open up your hip. Good. And then start to straighten through the legs, square your hips, step the right foot all the way through between your hands, spin the back heel down, circle the arms to warrior two, opening it up, Virabhadrasana two, and then just taking a moment to land. So front knee over ankle, seal the outer edge of your back foot to the earth, nice and straight in that back leg, and then soften the shoulders here and breathe. Good. On your next inhale, start to straighten through your front leg, reach your arms all the way up, maybe even look up, and then exhale right back to warrior two. Good. Again, inhale, look up, exhale, warrior two, one more, inhale, and exhale. Flip your front palm, keep the bend in your front leg, and then reverse your warrior, tilt it back. Good. Keep that bend, extended side angle, either elbow to the top of the thigh, or maybe fingertips come to the inside of your foot, maybe there's a block here, maybe reaching that top arm over your ear, and spinning the pinky side of your hand down toward the earth.

If you want to wrap, you can bring that left hand behind your back, use that to encourage the left shoulder to start to draw back and maybe take the gaze up toward the ceiling. Good. So you're welcome to stay right here, otherwise start to bring your gaze down, and then you might step that back foot in a little bit, reach your right arm forward, so it lands right under that right shoulder, and then lift through your back leg. You can reach the left arm up to the sky, and you might stay right here, or start to bend through your top leg, reach back for the top of that left foot, and start to kick your foot into your hands for chapasa. Good. Breathe. Yeah, and then slowly release the foot if you have the foot. Bring your left hand down, start to square off your hips, so you're coming into this modified warrior three, flexing through the left foot, and then soften a little bit through that right knee. We're going to bring the left knee into your chest and stand up tall, so lifting up, hugging the left knee in, draw the shoulders back, find length in your spine. Good. And then coming to tree pose, you can grab your left ankle, bring it to the inner upper thigh, or below the knee is fine. You can even kickstand your foot down by bringing the toes down to the earth, and just finding your tree pose. Breathing, taking a couple full deep breaths here. Nice. Maybe lifting the arms up, and then as you're ready, cross your left ankle on top of your right knee, sink it down back into chair pose, draw the hips back, bring your hands to your heart for temple dancer, and then just feel that opening through the left hip, breathing here.

Super nice. If you want to bring the hands down to the earth, you're welcome to do that. Maybe there's a block under your hands, and just breathe. Good. And then slowly we'll get out of there, come all the way back up to stand, hug the knee back into your chest, and then softly step back, crescent pose. Coming on to the ball of that left foot. Good. Take a big breath in, and then exhale, lower the hands down. Now take your right foot all the way back up behind you, bend your knee, open your hip, coming back to a three leg downward facing dog. Good. And then start to square the hips, draw the knee to your nose, and then this time lowering the shin down, paralleling the shin toward the front of the mat, and then lowering down into pigeon pose. So you can untuck the back toes, spin the back knee under, and then keeping it active for a moment, take a big breath in as you exhale, fold over your front leg. Good. And then again, inhale, peel the chest up as you lift. And again, fingertips might feel nice. Exhale, roll it down.

Last one, inhale, lift up. Exhale, come back down, and then we'll come into a hold here. So if the hip's pretty high up off the earth, it might feel nice to have a block or a bolster or blanket. You can take that here, and then start to crawl your hands forward any amount, coming into a nice hold here, sending the breath to the right hip. And breathing, we'll be here for about a minute. Notice if the thoughts start to re-enter, which they always and often will, and see if you can gently encourage it to come back to the breath. So as you notice the thoughts, see if you can allow them to float by. And then notice maybe that desire to get out of here, and see if you can breathe through that.

Sometimes you have to sit with the discomfort to get through things. Last couple breaths here. Good, and then slowly start to walk your hands back up, and we'll come back to down dog, however you'd like to get there. Tucking the back toes and just stepping back if you want a vinyasa here, feel free to take it, and then anything you need to let go of that side. So you might shake out the legs, pedal the feet, super nice, and then we'll come into the left side. So when you're ready, inhale, sweep the left leg up and back, bend the knee to open up your hip. Good, and then straighten out the leg, step the foot forward, spin the back heel down, and open it up to warrior two, circling it open and settling in. Find a few full deep breaths in Virabhadrasana two. Good, and then on your next breath in, start to straighten through the front leg, lift the arms up, take a big breath in, exhale warrior two, inhale straighten, look up, exhale warrior two. Last one, inhale, and exhale. Flip your front palm, reverse your warrior, and then extended side angle, either elbow to the thigh, fingertips to the earth, maybe bringing that right arm over your ear and gazing up, and there might be a wrap here with the hand behind the back, using that to draw that right shoulder back, maybe gazing up toward the ceiling. Nice, and then either staying here or take your gaze down, step your back foot in a little bit and then reach forward, coming into Ardachandrasana, and you might keep the wrap, you might reach that right arm up, and then that right leg, that right foot, nice and flex, so it's like you're stepping on the wall behind you, maybe you bend through that top leg, reach for the foot, and then kick your foot into your hand for chapasana, and then slowly release the leg if you have it, bring your right hand down, square off your hips during this modified warrior three, flexing through that back foot, soften your standing leg, and then start to look up, lift your chest, and hug your right knee into your chest, good, draw the shoulders back, tree pose holding on to that right ankle, foot to the inner thigh, inner calf, or the earth, I like to start with my hands to my heart, finding one point that I can focus my gaze on, and then really press through the ball of your left big toe, maybe lift the arms up, and then as you're ready cross the right ankle on top of the left knee, hands to your heart, sink it down, there might be a fold here, really getting deeply into that right hip, good, and then when you're ready slowly start to come back up, knee into your chest, and then softly step back, crescent pose, good, firm crescent, take a big breath in, and as you exhale lower the hands down, sweep your left leg up and back, bend the knee, open up your hip, and then draw the knee to your nose, start to parallel the shin to the earth, and lower down, good, as you inhale lift up, lengthen, bring the fingertips to the earth, and then exhale bend the elbows, and fold, inhale, peel the chest up, lift up, lengthen, exhale, fold, inhale, and exhale, to crawl the hands forward again, if you want anything under that hip that might feel better for you, we'll be here for about a minute, sending the breath to wherever you feel this.

In the last few breaths here, sending the breath to any sensations in the body, starting to create some space in that left hip, see if you can even invite a little space between your thoughts, good, and then when you're ready, start to walk your hands back up, and then this time just shifting the weight off to one side, bring your legs out in front of you, and we'll find a forward fold, so just balancing out the right and the left, flexing the feet, sitting up nice and tall, inhale, sweep your arms all the way up, and then hinging forward at the hips, and folding for Paschimottanasana, good, take a big breath in, lift up, and then exhale, fold and release, deepening the breath, just allowing, and then on your next breath in, inhale, come all the way back up, and we'll roll onto our back, so bringing the soles of the feet to the earth, reaching the arms forward, and then on the count of ten, just rolling down, keeping the feet nice and connected to the earth as you roll down, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, lengthening out your legs, letting the feet open nice and wide, and then bringing the palms to face up, letting the shoulders roll underneath you, and coming into your final resting pose, noticing any difference in the hips, the opening freedom space, and then just let go and let be. And we start to bring the awareness back in, you're welcome to stay in Shavasana for as long as you'd like, or feel free when you're ready to meet me in a comfortable cross-leg seated position. I'm going to roll over to one side, just press my way up to see, and your hips are nice and open here, so it might be a nice time to find a nice cross-leg seated meditation if that feels nice for you, and you can bring the backs of the hands on your knees, bringing the thumb and the index finger together, and closing the eyes, and just observe the breath. And then gathering your hands together in front of your heart, bowing your head towards your hands in gratitude for this practice and this beautiful day. Thank you for being here. Namaste.