Sometimes a yoga pose looks like it requires a lot of hip flexibility to achieve, but in reality, it may just require more structural strength. In this practice, we explore how to create stability in the sides of the body (lateral line) to support postures like Bird of Paradise, Side Plank, Sleeping Vishnu and more. In many of these poses, the hips (and the ego) have to learn to be humble so that we only move into a range of motion that we can actually support and hold steady. When we work this way, we may not snag the perfect instagrammable shot of our pose, but we will set up patterns that will help support our structure on and off the mat.

This class was filmed on a humid day in August in NYC, so the sweat was definitely pouring. It's a fun challenge, however, and as I repeated it a few times I found that I was better able to access poses that really challenge me.

Props for class are:
a blanket or a bolster
at least one yoga block or a large book
a strap or something similar

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you get lost along the way!