Hip Opener with Belt: 19-Min Yoga for Rocks Hip Stretch & Strength

So use your left arm to keep the foot more to the center line but let your knee fall out completely to the side. Now get back to breathing. Inhale nose, exhale mouth. Inhale nose, exhale mouth.

Keep going. Inhale nose, exhale mouth. Three more breaths. And switch sides.

So left foot up, right foot in the ground. Start with the knees bent and your leg on the center line. So your foot is right above your hips. Inhale, exhale.

Inhale exhale. Inhale exhale. The reason I'm not so talkative in this program is that relaxation is what's going to do it for you. That's going to crack the code.

Your hips are super stiff because your hips are super tense. You can be strong and flexible. You don't have to be stiff to be strong but your muscles and your fascia around your hips are tense. So you need to learn to really relax and that's why I'm not talking so much that you have the opportunity to breathe and relax.

Now stretch the bottom leg out a little bit. Maybe climb the highs higher but the reason you have wrapped your wrists, the belt around your wrists is so that you don't need a panic grip around the belt but rather let the weight of the arms pull the belt. Bend your left knee slightly and let the foot stay where it is but let the knee fall out sideways so that your knees are going from center line to outer line. Keep pulling with your right hand so that your foot stays over the center so you don't fall over to your left side.

Rule number one of being a rock. Rule number one is don't watch and compare. Never watch someone else and start comparing yourself to them because the only thing that's going to do is demotivate you. When you're a rock you have to have internal focus, a shitload of patience and even more consistency.

You need to be religiously consistent to your practice. Every day for 10 minutes or for 15 minutes or for 20 minutes, every single day without exception you need to do the poses and breathe. I can compare it with being super skinny. Take the most skinny person you've ever seen.

If you want to make them a bodybuilder, like have them gain 50 pounds of muscle, what would you tell them to do? You would tell them to be super persistent and they have to start where they are even if it's with a one pound weight. You have to start, you have to be consistent, you have to trust the process, yada yada yada. The same principles goes for you who have huge muscles that are really stiff.

You need to have the same approach as that skinny little person who wants to be big. Persistence. Alright, release. Come up to all fours.

We're going to do low lunges. So all fours first and then step your left foot forward so that you're in a kneeling position. This one is called the King Arthur pose when your hips are above your knee like this. What we're going to do is place our back foot in the ground and lift the knee off of the floor.

So lift the knee up, push your front knee with your arms and then try to stretch your back leg as much as you can. We're not going to do any more variations than this one in this program. So this is what we're going to do. We're just going to push our body weight back and try to stretch the leg.

So this should feel really intense on the front of your hips, but you should not feel it in the lower back as you're supporting your arms in your knee. You should be able to not engage your belly so much and just focus on the front of your hips. So balance is of course, it can be an issue here. Stand close to a wall and place your hand in the wall if that's necessary.

But let's stay here and slowly move your hips up and down if you have the balance. So don't crank your lower back, hug your belly in and push with your arms. Stretch the front of your hips. Five more breaths.

And when we switch, we don't step forward and step back. We twist to the side. So we're in a straddle pose. Take a breath here and then switch to the other side.

Hands on top of your knee on your back toes with your left leg. Hug your belly in and lean back and stretch the back leg as much as you can. Take a few breaths. So engage your butt.

Raise your butt and push your thigh back. I have heard about a lot of people tearing their hamstrings because they're stiff. I have never heard about anyone tearing their psoas and their upper quadriceps. It's completely unheard of because I don't think it's even possible unless you're in a car accident to do that.

So don't be afraid of pushing too hard here. Here you can actually push quite a lot. So go up and down and keep pushing your leg as straight as you can. This is one of the few poses where I can safely say that it's okay to push.

Almost always you want to relax. But in this one you can push a lot. Two more breaths. And back to center.

This next pose is the best outer hip stretch you can do as a rock. We're never going to do any of the pigeon poses in this sequence. We're not going to do any of the seated stretching because if you're a rock, this is the definition of a rock for the back of the hamstrings. When you sit, you sit like this.

You have no chance of sitting like I'm doing now. This is not a stretching exercise. This is a core exercise. So we're going to skip all of that and use this one instead.

This one is absolutely amazing. Get close to the wall. Remember your wall is your best friend. Get your legs up the wall and have some distance.

Don't get your butt really close to the wall. Have some distance. So you should be able to place your feet in knee height and your knees should be straight above your hips. So you're in a box shape.

Now stretch your left leg up and flex the foot. So pull your toes down, grab your ankle and get the ankle to the top of your thigh. If this is not possible, if you can't go there, stretch your other leg straight and start like this with a straight right leg and a bent left knee. From here, you slide the heel down into figure four position.

So this is like a triangle, but the ankle is on top of your thigh. Alright, so slide the foot down as far as it goes and then try to support your knee and your foot with your fingertips. So catch on to your to your shin bone or your thigh or your foot. So you don't have to keep balance sideways.

So your elbows are supporting the ground and your leg. And this is it. If you for some reason don't feel anything, something I don't really believe, but you can scoot your hips a bit closer to the wall and you can slide your top foot down even more or to make it super intense, you can lift the heel so you're pushing your toes into the wall. But you're also pushing back with your hands, so you're not just letting the leg stay by itself.

You hold on to your shin, your ankle and your knee. And you both push into the wall and push into the leg at the same time. And remember, it's only a yoga pose if you breathe. So inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Keep going. Inhale, exhale.

Let's stay here for another minute. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. What we're doing now is called restorative yoga.

It's a pose that completely does itself. You don't have to do anything. You just breathe and relax. And the pose, actually the pose, the wall and gravity is doing all the work for you.

You can just lay still, breathe and enjoy the benefits. All right, to get out of this pose, stretch the wall leg, stretch both legs up the wall, shake your feet, shake your legs and switch sides. So flex the right foot, ankle on top of your thigh and then slide the left foot down as far as it goes and support your right leg with your arms. Close your eyes.

Breathe. Make sure you don't bite your teeth or frown your forehead. Relax your face and try to breathe as deep as you can. Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

Stretch your left leg, stretch your right leg, lift both legs up and shake them. And sit up with your back against the wall. Cross your ankles, shoulder blades to the wall, close your eyes and stay here and meditate for a couple of minutes. Or just keep going with your day or your evening.

See you guys in the next part of the program. Peace!