Relaxing with yoga: Stretch your hips with the reclining butterfly pose

12/07/2022 / By Zoey Sky

Yoga is a good activity because there are intense yoga poses that are great for burning calories. There are also excellent poses for newbies who want to relax.

If you need to stretch your hips or if you want to unwind and de-stress, try relaxing yoga poses like the reclining butterfly.

How to do the reclining butterfly pose

First, go into a seated position on your mat. Bring the soles of your feet together, then let your knees fall to either side. Get two yoga blocks.
Place one block under your lower back and another under your head. Carefully lower your body.
Let your arms relax overhead. Hold this position for as long as you want to.

Notes:

If you have any knee or hip problems, use props when needed while trying this yoga pose.

If your knees aren’t resting comfortably, place a block underneath each knee for extra support.

For a more effective stretch, use a yoga strap. From a seated butterfly stretch, loop the strap into a large circle. The strap should circle around your lower back, then your feet in front. The strap should look like it’s laying across your ankles and hip joints. From there, slowly lower yourself while you stretch.

Benefits of the reclining butterfly pose

The reclining butterfly pose is a super relaxing posture and it is ideal for improving your hip mobility.

The pose requires a lot of hip opening, so even if you’re struggling with hip flexibility, using props like blocks or a strap can help you better relax into this pose.

Holding the pose for as long as you can helps release tension in your hips and groin. This then helps relieve tension in your lower back.

If you’re using a block for support as you do the pose, you can also get a nice, gentle backbend. This will open up the front side of the torso, especially your chest.

Tips for preventing tight hips

Leading a sedentary lifestyle can result in tight hip flexors and hip flexor pain because sitting for too long can make your muscles relax and deactivate. Your muscles eventually become weaker and shorter, sometimes causing adaptive shortening, a condition that causes pain and muscle tightness.

Tight hips may also be caused by:

Bad postural habits like leaning over into one hip or leaning forward into both hips while standing
Standing after long periods of sitting
Sleeping at night on only one side of your body

Reduce your risk for hip pain by:

Getting up and stretching or moving around every hour or so if you have to sit at your work desk all day.
Stretching and warming up properly before exercising. (Related: Try yoga to relieve back pain caused by cycling or spinning.)
Stretching after you have worked out.
Stretching and a massage can also reduce the risk of muscle pain and tightness.

Massage helps relieve tight hips by: