Yoga Sequenz

Hip Opening Yoga in 15 Minutes

A short floor practice for the days in between

Fifteen minutes, no standing, nothing to warm up for. This is the practice for a Tuesday evening when the full sequence is not going to happen. Hips respond to how often you ask, more than to how long you stay, and a short practice you actually do beats a long one you plan.

15 min · Level 1

Wann hilfreich

You sat all day, you have a quarter of an hour, and the floor next to the bed is as far as you are going to get. A cushion or a folded blanket under the seat helps in the kneeling poses.

Physical effect

Half Splits and Lizard lengthen the hip flexors that shorten from sitting. Butterfly and Reclining Pigeon take the outer hips in the other direction, without any weight through the knee.

Energetic effect

Everything here moves downward, which is Apana Vayu, the releasing current. It is the reason a short floor practice in the evening settles the whole body rather than waking it up.

Mental effect

Short and regular changes more than long and rare. Fifteen minutes is short enough that the decision to practise stops being a decision.

Arrive

Two minutes of nothing much, so the body knows what it is starting from.

Virasana

90 sec

Heldensitz

Sit back on the heels, a cushion between heels and seat if the knees complain.

Hero Pose is the most closed the hips get. Fifteen breaths here tell you what kind of day it has been.

Mehr über Virasana erfahren

Marjaryasana

1 min

Katzenpose

On all fours, round the back, chin towards the chest.

Cat moves the pelvis before anything asks it to hold a position.

Mehr über Marjaryasana erfahren

Bitilasana

1 min

Kuh Haltung

Belly down, chest and tailbone up, in time with the breath.

Cow is the other direction. Between the two the lower back is ready, which takes about a minute and not longer.

Mehr über Bitilasana erfahren

Balasana

1 min

Stellung des Kindes

Knees wide, forehead down, arms long in front of you.

Child's Pose with wide knees is the first hip stretch and a rest at the same time. In a short practice both matter.

Mehr über Balasana erfahren

The front of the hips

The part that sitting shortens. Two poses, both kneeling, both held a full minute per side.

Ardha Hanumanasana

2 min

Halber Spagat

Front leg straight, hinge forward from the hips, back flat. One minute each side.

Half Splits teaches the fold at the hip joint instead of a round of the lower back. Everything after it depends on that difference.

Mehr über Ardha Hanumanasana erfahren

Utthan Pristhasana

2 min

Eidechse

Front foot outside the hand, back knee down, forearms only if that stays comfortable. One minute each side.

Lizard is the strongest pose here and it comes at the halfway point, once the hip is warm and while there is still attention left.

Mehr über Utthan Pristhasana erfahren

Balasana

30 sec

Stellung des Kindes

Back to the knees, forehead down, a few breaths.

Child's Pose is the reset after the strongest pose. From here the practice only settles.

Mehr über Balasana erfahren

The outside of the hips

Seated and then lying down. No effort left in this part.

Baddha Konasana

90 sec

Schmetterling

Soles of the feet together, hands around the feet, knees heavy.

Butterfly opens outward, which is the opposite of the two poses before it. The hip joint gets both directions in one short practice.

Mehr über Baddha Konasana erfahren

Parivrtta Sukhasana

90 sec

Gedrehter Schneidersitz

Cross legged, one hand behind you, turning from the belly. Forty-five seconds each side.

A twist between the forward folds. The lower back has been lengthening one way for ten minutes and this asks for the other.

Mehr über Parivrtta Sukhasana erfahren

Supta Kaptasana

2 min

Liegende Taube

On your back, ankle across the opposite knee, hold behind the bottom thigh. One minute each side.

Reclining Pigeon is the outer hip with the floor carrying you. Nothing is holding the position, so the muscle has no reason to guard.

Mehr über Supta Kaptasana erfahren

Ananda Balasana

1 min

Happy Baby

Outer edges of the feet, knees wide towards the armpits.

Happy Baby opens the hips and lets the lower back go at the same time. The last pose that asks for anything.

Mehr über Ananda Balasana erfahren

Savasana

90 sec

Totenstellung

Legs long, palms up. Set a timer if you tend to get up too early.

Even ninety seconds of Savasana changes how the practice lands. Skipping it is the one shortcut that costs something.

Mehr über Savasana erfahren

Integration

This sequence exists to be repeated. It sits on the light days of the seven day hip opening programme, between the longer practices, and it works just as well on its own two or three evenings a week. If it starts to feel easy, the thirty minute practice is the next step, not a longer hold here.

Der Mensch hinter dieser Sequenz

Manish Rana

Gründer & Autor

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