The hip flexors can become tight and shortened from extended sitting. In this video we work on opening the hip flexors and focus on two of the major muscles: the Iliopsoas and Iliacus.
Equipment: block, bolster, and a blanket or body pillow
1) Myofascial Release
Lie on your stomach and place your block under you with the bottom edge at your belly button. Fold forward for a few moments and rest your weight on your forearms. For more intensity you can rise up to your hands with slightly bent arms. The pelvis and shoulders should be really heavy here - let the belly drop and ab muscles soften. Try to press your belly into the block when you inhale, and let it soften when you exhale.
Remove the block from under you and rest on your belly for a few breaths. Lay your head on your forearms and acknowledge the sensation you feel around your low back.
2) Iliopsoas
Low Lunge #1
From a kneeling position, step the right foot forward into a low lunge. At your own pace, take a few pulses from here. First allow your hips to be really heavy, and then straighten your right leg slightly. What we’re doing here is finding length in the left psoas.
The next step is to press the top of your left foot down and lift your left leg away from the floor. If you can, try to peel your belly away from your thigh and become as upright and active as possible.
Lateral side bend lunge:
From your previous lunge position bring your left arm up and reach towards the right in a side bend, lengthening your left oblique all the way to your left hip flexor. What we're trying to do in this pose is get a really good stretch at the front of the thigh, or psoas. Repeat this on the other side and be mindful of the difference you feel between your left and right sides.
Low Lunge #2
Bring your right leg forward into another low lunge stretch. Lower your left knee to the ground and bring your right hand to the inside of the right foot. Keeping your right foot rooted and not rotating your knee out, carefully drop to your forearms. Use a block or bolster if you find it difficult to reach your forearms to the floor. This will allow you to feel the stretch while keeping your hips down and heavy. If you are able to deepen this stretch, try to bring your left foot towards your butt and hold it in place with your right hand while keeping your hips as square as possible. As you hold this pose, breathe into your hip flexors and focus on lengthening out of the low back so the spine is as neutral as possible.
3) Iliacus
Restorative Reclined Bound Ankle Pose
On your back, place a block under your sacrum at the base of your spine. Bring the soles of the feet together and open the knees out to the side. Soften the shoulders and think of yourself as being draped over your block. Let your hips and knees feel heavier and heavier.
In this same position, use your hands to bring your knees back together and then widen your feet. Let your knees slowly fall in and connect with one another. This pose will balance out all of the openness of the previous poses. Hold here as you did for Reclined Bound Angle Pose.
MacKenzie’s Bio
Work hard, find softness. MacKenzie Miller will leave you feeling as if you have flirted with gravity and laughed with the divine. Students are instantaneously transported away from the hustle of their daily lives, allowing their mat to be an arena reserved for cultivating inner peace.
MacKenzie is a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor. Her teaching combines thorough understanding of alignment and anatomy with the joy of balance and movement. She engages deeply with her students and her classes are thoughtfully sequenced, creating a safe space to have fun and explore, work hard yet find softness.
No aspect of the modern practice experience is left untouched. All will leave energized, grinning and humming at the end.