Wild Thing (sometimes referred to as flipping the dog) is a backbend that opens the front side of the body with a freedom that most people find quite enjoyable.

From Downward Dog, lift your right leg on an inhale and then stack the right hip over the left. Bring your weight into your left hand and open up the front of the body as you bring your right foot to the floor behind the left leg. Try and keep the left leg straight, even as you bend the right leg at the knee. As you flip over, you will roll to the outside of the left foot. Lift the hips high up away from the floor.

As you begin to open the front side of the body, pay special attention to the front of the thighs and the hips (quads and iliopsoas respectively). This will help you to keep the tailbone firmly tucked and the lower back free from compression. Once you have found length in the legs, continue lifting the hips and open the front of the chest in a backbend, reaching out through the right arm. The shoulder blades should press into the back of the rib cage to accentuate the opening of the chest.

For those that are quite flexible, some people like to flip all the way over to Urdhva Dhanurasana, though I find the asymmetry of Camatkarasana to be a welcome change and worth exploring even if you can make it all the way over.

Stay for as long as you like, then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Lizard pose is one of my favorite hip stretches. This is the outer hip variation. For the inner hip variation, see here.

From Downward Dog, take an inhale to lift the left leg behind you. As you exhale, bring the left foot just to the outside of the left hand. Keep the toes of the left foot pointed straight forward. You have two options here – drop the back knee or keep it lifted. If you keep it lifted, strongly extend through the leg and lift the back of the knee up toward the ceiling.

Let the left knee drop to the side as you roll to the outside of the left foot. This is similar stretch to pigeon except that the hips are floating and the foot is a bit further forward. As the left knee moves to the side, sink the torso down towards the floor. Depending on flexibility, you can walk the hands forward and bend the elbows a bit, while some of you might come all the way down on to the forearms. If you come down to the forearms, bring the left forearm down first to really sink into the left inner hip, then bring the right one down. The tendency in this pose is for the right hip to drop significantly lower than the left and this can help to even that out a bit. Try and develop an awareness of how the pelvis is oriented in this pose.

Lengthen the spine by extending the sternum forward to the front of the mat, while at the same time drawing the shoulder blades comfortably down the back. Close the eyes and study the sensations of the pose, especially around the hips. Stay for as long as you like, then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Lizard pose is one of my favorite hip stretches. With a simple adjustment, you can make this either a deep inner hip stretch (described below) or an outer hip one.

From Downward Dog, take an inhale to lift the left leg behind you. As you exhale, bring the left foot just to the outside of the left hand. Keep the toes of the left foot pointed straight forward. You have two options here – drop the back knee or keep it lifted. If you keep it lifted, strongly extend through the leg and lift the back of the knee up toward the ceiling. Sink the torso down to the inside of the left thigh.

Depending on flexibility, you can walk the hands forward and bend the elbows a bit, while some of you might come all the way down on to the forearms. If you come down to the forearms, bring the left forearm down first to really sink into the left inner hip, then bring the right one down. The tendency in this pose is for the right hip to drop significantly lower than the left and this can help to even that out a bit. Try and develop an awareness of how the pelvis is oriented in this pose.

Squeeze the left knee in toward the left shoulder, making sure to keep as much weight on the inside of the foot as the outside. If you have the right knee down on the floor, one of my favorite things to play around with is to press into the top of the right foot into the floor to engage the quad. Notice how the stretch at the hips changes.

Lengthen the spine by extending the sternum forward to the front of the mat, while at the same time drawing the shoulder blades comfortably down the back. Close the eyes and study the sensations of the pose, especially around the hips. Stay for as long as you like, then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Often called standing splits, I usually refer to it as a one-legged forward bend (Eka Pada Uttanasana) as the focus should be not on lifting the leg as high as it will go and instead should be on maintaining alignment of the pelvis and extending through the legs. This is a great pose to challenge your balance, as well as stretch and tone the legs.

Begin in Warrior III with the right leg lifted. Keeping the hips parallel with the floor, lean forward to bring the hands to the floor. The tendency here is for the right hip to hike open and the thigh to rotate externally. Additionally, the left thigh and knee tend to rotate inwardly, which can put the knee at risk. It doesn’t matter how high you get the foot. See if you can keep the hips level so that the right toes point straight down toward the floor and keep the left knee pointing in the same direction as the toes. Iyengar says to keep the toes of the right foot pointed, though I usually flex the foot and reach strongly back through the heel. This helps to keep awareness on keeping the leg extended and the toes pointing down.

Keep both legs straight and hug the left femur with the muscles of the thigh (hamstrings and quads), gently lifting the kneecaps. For those that are very flexible in the hamstrings, you can take the ankle of the standing leg in either one or both hands (both = more of a balance challenge) and gently pull the forehead to the shin. Ground through the standing foot as you try and distribute your weight equally between all corners of the foot.

Stay in the pose for as long as feels comfortable (at least 20-30 seconds) and then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Pincha Mayurasana is a strong, advanced arm balance that can be quite challenging but also very rewarding.

To begin, come to all fours and measure out the distance between the arms by placing the hands on the opposite elbows. Keeping the elbows exactly where they are, place the hands the exact same distance apart so that the forearms are parallel. Walk the feet toward the hands trying to bring the hips over the shoulders and the shoulders over the elbows. The more you can stack here, the less momentum you will need to find the final balance. Look in-between the hands. For those with really open hamstrings, you might be able to walk the feet close enough so that you can lift into the pose one leg at a time. For most of us, however, we will need to kick up. Try and use only as much momentum as necessary to find your balance. It helps to have a spot here in the beginning to help you find that perfect amount of kick. Try and alternate the leg you kick up with so that you stay balanced in the body.

(Note: For many beginners, inflexibility in the shoulders is the limiting factor in the pose and as a result, the elbows splay out, the hands squeeze together, and in the final pose, a significant back arch develops. Check with your teacher to see if you are ready to take the final pose. You can work to open the shoulders by placing a strap around the elbows and keeping a block in-between the hands and instead of coming all the way into the pose, simply walk the feet forward, pressing the chest back toward the feet. The closer to 180 degrees you can open the shoulders, the easier the pose becomes and you avoid creating tension in the upper back, which can easily happen if you start practicing Pincha Mayurasana before you are ready – be patient)

Once you are up, draw your front ribs back into the body and lengthen your low back by tucking the tailbone. Keep the shoulder blades firm against the back and rotate them wide by engaging the serratus anterior (those muscles on the outside of the rib cage). Unlike downward dog, you want to lift the shoulder blades here by pressing into the mat and lifting the head a little further away from the floor. Holding here, engage mula bandha, draw the bellybutton back toward the spine, and lift through the inner legs. I like to imagine that there is a rope attached to my ankles, drawing me up toward the ceiling.

Hold for however long you like, eventually working your way up to a minute or more. To come down, keep pressing through the shoulders to maintain the relationship of the arms to the torso as much as possible while piking the legs down as slowly as possible. Working to strengthen the torso on the negative will help you control the lift of the legs when coming into the pose.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Bhekasana provides a strong stretch on the quads, is a bit of a backbend, and opens the front of the shoulders and chest. It is also one of the few poses in yoga to strongly stretch the tops of the feet. This is the full version of the pose. For a more beginning variation, take one leg at a time in Half Frog.

Begin by lying down on your belly. Bend the legs and lifting the head and chest, reach back for the feet. Beginners can take the outside of the feet here to bring the heels in toward the buttocks. Those with more open thighs will take the inside of the feet with the thumb facing up. On an inhale, again lift the head and shoulders away from the floor. Then, lifting the elbows toward the ceiling, rotate the palms so that the hand presses into the top of the foot with the fingers curled around the toes. The more open the front of the shoulders (and pectoralis minor) are, the easier it is to curl the fingers around the toes here. Also, the more open the quads are to begin the easier this becomes. Taking Virasana before Frog can be a great preparatory pose as it a similar action in the legs, just flipped over.

As flexibility allows, you can take the heels to the outside of the hip and press them down toward the floor (being careful not to stress the knee). Keep the tailbone tucked and make sure the knees stay in line with the hips. Also check to make sure that the thigh is centered (neither internally or externally rotated). If you feel any pain in the knees, you might need to come out, stretch out the legs and come in again with more attention to your alignment. If you still feel pain, come out and take a different pose or simply rest.

Hold for as long as feels comfortable here, trying to lengthen through the low back as you reach the sternum forward and breath evenly. Once you are done, release the feet to extend the legs and press back to downward dog for a few breaths.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Not a classical yoga pose, but a really useful one. This simple stretch can be a relaxing way to open the front of the shoulders (deltoids), the upper arms (biceps), and the chest (pectorals).

To begin, lie down on your belly and extend the arms 90 degrees out to the side. Take the left hand underneath the left shoulder and then roll over to your right. You can experiment with the angle of the arm a bit here. Generally, the closer to 90 degrees, the deeper the stretch, though play around a bit and find your sweet spot – that part of the shoulder and chest that could use a little extra attention. Rest the side of the head comfortably on the floor.

As you roll to the side, you can bend the left leg and place the left foot on the floor behind the right leg. If your shoulders are really open, you might be able to bend both knees and place both feet on the floor, but only if you can still keep the arm extended at your optimum angle. Press through all 5 knuckles of the extended hand and notice the subtle shift of the stretch at the shoulder. Another thing to experiment with is to tuck and untuck the tailbone and notice how what you do with the hips also subtly affects the shoulder stretch.

Hold here for as long as feels comfortable. Concentrate on the breath to release tension in the front of the shoulder and relax your way further into the stretch. Once you are ready, switch sides, holding for as long as you held on the first side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Note: The traditional version of revolved side angle has the back heel on the floor and one arm extended overhead. This can be difficult for most people to achieve without undue tension, so I will describe a modified version here.

Begin by coming into a high lunge with the left foot in front. Keep the right leg active and keep the tailbone gently tucked. With an exhale, lean forward and lengthen all the way from the right foot out through the crown of the head. I generally recommend spending at least a round of breath finding this length before coming into the twist. As in most twists, it is more important to find length in the spine than more rotation. Lift the back of the right knee up toward the ceiling and strongly press back through the right heel.

Begin to twist to the left, bringing your right upper arm to the outside of the left thigh. As hip flexibility increases, the thigh will move up the arm closer toward the armpit so that eventually the thigh hugs in to the torso. Don’t rush this though. If you have to lose length in the spine to get the thigh further up the arm, you have gone too far. Try and keep the hips level as you twist. Some people like to take their left hand and rotate the left thigh outward, pressing the femur toward the mat. Keeping the legs steady and engaged, bring both hands together so that the forearms create a straight line. You can gently press the palms together for a little encouragement in the twist, but let the twist originate mainly from the internal muscles of the torso. Cranking on the arms to go deeper into the twist can put the spine at risk. Be gentle.

To take it further, you can open up the arms, bringing the right hand to the floor or to a block, and reaching the left hand up toward the ceiling. For some, a bind might be available, reaching around the back with the left arm and under the left thigh with the right arm. Again, don’t try and crank your way further into your twist. Make sure to keep a focus on lengthening your spine to create space, then twisting around that space.

Because the torso is quite compressed in this pose, breathing can be more difficult. Just keep the breath as steady and even as possible. Hold for as long as feels comfortable (at least 30 seconds or so), then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

A balancing pose with an added twist, revolved half moon strengthens the legs, core, and lower back, while lengthening the hamstrings, outer hips, and pelvis. Make sure you are warmed up for this pose, as it can be quite demanding. Use props as needed.

We will begin by finding Virabhadrasana 3 with the right leg lifted. Bring the right hand to the floor or to a block and bring the left hand to the sacrum. Ground the standing foot, pressing evenly into the big toe mound, heel, inner, and outer edges. Hug the femur (thigh bone) with the thigh muscles so that the knee cap is drawn up toward the hips. Keep the hips level so that the left toes point straight down to the floor and make sure both legs are straight. If this is not possible, bring more height underneath the right hand.

From here, lengthen your spine, reaching the crown of the head forward and keeping the front of the chest open. Keep the shoulder blades comfortably drawn away from the ears. Don’t feel like you need to do more than this. This can be plenty of work right here, lengthening the spine and extending through the legs. To come into the full pose, begin to open the torso to the left. Try and keep the pelvis stable here so that the twist happens in the upper body around the axis of the spine. We are looking to keep the hips not only level, but square to the front of the mat. If you find that either leg bends or that you lose straightness of the spine, you have gone too far. If this means you only twist two degrees, then only twist two degrees.

Eventually, if it is available, reach the left hand up to the ceiling and gaze up toward the left palm. If gazing up to the left palm strains the neck, simply gaze out to the side. Stay here and breath for at least 30 seconds (more if possible) using the breath to find openness and lightness in the torso, then step back for a few breaths in downward dog or child’s pose before switching sides, holding for the same amount of time.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Eka Pada Galavasana (sometimes called flying crow) is a strong arm balance that opens the outer hips and strengthens the arms, chest, and core like crazy. It’s an advanced pose, so you might have to work up to it over time, but once you get it, it’s exhilarating.

To begin, stand in Tadasana, take the right foot and place it right above and to the outside of the left thigh. The right knee should open to the side much like in tree pose. Begin to bend the standing leg and lean the torso forward over the right shin. Essentially you are taking pigeon in the right leg now, so the more open and warmed up your outer hips, the easier this is. As you bring your chest down toward the right leg, you want to place your arms in front of the shin as close in to the armpits as possible. Hook your right foot around the left upper arm, locking the shin into place and press the right knee into the right upper arm.

Once the arms are in place, bring the palms down to the floor shoulder distance apart. Gaze in front of the fingers about 6 inches or so, keeping the heart open and sternum moving forward. As you begin to transfer weight into the hands, the left foot will eventually lift up off the ground with the knee bent. This might be the final pose right here and can be plenty to work with.

If you feel comfortable and steady here, you can then begin to work on extending the left leg behind you. This requires some serious connection to your core. Extend the sternum forward as you extend the leg back and keep the elbows in. The right shin often begins to slip off here for many people, so you have to make sure to really lock the foot.

Once you have found your version of the pose, hold for as long as feels comfortable, come back up and then take the second side for the same amount of time.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!