Hello everyone, Tutu Mora here with the Y bringing you tools to feel well in your
body, mind and spirit. So, today we are going to be talking
about and stretching out the IT band which is an
extension of the hip muscle that connects
all the way down to the knee on the outside of the leg. And so,
people who are frequent walkers or runners,
or even if you are sitting a lot, you can be experiencing some
tightness or discomfort on the outside of your
legs, sometimes all the way down to your ankle
even. And so, these stretches can be a really helpful
tool in mitigating some of that tension and pressure that you might be
experiencing - allowing you to more fully enjoy those
movement and activities that you enjoy so much.
So, all you're going to need today is a yoga block or a firm pillow.
You're going to need a thera band - it doesn't really matter
what color as long as it's an open-ended thera band -
and if you don't have one that's okay, you can use a spare pair of yoga pants
or anything that's a little bit stretchy. And then, the last thing that we'll need
is a foam roller. Now, if you don't have a foam roller
that's also okay, you can use a rolled up bath towel - anything that's gonna keep
your leg at the height of your hip. So, go ahead and grab your props and I'll meet you
down on the mat.
Alright so, we're going to start first with the foam
roller. And I'm going to have you grab your block
and your foam roller. You're going to lay the roller down
by your legs and your block is going to be supporting your head.
So, what that's going to look like is: head on the block, leg
being supported, here's the roller even though it's kind of out of the frame
here, it's being supported by your leg and now
take a moment. When we lie on our sides it's very easy to
sort of curl up like we're going to sleep, but see if you can feel behind you
for the edge of your mat and line your spine up with the mat
making sure your hips are square towards the wall in front of you
and your shoulders are square as well. So, with your leg resting on the roller,
what you're going to do is really feel into a reach through the
heel. And what we want to do is, is stretch out this space kind of
like, right about the back of the hip to the
knee, almost to the ankle as well. So, feeling
like your awareness is the, in the
posterior side, the back side, of your body here. And
you're just going to lengthen that leg away from you.
Reaching through that back line, that back outside line of the body
and then bringing that leg back in. And so, if this is the side that you've
been experiencing that discomfort on, this might feel it quite a stretch so.
take it gently, breathing into it. So, perhaps as you
reach your leg out long, bringing in a nice deep inhale.
As you exhale bring that leg back towards you - almost like your leg is
gonna fit smoothly into your ribcage like it's a
little tunnel, but of course that's not going to happen.
So again, reaching out with your inhale and then bringing that
leg back in with your exhale. Let's take that
two more times here, making sure your hips are still square, it can be very
easy to kind of turn them out a little bit, but let's bring those hips
squarely facing the wall in front of you. And we'll take that two more times, that
little reaching out, breathing, reaching through
that back line of the body. Back in. Last one.
And so now, as you're here, my foot is out of the frame,
but you're going to lead with your ankle and just rotate your foot out so that
your leg moves with it in the hip socket. And
then, back in. And as much as you're able,
try to keep your pelvis square - just allowing that
leg bone to have some rotation in the hip socket. We're just going to do
this a couple more times. Again, you can lead from the ankle as you
just rotate externally, rotate internally.
Last time.
Alright so, you can bend that leg and we're going to do the same thing on the
other side. So, I'll turn around. Move my props
over to the other side.
Alright so, same thing here, lining yourself up with
the mat.
Reaching through the heel. And so, bringing your awareness, again, to that
back line of the body. As you reach that leg out with your
inhale, bringing it back in with your exhale.
And so again, reaching out with your inhale and back in.
Let's take that a couple more times.
Last time here.
Just a gentle stretch, reaching through that heel.
Nice. And then once again, leading with the ankle here,
as we externally rotate and internally rotate
So, just a couple times here, feeling into that range of motion that
you might have on each side - which is going to be different for each
side of the body, right? They don't have to be the same. They probably won't
be the same and that's pretty normal. It's pretty normal for
there to be that lack of symmetry and, and
this practice and all of the videos that we are
here doing, it's really an effort to bring a little bit more balance
to the sides of the body in the way that we use
the different sides of the body. Alright so, bending that leg right on
top of its fellow leg, let's come all the way up. We can set
that foam roller aside. We can set that
block aside. And now we're going to
reach for our thera band. Alright, we're going to lie down on our back.
And we're going to lay the thera band across
the angle of one foot. So, I'm starting here, with the right foot, but
you can start with whichever. And so, you may not be able to straighten
your leg out. That's okay especially if this is the side that you're
experiencing the discomfort on, but letting the straps kind of, you
want to find the right tension. So, you certainly don't want to create any
additional tension in the upper body. So, let's find
that degree of tension where your leg feels supported,
but you're not creating that kind of gripping through the neck and the
shoulders. So, your other leg will just be bent here
keeping you stable. And so, on this side I'm actually going
to tilt my screen up so you can see. So, as you're finding that tension in
your band,
let's bring in just a little pointing and flexing of the foot here.
Alright so, here you are. Let's just point and flex.
Pointing and flexing.
Really allowing that leg bone to rest heavy in the hip socket.
And then we'll bring in little ankle circles here. Nice and slow
so you can feel all those little stretches
down the outside, down the inside of the leg.
And then, we'll reverse directions here.
Alright, pausing here at the center, I want you to bring in a little
reach through the heel.
And you're going to take that leg out to the side.
So, we're taking it to the right since we're on the right leg.
Almost like you're gathering more heaviness of the leg bone and the hip
socket. And then, we're going to take this across
the body, holding that little reach through the
heel, allowing that leg to sink back into its socket. And we're just going to
hold here for three deep breaths. And I want you to feel like
you're breathing into the back of the ribcage,
into the kidney and into the hip socket on this side.
Nice and full breaths, using your breath as a facilitator.
So, your breath is a powerful tool for creating
space and movement, so let's let it help us here. Let's again, bring that leg
back to center. We're going to take it out to the side again,
almost as if we're gathering more heaviness,
and then again, taking that heavy leg in the hip socket across the body.
Still reaching through that heel, it'll be quite a stretch, but
holding that for three deep breaths to the degree of stretch that feels good
for you right now.
Back to center. And then we'll change legs.
So, let's bring that band across
the arch of the other foot - we're now on the left side.
And once again, finding that tension in the band that
supports the leg, but keeps you from creating tension in the neck and the
shoulders. So, find that degree of tension that
works for you. And we're just going to point and flex here.
And then, we'll take little ankle circles. Again nice and slow
so you can feel into all those little stretches
down the inside and outside of the leg. And then we'll reverse those ankle circles.
Pausing at the center, a little flex of the foot, reaching through the heel, we're
going to take that leg out to the left. And then, as if we're gathering that
heaviness of the leg in the hip socket, we'll take that across the body.
Holding that here for three deep breaths. Really feeling that sink
down and back of the leg in the hip socket. Breathing into the
back of the ribcage, breathing into the kidney,
breathing into that hip socket. Allowing that breath to help you create
space for that leg bone, just to settle, for
that stretch should take place. And then, we'll take that back to center.
Once again, taking it across the body - or excuse me - out to the left, before then
taking it across the body.
Holding for three deep breaths.
And back to the center here. You can release
that band.
You can set it aside and you can stay
on your back. I'm just going to tilt that camera back down so, you can see my body.
We're going to take a figure 4 stretch, here.
So, we're going to cross one angle across the opposite knee.
And then, as you're able, you might have a different ability of ability of bringing
your bottom half of your body in towards you,
but in whatever way you can, bring that lower
body towards you. Feeling that stretch as you take this
in towards your torso.
Perhaps rocking it from side-to-side,
here. And it can help also to bring a little
flex of the foot.
And then you can switch sides here,
bringing your legs back down to the mat, opposite heel across that opposite knee,
as you then bring that
lower half of the body towards your torso.
Perhaps rocking from side-to-side here.
And then, bringing both legs back down to the mat.
So, coming all the way up, let's go ahead and stand upright. Take a
couple steps around the room and you might notice that it feels
even different just to walk around with that IT band stretched out a little
bit. So, I hope you all found this helpful and
I'll see you back here next time on the Y's YouTube channel.
Take care.