Poses for Your Hamstrings

Spoiler Alert: It's not what you think.

Because there's more to life than hip openers.

“Going deeper” into your pose has nothing to do with how it looks.

Bound Angle Pose, or Baddha Konasana, opens the deepest part of the hip muscles.

Open wide into Prasarita Padottanasana to increase flexibility by leaps and bounds.

It might look straightforward, but there's more to Dandasana than meets the eye.

Fold into Paschimottanasana to help your distracted mind—and your hamstrings—unwind.

Parsvottanasana encourages balance, body awareness, and inspires confidence.

Trade in your gym workouts for these postures, which shape stronger legs, arms, and core.

A standing posture centered around balance, Virabhadrasana III will strengthen your legs, ankles, and core.

One of yoga's most widely recognized poses, Adho Mukha Svanasana strengthens the core and improves circulation, while providing a delicious, full-body stretch.

Just as it’s essential for archers to know how to string their bows, it’s important for yogis to learn how to properly engage their bodies in Bow Pose.

Extended Triangle Pose is a quintessential standing pose that stretches and strengthens the whole body.

Uttanasana will wake up your hamstrings and soothe your mind.

Suddenly, your practice just became a lot stronger (literally).

Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose, or Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana, offers a deep, vivid stretch to the side body paired with loving and heart-opening movement.

This revolved variation of Utthita Parsvakonasana requires a lot of flexibility to twist so deeply and ground the back heel.

Want to fly? Fire up your core. Firefly pose is an arm balance pose that requires more core strength than arm strength.

Folding into Marichyasana I or Pose Dedicated to the Sage Marichi I calms your mind, extends your spine, and gives your internal organs a healthy squeeze.

Practicing yoga with tight hamstrings isn't about stretching past your known limits. It's about finding a way to practice within them.

Hamstring tears and strains are common among yoga practitioners, and overstretching can make it worse. Here's how to alter your practice to ensure a speedy recovery.

Stretch and soothe these important muscles with classic yoga poses.

Say goodbye to tight hips and hamstrings with this sequence to help you prep for and recover from climbing.

Uttanasana is a soothing fold that stretches your back body while helping to calm and relax your mind.

Go from tired and wired to feeling energized and calm with a sequence that targets your back, shoulders, hamstrings, and hips.

Plus, a practice to help you learn how to stay safe when you practice, too.

Flexible and strong, hamstrings are key to a healthy, happy yoga practice. Here's what you need to know in order to lengthen and strengthen these muscles.

Every yogi can melt hip tension with this Monkey Pose sequence (with mods!) from the yoga teacher, body-positive advocate, and Instagram star.

A droopy butt is a common side effect of pregnancy but you can prevent it—or correct it—by strengthening the right muscles.

Whether or not you ever find yourself in the full expression of Monkey Pose, you can still enjoy the journey with these very effective preps from Two Fit Moms.

The yoga splits, or Hanumanasana, are a lifelong journey for many yogis. Fortunately there’s more than one way to skin a Monkey. These four variations of the pose each offer their own value and benefits.

Here's how to use the strength of your core and inner thighs to lift into this arm balance.

Kathryn Budig's Modifications for Safe Alignment in Standing Forward Bend

Kathryn Budig shares her instructions to get into Uttanasana. Plus, reap the benefits and avoid these mistakes.

Focus on deepening hip and shoulder flexibility to get ready for Tittibhasana.

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Dial in to the details for greater integrity in your forward folds.

Sage Rountree takes on the bane of athletes and yogis everywhere: tight hamstrings.

Learn to pay more attention to how you come in and out of Uttanasana and less to where you end up.

Forget destination and let Upavistha Konasana take you on an inner journey. Here are your directions, enjoy the ride.

This side-reclining pose stretches the backs of the legs, the sides of the torso, and tones the belly.

When you practice Standing Splits focus on the stretch in your quad and hamstring, not how high you can lift your leg.

Prasarita Padottanasana is not only the perfect prep for standing poses but for your cool-down, too.

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In Extended Hand-to-big-toe Pose, maintaining solid grounding through the standing foot helps keep you steady.

This pose gently lengthens and strengthens even stubbornly tight hamstrings.

Flexible, strong hamstrings are key to any yoga practice. But they're often stubbornly tight. These five hamstring stretches gently lengthen and strengthen them.

Heron Pose is an intense hamstring stretch. You may need to give Krounchasana some time.

Take a leap of faith into Hanumanasana or Monkey Pose, named for a figure in Hindu mythology who did just that. And when faith doesn't get you all the way there, practice will.

Salabhasana or Locust Pose effectively preps beginners for deeper backbends, strengthening the back of the torso, legs, and arms.

Tim Miller gives advice for practicing with a common injury, an overstretched hamstring attachment.

Upavistha Konasana is good preparation for most of the seated forward bends, twists, and the wide-leg standing poses.

Oh, your aching back? Or maybe you can't crack those tight hamstrings. Supta Padangusthasana I or Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose I is for you.

Janu Sirsasana, or Head-to-Knee Pose, is appropriate for students of any level and melds a forward bend with a spinal twist.

Head-of-the-Knee Pose fosters flexibility in the hamstrings and spine while calming the nervous system.

Reclining Big Toe Pose provides a safe stretch for tight hamstrings —and opens the door to a host of other asanas.