Improve Your Flexibility With Yoga

Using a yoga strap around your raised foot makes this pose accessible to even those with the tightest hamstrings (you can also use a regular old belt if you don’t have a strap handy). Let the head of your femur settle into the hip socket as you stretch the leg so that both hips stay grounded on the floor.

Standing Forward Bend – Uttanasana

A standing forward bend is a simple way to stretch your hamstrings. Try to keep your hips over your ankles; most people have a tendency to let their hips creep too far back. Micro bend your knees to avoid hyperextension. A nice variation is to take hold of opposite elbows and let your torso hang.

Triangle Pose – Utthita Trikonasana

For this pose, straighten your front leg as much as possible, even if it means your hand can’t reach the floor. Use a yoga block under your bottom hand if you have one. It’s better to put pressure on​ the block than into your leg by leaning on it. Over time, use your developing core strength to take some of the weight out of your hand.​

Seated Wide-Legged Straddle – Upavistha Konasana

A wide-legged position is a good way to stretch the insides of the thighs.7 If you are more open, you can take a forward bend here, but try to do it with a long spine instead of rounding your back. It’s also just fine to stay sitting up if that’s a better fit for you.

Eye of the Needle – Sucirandhrasana

Eye of the needle is a great pose for people with tight hips because it’s very customizable.8 Start just by crossing one ankle onto the opposite thigh. This might be enough for some people. If you want to go further, lift the bottom leg off the ground incrementally. Stop when you find the place where you feel a good stretch but you’re not in pain.

Cobbler’s Pose – Baddha Konasana

In cobbler’s pose, gravity does the hip opening work for you. This is a particularly good pose to stay in for a few minutes at a time.9 If you find this position extremely uncomfortable, there are a few things you can try.

Sitting upon a folded blanket can help because it raises the hips above the knees. Placing a block under each knee for support is also an option, but make sure you lower the blocks incrementally over time so that you see your progress.

Pigeon – Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Pigeon is an amazing hip opener, but it can be a tough one for people with very tight hips. The best thing to do in this case is to use plenty of props.10 Eventually, your butt comes to the ground on the forward leg side. If that’s not happening, use as much padding as is necessary to bring the floor up to meet your behind. Once you feel supported, see if you can begin to forward bend. That added pressure on the front leg can open you up even more. But take it gradually if you are very tight to avoid injury.

Eagle Pose – Garudasana

Eagle works on both shoulder and hips flexibility, with the legs targeting the hard-to-get-to outer hips and the arms giving you a great stretch across the upper back.

If the twisted up legs are throwing you for a loop, just do the arm position while seated in any way that’s comfortable (see here for eagle in a chair). Be sure to do the pose with each arm on top in turn.

Bridge Pose – Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

The way to get a good shoulder stretch in bridge pose is to make sure to tuck each shoulder under after you have lifted your hips up. If the back-bending aspect of the pose seems too intense, you can get a similar stretch in a supported bridge by doing the same shoulder-tucking action and interlacing your fingers around the block.

Cow Face Pose – Gomukhasana

Don’t worry if you can’t clasp your hands behind your back in cow face pose. It’s really not about that, so use anything handy (belt, strap, towel, t-shirt) to make up the distance between the hands. Try to send your breath into any areas of tightness you feel.