Sitting Too Much? Release Tight Hips with Lizard Pose

All about Lizard Pose

Lizard Pose is a wide low lunge that is often called a "hip opener." 

Hip openers in yoga work to release tight muscles responsible for stabilizing the hips, pelvis, and spine. And while Lizard Pose definitely fits in this category, its benefits go beyond improving hip flexibility alone: It targets the hip flexors, hamstrings, shoulders, glutes, and lower back.

It's a great yoga pose for those who sit a lot in their day to day lives because it can improve your posture, relieve tension in your back, and help counter the effects that inactivity can have on your body.

Lizard Pose step-by-step

• From downward facing dog, step one foot forward to the wide edge of your mat, coming into a low lunge.
• Bring both hands to the inside of the foot.
• Drop your back knee to the ground, pressing down into your palms and finding length in your spine.
• Lower onto your forearms, keeping the back of your neck long and in line with your spine.
• Lift the back knee and straighten your leg. Press actively through your back heel.
• Hold for 5-10 breaths before stepping back to downward facing dog and switching sides.

Want to see how it's done? Watch this video to be guided into Lizard Pose: 

Click here to read the transcript.

Modify your Lizard Pose

• If you feel like you're rounding your back, try staying up on your palms instead of lowering down to your forearms. You could also come up to your fingertips or try putting blocks underneath your hands.
• You could drop your back knee down on the mat for less intensity. Additionally, you could place a folded blanket underneath your knee for more support.
• You could make Lizard pose more challenging by adding a quad stretch! Drop the back knee to the floor, bend that knee by kicking the foot up towards your glutes, and reach around to take hold of the back foot. Kick the foot into your hand, creating resistance as you lift your chest.

A few bonus tips for your Lizard Pose

• Make sure you’re not sinking into your joints passively and collapsing into too deep of a stretch. You can prevent this by pressing actively away from the floor.
• Check in with your stance. If your stance is too short (with the front leg and back knee too close together), it can lead to rounding in your back. Give yourself some space!

Your next step

Give Lizard Pose a try and see how it feels in your body. Then, if you're ready to continue doing more yoga at home but you need a place to start, then enter your info below and I'll share my Yoga at Home Toolkit with you for FREE!

This free resource is everything you need to get started with yoga at home.
‍
The Yoga at Home Toolkit Includes:

• Downloadable guide to 10 yoga poses for better health. Print it out and put it by your mat!
• All of my essential yoga prop recommendations

‍

‍