Yoga Leg Stretches for New Moms

Video Transcript

"Now you've made it to the abs and legs, good job. We?re going to get down to do another leg stretch. This is something that you can do standing up, when you get a little stronger, but it is great to do lying down. First, you are going to lie completely down on your back. Get a strap. I would suggest to most people to grab a strap. If you find that you are flexible enough to grab your toe, that's great. Lie down flat on your back. Really make sure that you are aligned. I wiggle myself back and forth to make sure that my hips are aligned, my spine is straight and my shoulders are down. Take a deep breath. Just get a sigh out for all of the hard work that you will be doing. Grab the strap. Bend your leg up. Put the strap right under the arch of you foot and you are going to straighten it out. Now if you need to grab the strap around your leg, you're going hold the strap with the same arm as your same leg. Right now, I have my right arm with my right leg. Take a deep breath in, exhale pull your leg forward keeping your hip down. Both hips should be straight. Pull your leg forward towards you are far as is comfortable while keeping your knees straight. Once your knee starts to bend, stop going that far. Just back off. Take deep breaths here. I am just going to take two, but you can take as many breaths that you need to take to open up your hamstring. This gets also your sciatic nerve all the way from your toe all the way back up into your sacrum. Inhale, get ready, exhale slowly. This is using arm strength and leg strength. You are also holding your stomach to keep your hip, the left hip, down. I even hold my hip with my hand, so it won't go up, because it is going to want to go up. Open your leg up without letting your hip go up, as far as it will go out. Go as far as it feels good for you, not as far as I may go, the body is in charge. The body will tell you if it?s too much. It is supposed to feel really good, it is not about how far you can go. Stretch into that. You can flex your leg and point your leg. Inhale, get ready, exhale. Come back to center and bring your leg over to the other side, just a little bit. Stretch the outside of your hip. Bring it over. Continue deep breathing and inhale. Come back to center. Take you time on that one, if you need to. Break there for a few minutes. You can either use your strap or let go of your leg. It is pretty intense to just let go of it, especially if you're just postpartum. So just use the strap to lower your leg. Use all of that, your arm strength, to let your leg all the way down. Relax and switch to the other side. Second, we are going to do a nice hip stretch. You can also do this in the sitting position. It is great doing lying down. Lift one leg up and hook it on the top of your knee so your ankle comes just above your knee and let your right leg fall open. Bend the opposite leg up and lie your head down. Lie your head back down and relax, take a deep breath in and exhale. You are going to pull. Lift the left leg up. The deeper you want to stretch; you can push your knee open. You can push this knee open with your hand. Otherwise don?t if it is just fine without it. Put both hands on this knee and pull it towards you. Deep breathe into this. The hips are the largest joints in the body and, especially after childbirth, hold a lot of tension. So take deep breaths and slowly let yourself to go deeply into this stretch for as long as you need to. At a minimum take seven deep breaths. Hold this and then exhale. Lower slowly. When you?re finished, bring that leg slowly and carefully onto the other side and switch. Remember to take at least seven breaths. When you're done with both sides, just for balance, place both knees into your chest. Deep breath in, exhale. Squeeze and then release."