Clear and Spacious Hips

Welcome back. So this is a really grounded practice that will go deep into our hips. And my hope is at the end of this practice there's more spaciousness and that the mind is more clear and focused. So let's start on our backs. We're going to come right into movement with some windshield wipers. So stepping your feet as wide as your mat, reach your arms up over your ears, allow a big full breath in and then on your exhale drop the knees to the right side. Let your inhale bring the knees through center. Let your exhale drop the knees to the left and take that a few more times. So again, inhale through center. Inhale right with the knees, easy spinal twist, inhale center, exhale left and just start to notice your hips. Notice how your hips are feeling as we begin this practice together. One more round, dropping the knees off to the right, inhale center, drop the knees off to the left. Beautiful. And then bring the feet back through center, knees back through center, soles of the feet on the earth. And we'll take a thread the eye of the needle here on the ground. So crossing your right ankle just on top of your left knee, find that figure four shape with your legs, letting the right knee draw away from you and then draw the legs in towards you. So it might feel nice to interlace your hands or maybe the arms just reach out on either side as you play with drawing the left leg in and the left knee draws in as the right knee starts to draw away from you. Take a couple breaths and notice the right hip, perhaps sending the breath to the right hip. Beautiful. And then let the soles of the feet find the earth again. And we'll just take that right over to the other side. So drawing your left ankle on top of your right knee, again, find that figure four shape and then start to draw the legs in towards you, flexing through both feet just to allow that right knee to draw in as the left knee draws away from you. And if you have that desire to interlace, go for it. Or maybe the hands just lay on either side of the body, palms facing up and take a couple of breaths. If there's any movement here that feels good, you might draw the knees in towards you and then away from you a few times. And just really feeling into the left hip, sending the breath there. Good. And then let the feet find the earth again, hug your knees into your chest and just start to rock up along the length of the spine. We'll take a couple rocks and then we'll come right into our downward facing dog. So finding down dog and the hands down as you step your feet back. And let's start by taking the feet as wide as your mat, maybe pedaling it out through the feet here, pressing evenly through all 10 fingers, spreading the hands wide so that the inner and outer hand just really melts down onto the earth. And then step your feet toward hips distance. You can continue to find movement in the legs, pedaling that out if that feels good for you. Maybe shaking your head, yes and no a few times. Nice. And then start to find some stillness in your downward facing dog. And then on your in breath, we're going to lower the knees down and just come right into cow pose. So as the knees lower, let the heart lift, arching through the back and just finding that gaze lifting up. And then the exhale, you'll tuck the toes, lift the hips right up and back into downward facing dog. So we'll move with this a few times with the breath. So as you inhale, knees lower, heart lifts coming into cow pose as you lift the gates. And then exhale, navel to spine, almost like you're coming into cat pose as you lift your hips up and back into downward facing dog. We'll take that one more time. Knees lower, heart lifts, inhale, exhale, navel to spine, tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, down dog. One more. Inhale, knees lower, heart lifts, arching the back, lift the heart. And then exhale, navel to spine, tuck the toes, coming back into your downward facing dog and just holding here for a couple of breaths. Nice. And then prone down dog, let's reach the right leg up. Bend your knee to open up through the hip. Keep pressing evenly through both hands. And then maybe take a moment to roll out the ankle a few times in one direction and then the other.

You might take some big circles with that right leg to really feel into the right hip. Maybe taking that in one direction and then the opposite direction. Nice. And then straighten the leg, square your hips as you're ready. Allow a big full breath in here. And then as you exhale, draw your right knee to your right tricep. And then we're going to step the foot all the way to the outside of the right hand. So you're in this wide leg twist. Good. So keep everything how it is. Keep your left hand down, sweep the right arm up. So you're in a wide leg lunge twist, opening the heart toward the right side. Take a couple breaths here. You might take some circles with that right arm as you open up through the shoulder a little bit. And then lower the right hand to the inside of your front foot. We're going to walk your hands to the left to face the side of your mat, parallel the feet. You might need to step your right foot forward a little bit and then put a bend in your left knee. Keep the right leg straight as you walk your fingertips over to the right side for Skandhasana. So really strengthening for the hips here. And then we'll take it to the other side. So walking your fingertips through center, start to bend through the right knee, keep the left leg straight coming toward that side. And then one more time toward the back of your mat, bend the left knee, straighten the right, walk your hands over toward that left side. And then we'll walk it all the way back around to the front of the mat. Find your runner's lunge. From your runner's lunge, step back to downward facing dog. Step the right foot back, plant both hands down. And then from down dog, inhale, come forward to plank pose, top of a push up. You're welcome to lower the knees down, otherwise lower all the way to your belly. And then we'll untuck the toes, come up into cobra pose, draw the shoulders back, press through the tops of the feet as you lift up through the heart, lengthening through the spine. Exhale, lower down toward the earth. Let's take that two more times, rolling cobras, keep the legs active. Inhale, start to peel the chest up off the earth, lengthening. Exhale, lower down. One more, Bhujangasana. Inhale, roll the shoulders back, lift up, lengthen, press through the tops of your feet. And then exhale, we'll press back to downward facing dog, meeting there. And then as you come to your down dog, just allowing a big full breath in. As you exhale, maybe side out the mouth. Beautiful. And then taking that all to the left, as you're ready, inhale, left leg up, bend knee, open up the hip. And again, maybe roll out the ankle a few times here, or you can take some big circles with that left leg, really getting into that left hip, but pressing evenly through both hands to keep your shoulders level. Good. And then start to straighten through the left leg, square your hips, allow a big full breath in here. Draw your left knee to your left tricep, gaze forward, and then step the left foot to the outside of your left hands for that wide lunge. Keep the right hand down, sweep the left arm up, find your lunge twist, keep hugging that left hip in as you twist from the navel up. Beautiful.

Maybe again, you take some circles with that left arm, find that opening through that left shoulder either direction. Good. And then lower the left hand to the inside of your front foot, walk your fingertips over to the right this time, face the side of your mat, bend your right knee, keep the left leg straight, skandhasana. And then we'll move it over to the other side, walking the fingertips back through center, take them over to the left, left knee bends, right leg stays nice and straight. And then one more time toward the back of your mat, bending the right knee, straightening through the left. And then we'll walk it all the way back around toward the front of your mat, find your runner's lunge, and then step back to downward facing dog. This time from your down dog, come forward to plank pose, perhaps coming halfway down through chaturanga, lowering, bending the elbows, hugging them in. Cobra may be upward facing dog as you lift the heart. If you're in up dog, straighten the arms, firm the thighs, and then exhale, meeting back in downward facing dog. Again, allowing a big full breath in here. Open the mouth, sigh it out. Good. And then we'll rise up onto the toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, come to the front of the mat, come halfway up on your inhale. And then as you fold over your legs, let's step the feet as wide as your mat, take your toes out, let your heels come in slightly, and then bend your knees, sink your hips down as we come into malasana, maybe drawing your hands to your heart. So find your yogi squat, getting deep into your hips here, feel the length through the spine, through the crown of your head. You can always sit on a block here or take something underneath your heels for support. And then just allow a few breaths, checking in, noticing the heart beating. Nice. And then from here, let's bring the hands down to the earth, parallel the feet, fold over your legs, taking a nice wider forward fold, and then we'll soften through the knees, let the torso drape down, and then grounding down through the feet, roll up slowly, one vertebra at a time, just unraveling as you come all the way up to stand, circle your arms all the way out and up, and then draw your hands to your heart center. And then from here, let's come to a wide knee chair pose. So you can keep the feet hips distance or even a little wider. We'll come to utkatasana, sinking the hips down, reach the arms up as you draw the shin bones back, feel the strength in your legs here, strengthening through the hips. Take one more big breath in. As you exhale, fold down over your legs. Come halfway up on your inhale, maybe walk the hands up onto your shins. And then vinyasa, we'll step back to plank pose, lower through halfway or all the way down through chaturanga, cobra or up dog. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, roll over your toes, downward facing dog. Nice. And then from down dog, let's reach the right leg up, bend the knee, open up your hip for a breath. And this time we're going to draw the right knee across the body to the left tricep and hover. Good. And then sweep the leg all the way up and back, three leg downward facing dog. Step your foot all the way through between your hands. And then come up to warrior two this time. So spin the back heel down, circle the arms open, arriving in Virabhadrasana two. And just taking a moment to find your alignment here. Find your breath. Nice. And then flip your front palm, keep the legs how they are and just tilt back to reverse your warrior light on your back fingertips as you reach your arm up and over your ear. Nice. And then come all the way down to the earth and we'll just step right back through your flow Vinyasa, or you can always come right to downward facing dog Cobra or up dog on your inhale, downward facing dog. Exhale, taking it to the left side, inhale, the left leg up, bend your knee, open up the hip. Good. And then draw your left knee across the body, right tricep, hover, inhale, sweep the leg up and back gaze forward. Step your foot all the way through between your hands. Warrior two, spin the back heel down, circle the arms open, arrive here in Virabhadrasana two. And just take a look down, make sure your knee is tracking over your second and third toe. So if you look to the inside of that front knee, you should be able to see your big toe. This will just protect your knees. Good. And then flip your front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior, feel the length through the left side body as you lift back and then circle your hands all the way down and through Vinyasa or right to downward facing dog. Any modifications, variations, we'll meet in down dog for a couple full deep breaths, allowing a big full breath in. And again, let something go with your exhale. Let's take that again. We'll add on just a little bit. So from the back of the mat, reach the right leg up and back, bend your knee, open up your hip, draw your right knee to your left tricep. Good. Inhale, sweep the leg up, exhale, step through, come right up to warrior two, spin the back heel down, circle the arms open, flip your front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior. Now from here, we're going to come right into half moon. So as you lift up and over, reach the right hand forward, lift up through the left leg. Beautiful. And if you want to take chapasana variation, you'll bend through your left leg, reach back with your left hand, kick the foot into the hand. And then again, there's that nice opening in the hip here. Play with your balance. Nice.

And then softly we'll step back right into reverse warrior. So that right arm reaches up and back as you come back and then circle your hands down and through vinyasa or step it right back to downward facing dog, your choice. We'll meet there. Beautiful. Take a breath as you arrive, let that side go. So from here, let's inhale the left leg up, bend the knee, open up the hip, draw your left knee to your right tricep and hover. Exhale sweep the leg up and back. Exhale, step your foot through between your hands. Spin the back heel down, circle the arms open, coming back to warrior two and then right away flip the front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior. And then we're coming into half moon. So from here, reach the left arm forward, step the right toes in as you lift up, find half moon, find your balance. And again, maybe you hold on to the right ankle, start to draw that leg back, really opening up through that right hip as you find your balance here. Try to be a little light on your left fingertips. You might even float the fingertips up off the earth. Good. And then we'll step back all the way into reverse warrior, reaching up and over your ear and then circling your hands down and through vinyasa if you want it or right to downward facing dog. And we'll meet in downward facing dog on your exhale. Allow a big full breath in. And as you exhale, lower the knees down, bring the big toes and heels together and then take the knees nice and wide. So we'll come into child's pose from here, letting the torso drape down between your legs, let the head and neck relax. And then notice your hips and breathe.

Meet me back in downward facing dog, tucking the toes, lift the hips up and back. And then we'll come to the front of the mat. So rising up onto the toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands. Come halfway up, inhale, fold in, exhale, and then root down to rise all the way up to stand, lifting your arms up and drawing your hands to your heart. Good. Take the weight into your left foot. We're going to cross the right ankle on top of the left. So somewhat similar to what we did on our backs with that thread the eye of the needle. Let the hip shift back as you come into temple dancer. And then really feel the outer right hip here as you sink the weight into that left heel and breathe. Find one point to focus your gaze. You might take lotus mudra with your hands. Yeah. And then as you come out of here, we'll come to tree pose. So you might grab onto that right ankle, slide the foot up into the inner upper left leg. You're welcome to bring it below the knee as well. And then maybe the hands come back to the heart or you might play with reaching your arms all the way up. Beautiful. Fine. Again, one point to focus your drishti or your gaze. Come back to your breath. Good. And then to come out of here, draw the right knee in towards your chest. We're going to step the right leg back, landing on the right toes, coming into crescent pose, finding crescent, bending through your left leg, bringing your left knee right over the ankle, soften the shoulders, relax your gaze. Nice. Take one more big breath in. You might look up, maybe press the palms together above your head, and then let the hands come down to the earth. We're going to take your left leg, sweep it all the way up and back into a three leg downward facing dog. Bend your knee, open up your hip. Maybe flip your dog from here, shifting the weight forward, stepping your left toes behind you, coming onto that weight in the right hand, reach your left arm up and over your ear. Good. And then to come out of here, unravel, bringing the left hand back down, sweep the left leg up into the air, three leg down dog, and then left knee, right tricep, cross the body again, and then thread your leg all the way through. Keep both hands down on the earth and then start to lower onto that left hip. As you start to straighten out through that back leg, you're welcome to keep the toes tucked or you can untuck them. And then it's really big stretch for the outer hip. So you're welcome to stay upright if that feels like enough or maybe walk the hands forward coming onto forearms or even walking all the way down. And we'll be here for a few breaths. Wherever you're at, can you invite in just a little bit more ease? Send the breath to wherever you feel this. Nice. And then come on out of there. So we'll press back up onto the hands and then we'll lift that left hip up. So you're on the ball of your right foot and then step your left foot right back to downward facing dog. Take a couple of breaths, maybe pedal it out through the feet if that feels good. Nice. And then when you're ready, we'll come back to the front of the mat, rising up onto the toes, bend the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands. Come halfway up, inhale, exhale, Uttanasana, fold in, and then root down through the feet, rise up to stand, circle the arms out and up. Draw your hands to your heart, exhale. Good. And just coming to the other side. So as you're ready, we'll take the weight into the right foot, cross the left ankle on top of the right knee, figure four shape with the legs as you shift the weight back. Good. Maybe bring the hands to the heart. Again, find that focus with your gaze and then find your breath. Yeah. And then to come out of here, we'll come into trees. So left hand finds the ankle, draw the foot to the inner upper thigh. It can also be below the knee or even toes to the earth. And then you're opening through the hips here, but let the frontal hip points face straight forward. As you squeeze everything into center, hands to heart or reach the arms all the way up. A couple breaths here. Nice. And then as you're ready, start to draw the knee in towards your chest and we'll step it softly back to crescent pose again. So the toes find the back of the mat, come onto the ball of the foot, bend through your front knee toward 90 degrees and maybe soften through that back knee a little bit. Allow one more big breath in, lift the gaze, maybe press palms together above your head and then hands find the earth framing the front foot. And then again, we're going to sweep the right leg all the way up and back, three leg downward facing dog. Bend your knee, open up your hip and then maybe flip your dog here, shifting the weight forward, stepping the right toes behind you, bringing the weight into your left hand, reaching the right arm up and over your ear. Feel that lift in the heart. Good. And then unravel, come out the same way we came in. Right leg lifts up to the sky and then draw your right knee across the body, left tricep, hover here, start to thread your legs all the way through. And again, lower onto your right hip. So we're finding this outer hip stretch and you can keep the back toes tucked or you can start to untuck them straight in the leg, any amount, walk your hands forward. And then again, just send the breath to the place where you'd like to create some space wherever you find the sensations in the body. Holding for three or four more full, deep, conscious breaths. Maybe coming back to a mantra here to help you stay focused on the breath, something as simple as I'm inhaling. I am exhaling. It just helps to focus the mind. I am inhaling. Exhaling. Walking back up onto your hands as you're ready. Tuck your back toes, lift the hip up and then reach your right foot back to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Taking a couple breaths in down dog. And from downward facing dog, we'll come to seated at the front of the mat.

So you might hop your legs through, cross at the ankles or just walk up to seated and bring the legs out in front of you and then we'll roll onto our backs. So meeting on the backs with the knees hugged into the chest and just give yourself a squeeze here, rock a little bit. I'm going to take two rounds of heart opening posture. So we'll start with bridge, bringing the soles of the feet down, walk your heels in, maybe brush the backs of the heels with the fingertips and then press into the soles of the feet, lift the hips up, maybe start to roll the shoulders underneath you. You might interlace the fingers behind the low back and then start to draw your chest up towards your chin, pressing evenly through the feet and breathing, holding for just a couple breaths here. Try to release any clenching in the back body, lifting from your hamstrings and then go ahead and release the shoulders, roll down, step your feet as wide as the mat, let the knees knock into touch, bring the hands to the low belly and just observe, witness. You're welcome to stay with bridge pose. We're going to come into one more round. I'll bring us into wheel, urdhva dhanurasana, but again, stay with bridge if that's where you feel comfortable. Stepping the feet hips distance, walking the heels in towards you, bring your hands next to your ears, hug the elbows in and I'll take us in there at three steps. So first lift your hips up, let the knees draw forward. Second, come up onto the crown of your head and then hugging your elbows in, any amount will straighten out through the arms to evenly distribute the weight across your spine, reaching the heart back and the knees forward. Find your breath, just a couple of breaths. Good and then slowly, lower as you're ready. Let's bring the soles of the feet together, knees wide, let that go. Supta baddha konasana, just counter balancing. This is a gentle release in the lower back. Good and then gather in the knees to your chest, hug the knees in and take a happy baby holding onto the outsides of the feet, knees wide, relax the low back and your shoulders and if it feels good to rock a little bit from side to side, maybe straighten out one leg as you come to the side and then you can straighten out the other leg. Good and then as you're ready, gathering knees back into the chest, draw everything in, take a big breath in and then let everything go. Shavasana and straighten out through the legs, the feet roll open, bring the palms to face up, soften the shoulders, maybe close your eyes and just rest. Good and then let's bring the soles of the feet together. Good and then as you're ready, we're going to do the soles of the feet. Good and then as you're ready, we're going to do the soles of the feet. Stay in your shavasana as long as you'd like, if you have the time. Otherwise, we'll invite any movement in, bring the awareness back to your breath and whenever you're ready, making your way to a comfortable cross-leg seated position. As you come to your seat, maybe the eyes stay closed, letting the gaze rest on the internal and just take a moment to really check in, notice your hips, finding this comfortable seat and track your breath. And as you're ready, hands to heart, Anjali Mudra, bow your head towards your hands, just in gratitude. Think of one thing in your life that you feel really grateful for right now and holding that in your heart. Thank you so much for sharing your practice. Namaste.