Sebastian Brosche · 6 min · 908 words
Previously titled: Section 12 - Hip Stretches
Finally time for the reward for all the hard work both for the people in your class and you. Now you get to shut up and people get to do some nice stretching. We finished in turtles so you just ask people to come back into dog. From dog not talk about any rolling knees or anything of that.
Just ask them to bring the right knee to the right wrist. And without using your hand just rotate the heel under your hips. So people roll the knee to ankle and then the ankle under their hips. From here some people have everybody injured to have some kind of knee problems.
So I make sure that people understand that the more you relax into this one the more intense the stretch becomes. So if you need to back off just keep more engaging. I usually talk about we're starting in a plank and the less plank you do the more you lay down the more it's going to stretch. So Stine here is a typical super flexible yogi.
For her it's no problem to get the butt all the way down into the ground. Be a super stiff jitsu person for a moment. Some people will only get there and they will even struggle having the foot there. It's gonna keep sliding back but you have to work where you are.
So yes this is super common that people try to go low by sitting sideways. So the first option is just rolling knee forward trying to lower down. Take a short look over the room. If you see people sitting like crazy give that you can actually point at it.
Or sit like a crazy person. Super stiff yes. You can give them an option to do that in a better way. So I'm gonna do it with the left leg forward.
So yes just try to angle your knees into a 90 degree position. And find a position where you can use the leverage of your upper body to stretch your glutes. It's impossible for you to know everybody in the world to understand how to categorize all the different stiffnesses. So just encourage people to find their own way.
Sit in a basic shape the 1990 position which is a variation of the turtle. And just move your upper body around until you feel the sweet spot. I make it as simple as that. Just encourage people to figure out how they should stretch.
1990 is the version of pigeon not the turtle. Did I say turtle? 1990 is a version of pigeon not turtle. Long day.
Long day. So basic pigeon is very straightforward. Everybody who gets into the pose they're gonna feel it and they can figure out on their own. If someone is sitting on the side like that just help them get into the 1990 and figure out the rest on their own.
Avoid talking too much. This is the point of class where you should be silent. And encourage instead just tell people quickly to close their eyes, enjoy the stretch and breathe. From here when we're done after one minute about one minute in this pose.
Moving the back leg forward keep your front leg bent so your right knee was bent. Left leg forward. Foot to thigh. Foot to inner thigh.
Make sure you're sitting on both hips not just one because a lot of people will be sitting on one with the knee up. So you try to get them to understand that they want a good solid foundation. The knee doesn't have to be down. They just have to sit comfortably.
Fingertips in the ground. Good posture. Inhale. Exhale.
Stay here because some people will only be able to stay here. Round your lower back like crazy. This is what you want to avoid. People sitting up with their own spine.
So encourage posture first. And that's more than good enough for many people. Walk as far forward as seems reasonable. And the reason I say use the word reasonable is because people are unreasonable.
They try to catch the foot like crazy and they try to pull themselves down. They hold the breath and they pant and they almost scream. You try to encourage them to not fight their nervous system. Sometimes I hear it like walk as far forward as you can then back off 25% and enjoy that stretch.
Not all the way to 100 but about 75. You will find your own ways to encourage people to not fight themselves. That's one of the biggest tasks of you as a Yoruba BGJ teacher. When they're done, swing the leg back.
Step back to dog. Take half a moment here. Same sequence, second side. Left knee forward.
They did it already. They know exactly what's going on. I always mention that usually the right and left side are different. So accommodate for that and don't expect the same things from this side as the first time.
So the hip stretch first and then the asymmetrical forward fold. In Yoruba it's called Janusirsasana. Don't remember that. About under one minute in each pose.
This whole sequence should take under four minutes. When we're done, we're not swinging the leg back to dog. Now we're just stretching both legs forward and then we are magically in the next sequence. Anything you want to add?
Nope.
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