Week 2 of Joyfully Yin Yang - all about the hamstrings
Full YY practice inside ☯️
STRETCH and FOLD were the keywords of this week’s practices. Stretching and strengthening, and folding and surrendering. The stronger dynamic Yang and the softer release of Yin.
The hamstrings are more than just muscles; they’re the foundation of our lower body strength and flexibility. They’re a group of three muscles at the back of your thigh. They work together to:
Bend your knee (like when you bring your heel toward your bottom)
Straighten your hip (like when you stand up from a bent position or run)
If your hamstrings are tight, they can cause a few problems:
Limited movement: it’s harder to straighten your leg fully or bend forward
Lower back strain: tighter hamstrings pull on your pelvis, which can make your lower back round or ache
Poor posture: they can tilt your pelvis backward, affecting how you stand or walk
Higher injury risk: tight muscles are more likely to strain or tear during activity
So certainly a muscle group we want to work with and keep healthy. Here were this week’s practices:
🙏 Article - 5 lazy stretches for happy hammies
🪷 Meditation - Standing Tall Within
Plus, our fun lifestyle article for the week was all about me trying to love chickpeas. You can read that: here.
Next week’s theme on A Little Yoga Space: Hips!
Week 3! Hips…
When I trained as a yoga teacher there was still a big belief that we store our emotions in our hips. Things we once thought or felt, that may have protected us at the time, would stay locked in the hips until we could release them, causing tightness and tension. Now it’s not as widely believed. But, I still think there is something so restorative about a hip-focused yoga class.
What do you think? Do you feel an emotional release when you stretch out your hips? Or is it a physical release? Let me know in the comments!
We have some good practices coming up. I can’t wait for it!
Full Yin Yang Happy Hamstrings Practice
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