Sitting up on a blanket or a block, find a comfortable position with a curve in your lower back in Sukhasana, easy pose. This is just like easy, ankles crossed in front of you. Then you're going to keep your left leg just as it is, bend your right knee and hold your right foot with both hands. Then start to press through the ball mound of the big toe and the inner right heel. Press so much that both sides of the ankle are even, and the foot's not sickling or collapsing at the outer edge. So you actively push through the four corners of the right foot, especially the inner edge. Keep that as you draw the shin in toward the chest. And as the shin draws in toward the chest you're going to feel a big stretch in your outer hip. For some of us, just being right here, holding the knee and the foot will be good. For others you can take the foot deeper into the crease of the elbow and wrap your hands around the knee. That's why we call it the Baby Cradle. You can rock back and forth and as you rock you can even kind of rotate the hip a little bit. If this is too intense but you want to try a little bit deeper, you can take the forearms underneath the shin and try and lift the shin up. Remember to breathe and lengthen your spine long so you still get a big opening. And then you can release back to Sukhasana and do the second side.
Yoga Hip Opening Poses for Beginners og aby Cradle Pose
Sitting up on a blanket or a block, find a comfortable position with a curve in your lower back in Sukhasana, easy pose. This is just like easy, ankles crossed in front of you. Then you're going to keep your left leg just as it is, bend your right knee and hold your right foot with both hands. Then start to press through the ball mound of the big toe and the inner right heel. Press so much that both sides of the ankle are even, and the foot's not sickling or collapsing at the outer edge. So you actively push through the four corners of the right foot, especially the inner edge. Keep that as you draw the shin in toward the chest. And as the shin draws in toward the chest you're going to feel a big stretch in your outer hip. For some of us, just being right here, holding the knee and the foot will be good. For others you can take the foot deeper into the crease of the elbow and wrap your hands around the knee. That's why we call it the Baby Cradle. You can rock back and forth and as you rock you can even kind of rotate the hip a little bit. If this is too intense but you want to try a little bit deeper, you can take the forearms underneath the shin and try and lift the shin up. Remember to breathe and lengthen your spine long so you still get a big opening. And then you can release back to Sukhasana and do the second side.