Mountain yogis, we are well into winter (at least in Montana) and for lots of us, that means it’s one of the BEST times to get outside. Even if you’re vacationing to a winter wonderland, being outside is absolutely refreshing when you embrace the crisp air and snow-covered mountains. And just because it’s cold out doesn’t mean we spend all our time indoors. Whether your jam is downhill skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, or simply taking a walk, it’s so important to get yourself out.
Welcome to your apres-ski yoga flow, where we focus big resetting the parts of our body that do the work. The best part? We don’t need to spend an hour to reset the body after working it. You don’t even need to go to a yoga studio and you can do these immediately upon getting back to the car. You better believe I just went skiing when I snapped these pics, so I’m speaking from experience. Whatever your activity is, spend the five-minutes to release the tension so you can get on with your day and feel amazing. Your tight hips will thank you.
Standing Pigeon
Starting in standing, shift the weight into the left foot, picking up the right and crossing the right ankle over the left knee. Focus on shifting the weight back and down, while keeping the spine straight. Breathing space into the right outer hip. Hold for ten breaths.
Crossed-Leg Forward Fold
Moving from standing pigeon, crossing the right ankle behind. Hinge at the hips as you fold forward over the legs, working towards bringing the chest onto the thighs. Option to walk the hands over to the left side for a deeper stretch. Hold here for ten breaths.
Sugar Cane
Rooting into the left foot, lift the right foot and begin in a half-moon pose. You can either stay in half-moon, or bend the right knee and reach behind to grab the right foot with the right hand. Left hand stays underneath the left shoulder. To go deeper, focus on kicking the floating foot into the hand to open the quad and hip flexor. Hold for ten breaths.
Humbled Warrior
Stepping the right foot back, bending left knee directly over the left ankle to come into a high lunge. Interlace the fingers behind the low back, with the option of bringing the heels of the hands together. Keeping the spine long, being to fold forward, bringing the left shoulder next to the left knee and rise the hands up towards the sky and forward to open through the chest. Bring a slight tuck to the tailbone for a deeper opening in the hip flexor. Hold for ten breaths before starting back at standing pigeon on the other side.
And there you have it! Your easy-peasy, hip-resetting flow for your apres-ski. Let me know how this flow works for you – did you add to it, remove anything? I’d love to know!
PS Do you feel like you have the world’s tightest hips? Stronger booty muscles could help! Check out my post to learn more.
