Short practice: Magic three yoga poses for your neck and hips

Summer is winding down, and our activity level is likely to drop as it goes. Fewer walks, fewer hours outside, more time at a desk, and before long our range of movement starts to shrink again. This is exactly when it helps to remember the good old magic three. They’re simple enough to do with no preparation, versatile enough to adapt to whatever shape we’re in, and potent enough to change how we feel in a few minutes. There is nothing fancy about them, but they are reliably effective every time.

This version focuses on the neck and the hips, the two areas that tend to suffer most from the increased screen time. A day spent looking down at a phone and leaning toward a monitor pushes the head forward and tightens the hip flexors. In this practice, we articulate the spine, mobilize the neck and shoulders, and stretch the hip flexors by engaging their antagonists, the glutes. You can do this practice anytime you start feeling like your body is stiffening up. At the end, we spend a few quiet minutes paying attention to our breath to give our nervous system a chance to settle, too.

Try it out and see how it feels!