Ask a Yogi: How do you increase flexibility?

You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.

What is the one thing/pose/stretch you can do daily to help increase flexibility?

• Alex van Frank: My recommendation for increasing flexibility is quite simple: expand and change you mind often. Often the greatest barrier to flexibility is the state of your mind. If you find that one pose is too difficult, irritating or not for you then seek out a different ways of approaching and doing it. By letting go of the story, “I’m not flexible” and instead focusing on the ways in which you are flexible you’ll find that you start to increase your capacity to adapt and bend.
• Amy Ippoliti: For me, stretching the pecs and front of the chest is critical especially with how much time we spend on devices hunched over. I use a resistance band or a yoga strap and hold it about a meter apart above my head and then slowly pull the strap backwards behind my head until I feel a nice stretch in the chest. It’s pretty miraculous!
• Carole Westerman: I practice mindfulness everyday, because I find it helps me with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual flexibility.  It’s also a practice I can literally take with me anywhere.
• David Wagner: Because I teach inner yoga and work with consciousness, my suggestion is for flexibility of attitude and mind – which is very important. To keep my mind and attitude flexible, I try to maintain a sense of unconditional contentment as much as possible. When my practices like meditation help me stay connected to satchitananda – then the little stuff changing or coming or going doesn’t ruffle my feathers so much. It’s easier to go with the flow.
• Giselle Mari: Meditation. If I had to pick a pose – a supine twist.
• Jo Tastula: Sun salutations are a great daily practice for strengthening and opening. In particular surya namaskar C series which includes deep lunges, back bends and forward bends.
• Noah Maze: This depends on what muscle/muscle group I am targeting, what feel tight, what things will complement and counter pose my life on a given day. My daily stretch routine includes: all sorts of shoulder stretches, Adho Mukha Svanasana to stretch my calves, hamstrings and shoulders; Uttanasana to stretch my hamstrings and paraspinals; Supta Virasana to stretch my quadriceps,  Anjaneyasana to stretch my hip flexors, Ujayii Pranayama to stretch my breath, Meditation to stretch my mind.
• Steven Espinosa: I always go back to the basics. For me, the most essential pose is Downward Facing Dog. Primarily because it hits all the bases at once. Upper body strength (arms/shoulders/chest), spinal length (neck/upper & lower back), lower body (hips/hamstrings/calves/feet). In my opinion, if you do just one 5 minute down dog on a daily basis you can maintain and increase your flexibility.
• Taylor Harkness: Gentle, bent knee standing forward fold. Great way to lengthen and chill.
• Tiffany Cruikshank: Pick the pose that’s the most challenging for you and do it daily. I recommend finding a way to support yourself, possibly using props, so you can relax there and not have to tense and grip. This will make it easier for the tissues to adapt. I recommend staying in the pose for 2-4 minutes so that you can feel the changes happening.  Simply be still as you investigate the changes over that period of time without any expectations.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-how-do-you-increase-flexibility/