A Beginner’s Guide to Flexibility

By Brooke Davidson

“I can’t do yoga; I’m not flexible enough,” is a phrase I’ve heard countless times. While flexibility is a possible outcome of yoga and not at all a prerequisite, the fear of inflexibility can deter us from attending classes. So in an effort to help you feel a bit more comfortable attending classes, here are the most crucial, beginner-friendly postures to increase overall flexibility.

Spine

Ardha Chandrasana / 2-legged Half Moon
(targets: side body)

Begin standing. With big toes together, inhale arms out to the sides and up, bringing palms together overhead. Interlace all fingers but index fingers, pulling shoulders down and together. Inhale to lengthen the arms upward; exhale to pull to the left as your hips move to the right.
Inhale back through center and repeat on the other side.

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Uttanasana / Forward Fold
(targets: hamstrings, spine)

Begin standing with feet hip-distance apart. Inhale arms up and overhead, and on your exhale, fold all the way down. Start with bent knees (you’ll see mine are just *slightly* bent in photo 1, but the knees can bend as deeply as they need to here), so that your stomach touches your thighs. Use peace fingers (pointer & middle fingers) to grab your big toes. Pull your torso down to your legs, while lengthening your spine and looking forward on your inhale, and then exhale for a deeper fold. Shake the head “yes” or “no,” or just let it hang heavy. Check that your weight is evenly distributed between the heel and the ball of the foot, and then begin to straighten the legs. Breathe deeply here -- feeling the ribcage expand on inhales, and feeling the space between torso and thighs decrease on exhales.

Legs

Alanasana / Low Lunge
(targets: hip flexors, thighs, spines, shoulders)

From standing, step the left foot back, lowering the knee to come into a low lunge posture. Bring your hands to your hips and keep the torso upright. Square the hips by pushing the left hip forward, pulling the right hip back, and tuck the tail slightly. From here, you can reach the right hand toward the front knee. Inhale the left arm up, reaching your fingers toward the ceiling. Let your gaze follow your raised fingertips. Lengthen the spine and reach up as you inhale, and sink deeper into the front hip as you exhale. Repeat on the left side.

Ardha Hanumanasana / Half Splits
(targets: hamstrings, calves, glutes, hips)

From the lunge posture described above, shift your weight into the back leg, sending the hips back and straightening the front leg. Flex the front toes, and place hands on either side of the extended leg’s calf or ankle. Consider placing blocks on either side of the front leg to allow for more comfortable hand placement. Inhale to lengthen the spine and look forward, then exhale, hinging forward at the hips maintaining a straight spine. When you’ve hinged forward as much as you can, let the spine round and the head hang heavy. Focus on expanding your rib cage with every inhale, and sinking the torso towards the earth with every exhale.

Arms

The Rack / Flexion of the Arm & Wrist
(targets: shoulders, forearms, wrists, chest)

Begin this posture from a seat. Walk the hands back, fingers pointed to the back of the mat and wrists in line with shoulders. Flip the hands to be palms face up and reach the fingers toward their respective wrists. Inhale the chest and chin up to feel the front side body expansion. To deepen, keep a “proud” chest and scoot the booty forward. If at any point this feels too deep, bring the hands in closer to the hips to lessen the intensity. Come out of this posture on an inhale by bringing knees into chest and using the legs to rock forward to a seat.

Practicing these postures in the order outlined above allows for the most beneficial impact on the body because it follows the ideal progression through the ranges of motion: the spine warms up by going side-to-side then engages in an active backbend that is then compensated for via a forward fold. In terms of legs and hips, we strengthen and stabilize before asking them to lengthen and mobilize. Use this as a warm-up to a practice or as a full practice in and of itself to increase flexibility in each major zone of the body, leaving you more mobile and open for whatever your practice might hold for you.

Tag me on Instagram @brooke_being if you try any of these suggestions, I’d love to see and hear your feedback!

And above all, remember: practice and all is coming. ॐ