Prone/belly down tree pose (aka “Sleeping Swan”). This pose is ideal for releasing tight hips. Let gravity do the work for you. As your bodyweight gently presses the bent leg down into the mat you will receive a release to the inner hip and thigh muscles on that leg. The opposite is true for the straight leg, which sees a release to the back of the hip as it is extended.
I’ve shown two variations here. By elevating the upper body, you can get a deeper stretch on the extended leg. By lying prone directly on the mat, you can switch it up and get a deeper stretch on the bent leg. However, every body is different so you may want to experiment to see what works best for you, paying attention to what your body is telling you.
How to get into Prone Restorative Tree pose:
For the elevated version you’re going to want two yoga blocks, one big bolster or pillow, one folded or rolled blanket for under the hips and one folded blanket for under the knee. Stack your blocks as show in the photo and place the bolster or pillow on top. Lay belly down on your bolster and draw one knee up to the side. Place your folded blanket under the bent knee to support and cushion the leg. If you find you have quite a gap between your hips and the mat you’re going to place your other folded or rolled blanket here. Adjust, settle in, find most comfortable placement for your arms (my preference is giving the bolster a hug).
For the prone version all you will need is a folded or rolled blanket to place under the bent knee. You can adjust the fold of the blanket to elevate your knee to the desired level.
Remain in this position for anything from two to six minutes. If you have pretty tight hips you’re not going to want to stay here for longer than two minutes maximum to begin. You can increase your time the more you practice the pose. Practice your Ujjayi breathing, or perhaps listen to one of the musical tracks or audio meditations available here on my Patreon.
We have plenty of restorative classes in our On Demand Library that focus on releasing tight hips. Please consider joining our community to get access to that content and much more.