Quick & Easy upper back opening SEQUENCE

  • Begin in Mountain Pose at the top of your mat
  • Hinge at the hips coming down into a forward fold
  • Jump back to a high plank
  • Lift the hips to move into a downward facing dog
  • Move between high plank and downward facing dog 10 times keeping core and shoulders engaged 
  • Drop down onto forearms and then drop the chest to come into a puppy pose, hold for 10 breaths
  • Flow between cat pose and cow pose, either in circular motions or through spine undulations 
  • Sit back on top of the heels 
  • Interlace your fingers, palms touching, behind your back
  • Engage the muscles between your shoulder blades as you pinch your shoulders together and draw them down your back towards your tail bone
  • Once here if you are able allow your palms to separate and rest the back of your hands on the floor
  • You can then push into your hands and lift your chest higher letting your lower back relax into the bend
  • Roll your wrists in a few different directions 
  • Come into table top position
  • Lift your hips and come into a down dog
  • Engage your core as you lift your heels off the ground and press your knees in towards your chest
  • Walk your feet to meet your hands at the back of your mat, forward fold
  • Tuck your chin as your rise into a mountain pose, rolling up one vertebrae at a time
  • Roll back down into another down dog knees to chest
  • Jump into a forward fold
  • End in mountain pose

5 yoga poses to try on a hike

Next time you decide to go on a hike give these 5 yoga poses a try! 
(from left to right) 
1. Warrior 3 - focus on grounding your weight in your standing leg and shooting the rest of your energy out of your hands and floating leg, to create a T-shape.
2. Warrior 2 - the goal here is to create a 90 degree angle with your front knee and straighten your back leg. Engage your arms as you lift them to create a straight line. 
3. Chair - this pose is pretty self explanatory, pretend like you are sitting in a chair. As you sink further down into your "chair," tuck your tail bone under and keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.
4. Reverse Warrior 2 - do the same set up for warrior 2, but instead of having your arms in a straight line rest your back hand on your leg and spiral your front arm (the one that is on the same side as your 90 degree leg) up and back creating a slight bend in the lower back.
5. Standing head to knee pose - (The way I am demonstrating the pose here is not in it's full expression as you can see I'm not focusing on touching my head to my knee.) The way to come into this is to create a basket with your finger intertwined and place your foot on top. If this is enough of a stretch for you, you can stay here or you can focus on pressing your foot out while still keeping your arms engaged pulling your toes towards you.