When I did my teacher training we were asked to buy “Anatomy of Hatha Yoga” and it looked like such a serious book that I was afraid I wouldn’t be up to it. And some of the writing is a little funny - like could you cram any more ‘anatomical’ words into a sentence? But I dipped into it on the weekend when I was playing around on the mat and there were some nice tips and tricks in it that I hadn’t noticed before.

Here’s one that I used in classes this week.

1. First stretch out your right leg and do Head to Knee Pose (I never call it that in class because I’m trying to get my students to *not* slump over the their leg trying to get their head to their knee - how about we start a movement to call it Navel to Thigh pose? ;-) ). Hold it for a few breaths.

2. Then put your left elbow on your left knee, make sure your sit bones stay down as you stretch your right arm forward *inside* your right leg. In other words, you’re not stretching *over* your right leg, you’re 6 inches or so inside that leg. Hold this.

3. Then go back to Head to Knee/Navel to Thigh pose and hold it again.

You’ll generally find that you can stretch farther the second time around. The book explains why this is, but since I’m no anatomical expert I suggest you just try it yourself. I’ve been running outside more, and boy did this stretch help loosen up all those tucked away tight muscles! Enjoy.