Oh those hamstrings! Many people are surprised to learn that lower back problems, hip problems, and knee problems can all be traced, at least in part, to tight hamstrings. #TightTuesday This Yoga stretch is excellent at releasing tight hamstring muscles and is a great way to flex and extend the muscle while protecting the lower back. RECLINING BIG TOE POSE (SUPTA PADANGUSTHASANA) To begin, be sure you are not starting the pose with a locked knee. Instead of starting with the leg straight out along the floor and then attempting to take the straight leg up into the stretch, try the following: 1. Bend your right knee to place a belt around your foot, and then keep your knee bent. 2. Draw your knee a little closer to your chest, allowing the thigh to rotate out slightly, so that your hip releases down to the floor. This slight outward rotation allows the femur to slide into place in the hip socket, and helps you maintain a slight arch in your back. Keep the chest open and your neck relaxed and long. 3. Keep your hip firmly grounded on the earth, and your knee exactly where it is. With the help of the belt, swing your foot up into place, and straighten your leg by contracting your quadriceps, drawing energy from your kneecap toward your hip. 4. As your leg straightens, press up against the belt with the ball of your big toe while drawing your outer hip down toward the floor. Pressing through the ball of the big toe will spiral your leg in, adjusting the outer rotation you allowed in step 2. 5. Keeping the outer hip grounded will balance that inward spiral with the outward spiral at the top of the thigh by which you grounded the femur in the hip socket—so that in the balance between the two, the leg stays centered. A sign of success is that your right kneecap will be lined up with your right shoulder rather than turning to the left NOTE: Resist the temptation to lock your knee at the end. Here’s the sure sign you have gone too far: your kneecap will rotate inward to point toward your left shoulder, and your outer hip will likely come up away from the floor. Your lower back may also flatten against the floor. These are signs that you have locked the knee and that your hamstrings are tightening rather than submitting to the stretch. Want to learn more ways to stretch your hamstrings? https://yogainternational/article/view/relief-for-tight-hamstrings
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 22:44:02 +0000