What are folks best suggestions for asanas to work on that can help me to open up my hips more and more. Thanks and ciao for now.
Sean
Sean,
Since you live in CO, we should do a Structural Yoga therapy session together. We can address the past issue around your knee and what is limiting your (external?) hip rotation. PM me if you are interested and I’ll give a Yoga-Forums-Good-Guy discount.
No ideas eh?
sorry- i know a few but not the proper name for them.
- groin stretch or butterfly (WeBeFit.com Stretches - Butterfly Stretch)
- pigeon pose (Yoga Journal : Poses : Backbends) the woman in this picture is doing the more difficult position, when you start the lower leg should be closer in under the body.
- ‘log-stacking’ pose as i hear rodney yee describe it, it’s like sitting cross-legged only your ankle is on your other knee, so your lower legs are stacked on top of each other. as you get better at this you can begin to lean out over your stacked legs using your hands as support. i don’t think this is a yoga pose. (can’t find a link to a picture, i think this position was made up by rodney yee)
- cow face pose, (Yoga Journal : Poses : Seated & Twists ignore what this woman is doing with her arms, it’s the bottom part that’s the hip opener) leaning forward as you become more able, then also twisting and bending forward to each side.
- lying in savasana, putting your heels together (again like the butterfly) and just relaxing, the knees will slowly start to drop.
these are the ones i was recommended by an ashtanga teacher recently.
that should get you started.
Actually too many ideas.
The hip series’ are complicated, just as the hip complex is complicatd and, over time, I’m a little weary from trying to impart them over internet text. So I need a rest from that. I’ll chime in to these sorts of things as my energy allows.
That having been said…
supta padangusthasana
parivrtta supta padangusthasana
parsva supta padangusthasana
interal rotation
external rotation
eka pada supta virasana
Find a Purna Yoga teacher.
My favorite is ankle to Foot pose. I can't remember the sanskrit name. Below is a pic I found on google.
I also love pigeon.
Ankle to foot???
LOL. Thank you. I really needed that.
[quote=InnerAthlete;6227]Ankle to foot???
LOL. Thank you. I really needed that.[/quote]
So glad I gave you a laugh. Do you know the “proper” name?
nope I don’t know a proper name for this one. I thought you might have meant “ankle to knee” and that’s what pushed me to chortle.
Bet it’s Janu something or other.
That’s actually what I’ve always called it, but I could only find a pic under the other name, so I thought I might have been wrong.
Ankle to foot?
Really. Hehehe. Hopefully I’m laughing “with” you.
How the heck is it “ankle to foot”?
[quote=InnerAthlete;6238]Ankle to foot?
Really. Hehehe. Hopefully I’m laughing “with” you.
How the heck is it “ankle to foot”?[/quote]
I certainly hope you’re laughing with me as well! hahahaha
I’ve got to find the sanskrit name…they always sound much better anyway. 
that’s the one i heard on the rodney yee dvd as being the ‘log-stacking pose’ which i don’t like, it sounds like i should take the form of a log cabin.
I’m still trying to figure out how to get my ankle to my foot since it’s already there. LOL. Much needed levity.
Yeah, I’ve heard of it referred to as firelog pose.
And InnerAthlete…maybe its right ankle to left foot? lol
I believe it to be:
janu padasthilasana
Easy at seems, I can’t do it !
Am I right when I say the shins are parallel to the body’s plane in this position ?
If I do it like this, my hip is so stiff I can’t place my knee on the other leg’s foot.
yes, this is definitley one of those poses that looks simple until you stack your legs on top of each other, it’s not the ‘indian sit’ we learned in kindergarten (of course, our hips were more open then).
like i said, at first you’ll barely be able to sit straight and the lower legs will not ‘stack’, but as the hips open you may begin to deep the stretch by leaning forward.
i feel like i need to go home and practice it right now!
[quote=Hubert;6262]Easy at seems, I can’t do it !
Am I right when I say the shins are parallel to the body’s plane in this position ?
If I do it like this, my hip is so stiff I can’t place my knee on the other leg’s foot.[/quote]
Yup, that’s it!
Thank you all the info, my asana practice just got richer by … what InnerAthlete called it … Janu Padasthilasana !
Now I just need to figure out where to place it in time.