YOGA FOR FLEXIBILTY BEST YOGA POSES TO BECOME MORE FLEXIBLE

It’s a common misconception that you have to be flexible to do yoga – in fact, the reason a lot of people start yoga is to become more flexible and improve their mobility. Increased flexibility has many health benefits and will improve your overall fitness. Yoga is an incredibly effective way to improve your flexibility and doing so can even help reduce stress as when you stretch you literally release tension in the muscles.   The following are some good yoga poses you can do to become more flexible. Remember to take nice long deep breaths, and if you feel any sharp pain, stop. You want to feel the stretch (which might come with some discomfort!) but you don’t want to injure yourself by trying to over do it.   Downward Facing Dog: This pose is excellent for an overall stretch, so consider Downward Facing Dog your go to yoga pose to improve your flexibility. In particular, this yoga pose will improve flexibility in your hamstrings and calves. It's quite normal for people to have stiff hamstrings, so let Downward Facing Dog help you out.   Low Lunge: Want to improve flexibility in your hip flexors? Low lunge can help! Especially if you spend your working days sat at a desk, you might be quite tight here. You’ll probably find you’re naturally more flexible on one side than the other, but don’t panic – most people are.   Pyramid Pose: Like Downward Facing Dog this yoga pose will improve the flexibility in your hamstrings and you might find you can get a deeper hamstring stretch when you can focus on one leg at a time.   Baddha Konasana: AKA Bound Angle pose. This yoga pose is for flexibility in the hips and groin. Over time, through repetition and relaxation, you will become more flexible in this position. The repetition of any (or all) of these postures is a good way to monitor your flexibility progress.   Cobra: A lot of people experience recurring back pain and stiffness. Cobra variations, baby or full, are a great way to improve flexibility in the spine and gently stretch into the front body.   Figure 4 variations: This pose can be done standing, seated, or supine (laying down). By crossing the ankle over the knee and creating some resistance you’re getting a nice stretch in the glutes, hip flexors and TFL. To achieve optimum flexibility, try all variations, as you’ll feel the emphasis in slightly different muscles in each.   Remember that flexibility is something that takes time, so don't rush, stay patient with your body and your yoga practice, and you will start to see results. Take the time to practice the above postures but really, the best yoga poses for flexibility is... all of them. So get yourself down to some yoga classes and enjoy the journey!

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