Tight Hamstrings? 60-Min Yin Stretch for BJJ (With Belt)

How much or how lesser you're in the pose all I care about is that you feel the stretch and that means you're making progress. So stop blabbering for the next minute. Deep inhale exhale release. Inhale into where you feel the tension and exhale to release.

Last deep breath. Slowly release. With the belt to the side and you have three versions of the figure four. Left foot is on the floor, leg bent.

Right ankle on the quad. This is number one and if you're at number one stay here. You can push on the knee to intensify the stretch. If you'd like more both hands reach through the thighs interlocking behind the leg.

I want you be aware that the ankle is on the quad not the shin the ankle even some of the foot. Stay here for two minutes. Finding your five second inhale and five second exhales. Obviously we're breathing into the stretch and releasing the tension but this also allows the mind and nervous system to know that it's okay to relax and rest and reset here.

That allows us to get the most out of this session. Last deep inhale exhale. Keeping the legs exactly where they are release the hands. Place the left hand on the ankle.

Left hand on the ankle and lower over to the left side. Rolling over to the left side. Foot will be on the floor and I have the hand on the ankle so the leg doesn't slide but you can let that go if this is too intense. Reach the right hand up and lower it behind you.

We have a figure four outer hip stretch. It's called revolve figure four with a spinal twist. A gentle spinal twist. Last adjustment.

See if you can lift your head a little more to make yourself longer. Reach your head towards basically the back of the room. For me it's the back of the room. Whatever that part of the room is for you could be the front.

Make the spine longer creating more space through the vertebrae and visually nothing might change but even the small like millimeters make a difference. Once you found your posture settle in and breathe. Always five second inhales five second exhales. With your five second inhale inhale into where it feels tight where you feel tension and exhale to consciously release that tension.

Throughout today's practice I want you to let go of expectations. I want you to let go of how far you figure you should be able to go into the posture because it changes every day depending on how your body is every day and depending on what you've done that week. So letting go of what the posture should look like. Letting go of what you figure you should be able to get out of the practice and letting go of what you think it should feel like because once we let go of all of those expectations that leaves space for the work that needs to be done to actually get done because it removes all those expectations all those barriers and leaves space for the work the things that actually need to be stretched and moved and even a little bit of strengthening to leave space for that to happen what needs to happen to happen.

So I want you to let go of all the expectations and to simply move into each posture your variation of each posture and breathe. Last deep inhale. Exhale. Slowly coming to center both feet on the floor legs bend.

Re-center the spine and bring both the bottom of both feet together knees wide for basically recline butterfly and it doesn't matter how close or how far the heels are to the hips just feet together knees out arms above the head grabbing the elbows right arm underneath grab the elbows as much as you can close the eyes and see if you notice a difference between the right and left side any difference at all or if they still feel pretty similar and see if you notice a difference of how you felt from when you even began the class maybe a little more calm maybe a little more relaxed maybe you feel restless and busy and sometimes you're restless and busy and impatient that's when you really need to take a breather and to slow everything down so that just means that it could be going and hyperdrive and overdrive I know that's happened happens to me that's when this work becomes really important last deep breath releasing that hands by your sides both feet to the floor you can press the feet into the floor to re-center the spine and grabbing your belt moving into the other side I like to have the foot on the ground so right foot on the floor loop the belt around the ball of the left foot loop the hands around the belt a few times and if you like bend and straighten that left leg a few times letting the nervous system know that it's okay it's okay if we go moving into straighten it and letting it know where we feel the sensation and when you're ready go ahead and straighten or almost straighten that leg and again when we move into a posture where it's a challenge make sure not to get caught up in what I should be able to do in the posture or how inflexible I am or how much I need to do this way more so I'm way more flexible those are all expectations so release all of that all we're doing today is moving into each posture finding the stretch and breathing through this stretch allowing what needs to be done today to be done five second inhales five second exhales last deep breath releasing the belt putting it to the side we're done with it for a while and place the left ankle on the right quad option to stay here with the foot on the floor or reach the hands through the thighs interlocking the fingers behind the leg and take a peek at the leg make sure that it is the ankle and even the foot that's on the quad that protects the hip joint make sure that it is not the shin once you've found your posture those five second breaths deep inhale exhale inhaling to where it feels tight exhale release if it's really tight just give yourself time keep moving through the inhales and exhales and eventually in the exhales as you release tension will begin to release you have about 30 more seconds last deep breath keeping the legs exactly where they are release the hands right hand on the right ankle and roll to the right side until the foot is on the ground and you have the option to continue grabbing the ankle or if that's that's too much simply release left arm can reach up and lower behind you make this spine a little longer and visually it might not change much but even those millimeters make a difference so make the spine a little longer find your breath deep inhale and just notice where the tension is just notice where it feels tight and use the breast to begin in releasing that tension and it may take four or five six seven breaths and that's okay and as you exhale release the tension consciously go into that one body part from each other hip but also be aware where else can you relax it might be the bottom leg it might be allowing the upper body to relax because it's all connected and if you allow other body parts to relax in the exhale then the targeted body part will be allowed to release as well find your deep breaths and sometimes actually quite often it'll take more than just one session like the outer hip tends to be really tight because those are our stabilizing muscles keeping our legs from falling out we use it walking running training they have a big job so today the other hips might not completely release in fact they probably won't but that's why it's important to come back to these classes again and again and again even on a weekly basis or do them every few days to allow the system the opportunity to release a little more every time last breath slowly slowly come to center both feet on the floor recenter the hips recenter the spine recline butterfly soles of the feet together knees wide allow the feet to slide wherever they naturally will arms above the head grabbing opposite elbows and this time the left hand on the bottom the left arm on the bottom and if the left did right arm feel really close you don't know which ones on the bottom that's okay that's no problem this is just a nice bonus stretch for the shoulders for the lats for the arms close eyes deep breaths nice deep breaths. Last deep breath. Using the hands on the outside of the legs, use the hands to help push the legs together. Bend about hip width apart.

Take a moment here. Gently windshield wipe the knees left and right. Just as far as is comfortable, not all the way to the ground. Preparing the body to sit up.

We'll in a moment. If it feels good to linger on one side, go ahead and do that. When you're ready, roll to your favorite side. Coming to a sit.

From here, sitting forward fold. To prepare, hands behind you, feet on the floor, a few windshield wipers sitting up now. Working through the hands to extend the spine, perhaps just a small back bend. From here, legs bent, legs bent, feet on the floor, giving the legs a big hug.

You want your chest right on the thighs. So however much you need to bend the legs, do so to make sure that the chest is on the thighs. If you would like, sometimes people want their feet to be against something, you can put it against a couch or the wall. I almost recommend not because as we move closer into the posture, the legs will slide.

You can, but it's nice actually not to. The legs a big hug and resting the head on the thighs. And I don't have my head totally on the thighs just because I have my mic and I want you to be able to hear me. Deep inhale, exhale.

Through the first couple of inhales and exhales, right away you'll feel it. Feel where it's tight. And this will be through the back. Because the back, especially the lower back, affects the hamstrings because both are attached to the pelvis.

So part of releasing the hamstrings is releasing the muscles surrounding it, which is the back. The whole back chain of the body, right? Works through the calves, you do some work of the hamstrings. Outer hips will affect the pelvis, which affects the hamstrings.

And now we're working into the back, which affects the hamstrings more directly. So find your deep breaths. We will be here for three minutes. And then you're going to be finding your deep breaths and relaxing for five seconds.

And as you feel the back beginning to release, maybe the hamstrings too, allow the feet to slide forward, allow the heels to slide forward. This doesn't have to be tight. You can allow it to be a little bit loose, allowing everything to relax. One more minute.

Last three deep breaths. And slowly release hands on the mat beside you. Walk the hands to the hips, then a little bit behind the hips, feet on the floor, knees bent and gently push the chest forward, extending the spine, just a small back bend. From here, come to your hands and knees, cat cow.

So really gently arching the spine towards the ground and rounding to the ceiling. Really, really gently bringing some movement into the spine. Go ahead and wag your tail. Left, right side stretch and right.

Three circles one way. Call them barrel rolls. Three circles the other way. Coming to neutral.

From here, walk the hands forward, landing in Sphinx Pose, elbows under the shoulders, palms on the ground, engage through the legs and using the fingers to pull the torso up and forward. And basically in every Yen class, I do move through a few Sphinx and Child Poses because overall, this is incredibly important for spinal health. Because if the spine, it needs, spine attaches everything, arms, legs, your head. So if the spine is happy, it affects everything in a positive way.

And the reason why we engage through the quads is we don't dump into the lower back. So engaging through the quads, you can push all ten toenails into the floor, engage through the quads and use the fingers to pull your torso up and forward, making the spine a little longer. Slowly release. Moving to Child's Pose, use the strength of the arms to move you into a wide legged Child's Pose.

And take your time. You can either prop on your elbows or you can reach the arms forward or you can rest the forehead on the hands. So any variation you like. Last breath.

Moving through Sphinx again. The first one is always the hardest. Getting those spider webs and rust off. So press through all ten toenails into the mat, engage the quads, tighten the core a little bit.

Think of pulling the belly button to the spine, elbows under the shoulders and use the upper body and the fingers to pull your torso forward and up. Release. Child's Pose. Wide legged Child's Pose.

Find where you would like to have the hands. Deep inhale. Exhale, release. Last one.

Sphinx. Building from the bottom to the top. Pushing through all ten toenails. Engage the quads, tighten the belly and use the upper body, the elbows, the fingertips to pull the torso up and forward.

Release. Release. And use the hands to push yourself to Child's Pose. Wide legs.

Maybe find a different variation for the hands. This one I have the forehead on the ground and the hands by my sides. Pressing up, coming to a sit for what's called half shoelace. Now extend the left leg out.

Bring the right leg over top of the left. It doesn't matter if the knees are perfectly stacked. Option to grab your belt if you would like it. You don't have to have it.

So two variations. My right leg is over top of the extended left leg and you can simply stay here. Inhale and lift and exhale. Simply lean forward.

That's option one. And for a lot of people this is enough. Or take the belt and loop it around the ball of the left foot. And this can be quite, quite an intense stretch because we have the weight of the right leg weighing down on that left leg.

So honestly just enjoy the fact that we found it such an intense stretch. So good for our left hamstring. And the lower back can join the party a bit too. So stay in here.

We actually will stay here for two to three minutes. To allow the head to hang. Find your deep breaths. Your one job is to inhale.

Inhale to find the tension. Exhale to release. Inhale to release. Is there tension through your top leg?

Through the right leg? If there is, release. One more minute. Inhale and release.

Exhale to release. Inhale and release. Exhale to release. Inhale and release.

Exhale to release. Inhale and release. Exhale to release. Inhale and release.

Exhale to release. Inhale and release. Exhale to release. Inhale and release.

Exhale to release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Exhale to release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Exhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release. Inhale and release.

Inhale and release. Inhale and release. and moving into Lizard, right foot forward. So right foot forward, left foot back, stretching through the front of the hip.

So posting through the hands, walk the back knee back a little more, allow the back foot to relax, and the right foot can either be facing forward or you can walk it out, walk it out, toes pointed out, creating some more space for that front hip. You may feel this through the back hip, you may feel it through the front hip, wherever is needed basically is where you'll feel it. So we did a stretch for the hamstrings and now we are moving through the front of the hip and inside of the hip. It's all connected.

You have the option to either stay on the hands or come down to the elbows if that's available to you, but if it's not then don't do it. It's not that one variation is better than another, it's just that they're different. If this stretch is more intense for you, it means that you need it, but it also means that when we release it's gonna feel so good, so it's worth it, I promise. Last 30 seconds.

To come out, if you're on your elbows prop yourself to your hands, tucking the back toes to come to tabletop. Coming to tabletop, from tabletop tuck all of the back toes, all 10, lift the hips for dog, bringing movement into your dog. Bend one leg, bend the other leg, bend the hips, shake the head. Allow it to be, yeah, lots of movement.

Always in dog you want to put emphasis on a long spine, so if that means the legs do need to be straight, then that's okay. Notice the difference between the left leg and the right leg as you walk your dog out. The left hamstring is the one that we stretched in our half shoelace, the right one, it's the one we're gonna stretch, so you notice the difference already between the two. Okay, come to a sit.

Moving to the other side. If you want to use your belt, have that handy. This time extending the right leg out, bring the left leg over top, bending it. Again, it doesn't matter if the knees are in line or not.

And two options. You can inhale to lift, line yourself up with the foot, lean down, grab your belt if you want it, and sometimes the belt might make it too intense, you might not even want it. Loop around the ball of the foot so hamstrings can join the party. Once you've found your posture, simply breathe.

This one can be really intense and that's okay. Finding your five second inhales and five second exhales. Your top leg is your top leg holding tension. And if it is, go ahead and release.

Okay. Okay. Moving into our last minute. Okay.

Last three deep breaths. Go ahead and release. Oh, nice and slowly. Belt to the side.

Hands behind you. Both feet on the floor. Push into the arms to lift the chest. Take any movements you need.

You might like to do a few windshield wipers or not. Whatever feels good or maybe no movement. Just push it in the arms, lift the chest. It was our left foot that was on top.

So it's our left foot that will be forward as we move into our lizard. So left foot forward, right leg back this time, posting through the hands. You can create more space with that left foot. You can have it pointed out on the 45.

You can walk it forward. You can either stay in your hands if you like, or if the posture is available to you, go onto your elbows. Remembering that both sides will be different, so don't expect to be able to do the same thing on both sides. Once you have found your variation, it's okay if this is.

If this is intense, it probably means that you need it. Again, like I talked about earlier, these postures are so important, so it's really important to not just do this video once in your life. It's important to do it often, weekly or every few days. Because it balances, balances our body.

It brings us back to balance. One more minute. Last three deep breaths. And slowly find your way onto your knees, taking your time.

It's important to move slowly after you've been in a posture for a while to move out slowly. And once you have found your tabletop, tuck the toes, lifting the hips for dog. One last time, bringing movement into your dog. Bend one leg, bend the other leg, move the hips, shake the head.

From here, both knees to the ground. Find your way onto your belly for Sphinx Pose. Last Sphinx of the day. Pressing all ten toenails into the ground.

Engaging the quad, engaging through the belly, using the hands to pull your torso up and forward. Release. Child Pose. Knees wide.

Head on the ground. Hands. Pick your option for your hands. Either stretched out forward, either rest the forehead on the hands or forehead on the ground and hands beside you.

Using the hands, transition yourself up to a sit and onto your back. Grabbing your belt. Our last posture of the day. Loop the belt around the ball of the right foot, your hamstring stretch.

Same one we did at the beginning of class. You know what variation you'd like. It might have changed actually. This time, my left leg, I like it to be straight.

Beginning of class it was bent, now I like it to be straight. Loop the ball around the right foot, ball of the right foot, loop the hands around the belt. Bend and extend a few times if you'd like. Eventually, moving into the posture.

Once you've found that, close the eyes and breathe. Relaxing as much as possible. 30 more seconds. Last deep breath.

Release. Moving into your other side. Loop the belt around the ball of the foot, loop the hands around the belt. See if you'd like the right leg bent or the right leg straight.

With the left leg, go ahead and bend and extend it a few times if that feels good. Eventually settling into the leg, straight or almost straight. Once you have found your posture, your version of it, close the eyes and breathe. Last deep breath.

Last minute. Last minute. Last minute. Taking your last deep breath.

Release the leg. Put the belt to the side. Take any last movements or postures that feel good before you settle into Shavasana. In your Shavasana, when you're ready, you can either have the legs extended out straight or you can move into that reclined butterfly with the feet together, knees out.

And arms wherever is comfortable. Close the eyes. Taking a moment to allow all the work that we did to integrate. Allowing the body to process the work is just as important as doing the work.

And that's what we are doing right now. Moving out of the thinking mind and into the feeling body. So simply breathe and recognize how good you feel after this session. And if you're working within the 60 minutes, this is it.

Or if you have more time to stay here, I really encourage you to stay here. Quite often after a yin session, at the end of the day after a big week or big day, I fall asleep on the ground. It's not unhealthy. It's not bad.

It just really means that you've done the work, that the work is processing and integrating into the body and that you're doing the right things. I encourage you to stay here for as long as you like. As long as you're able to.