Ease lower back stiffness with Thread the Needle pose
Is your lower back prone to stiffness? Do forward bends and hip openers leave you feeling stuck? Ever wish you could fly away during pigeon pose? If so, try this safe and accessible reclining outer hip opener. Thread the Needle 1. To begin, come onto your back with knees bent and feet resting on the floor, hip distance apart.
2. Cross your right ankle over the left thigh, close to the kneecap. Keep the lower leg from collapsing outward by flexing the ankle and pressing the pinky side of the foot into the opposite leg. As a bonus, this action will strengthen the outer ankle.
3. Without losing this alignment, bring your legs close enough to your chest to thread the right hand through the triangular opening between your legs and interlace the fingers of both hands around the left shin, or behind the fold of the knee if the shin is out of reach.
4. Use your arms to draw the left kneecap toward your left shoulder
while simultaneously see-sawing the right kneecap away from you.
5. Deepen the experience by pressing your tailbone into the earth and allowing the lower back to curve gently away from your mat.
6. Relax your face and count five slow breaths before switching sides.
Make this opener a regular part
of your practice and you’ll have poses like Pigeon and Cobbler sewn up in no time.