After a long day at the desk your hips get a certain kind of tired. Not the satisfying tiredness of a workout, but something heavier and duller—a stiffness that makes standing up feel like a chore and walking to the kitchen feel like a fight with your own body. You’re not the only one who feels that way. Most of us sit a lot more than our bodies were made to handle, and the hips and hamstrings are usually the first to complain.
This 13 minute yin yoga sequence was made just for that kind of stress. Yin is different from regular stretching because you don’t bounce in and out of poses; you stay in one place. The goal is to get to the deeper connective tissue that quick stretches don’t quite reach. You will need two pillows or folded blankets to use as props. That’s all.
Start with a wide stance and then bend forward.
Sit on your mat and spread your legs out in a V shape. Stand up straight, then slowly lean forward from your hips and let your upper body fold down toward the floor. If your hamstrings are tight, which they probably are, put a pillow under each knee so you don’t have to fight the pose. If the floor feels far away, put your forearms or forehead on a pillow. The goal here is not to touch the ground. It’s to let gravity slowly do what your muscles can’t quite do on their own. Stay here for at least two minutes and breathe steadily. When you’re ready to come up, press your hands into the floor and roll over slowly. Put your legs together in front of you and shake them out.
Fire Log Pose: Go deeper.
While keeping your left leg straight, bend your right knee and hook your right ankle just above your left knee. Fire Log Pose is when you bend your left knee so that your shins stack on top of each other in a square shape. This pose gets to the outer hip in a way that almost nothing else does. If the pose is too hard, put a pillow under one or both knees to make it easier. For two minutes, sit up straight here. If you want more, then fold forward over your stacked shins. Let your back round naturally and your hands walk out in front of you. Hold the forward fold for about a minute.
Windscreen Wipers: Move Slowly
Put your hands back in and push yourself up. Put your hands behind you, lean back a little, and spread your feet wide with your knees bent and your feet flat on the mat. Now let both knees slowly fall to the right, then back to the middle and finally to the left, like a gentle windscreen wiper. Do this four times on each side. It sounds easy, but it feels really good after Fire Log Pose. Straighten your right leg and cross your left ankle over your right knee to get ready for Fire Log Pose on the other side. For 2 minutes, hold the position. For 1 minute, fold forward. Then, do another round of Windscreen Wipers to shake everything out.
5 Yoga Moves to Loosen Tight Hips After Sitting All Day and Restore Comfortable Natural Movement
Savasana: Let it all land
Lay down on your back and stretch out all the way. Put your arms a little bit away from your body, palms up, and close your eyes. Please stay here for three to five minutes. This part is more important than it sounds; your nervous system needs a moment to process what just happened in your hips and hamstrings. When you’re done, pull your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and slowly press yourself up to sit.
Thirteen minutes A few pillows. And hips that, for the first time all day, feel like they really belong to you again.
