TriYoga: Free the Hips

This is an hour of mild stretches for the hip area. The stretches, though mild, are held for a very, very long time. Despite the length of the hold, I really didn’t feel much tension release because the stretches are mostly on the very easy side. All of them are done lying on your back. There are 10 different stretches, plus a short deep breathing section at the beginning and a few minutes of relaxation at the end. Assuming the breathing and relaxation take 5 minutes (I didn’t track it), that leaves 55 minutes for each stretch, or an average of 5.5 minutes each. I found myself getting antsy/bored with some of them. However, I would definitely recommend this to a beginner or to someone who may not really be interested in yoga but needs to stretch more often.

Annie S.

first off, I'm used to yoga zone or stuff with a little more zip..this workout I thought would be a little more dynamic. I'm very very tight in the hips and overweight, etc and out of shape...and wanted something to help me loosen up. there are about 10 exerices that someone else describes as 'easy'..well, to most people they probably are but I needed a strap which I didn't have handy! a few moves reminded me of pilates..leg circle type thingies. anyways, each pose is on your back and there's a position you assume betweeen poses..seems like knees to chest and rock some...but this is bout an hour long and 10 poses so you hold them a long time..several minutes on each side. when I finished I could hardly stand up! felt very stiff but the next morning I have to admit I felt great...no lower back tightness or aches or anything. I've only done this workout once but would do it more if it weren't so long and boring..but it did work on my back/hips. of course the time I did it was after working a 12 hour shift and was ready to sleep so that may have had something to do with it.

Instructor Comments:
boring,but the entire workout is spent on your back so I guess there's not much room for excitement in that!

Susanna

I have painfully tight hips, and this is one of my go-to videos. I find it deeply therapeutic and I find that this gets in and loosens things up like almost no other workout on the market. What it isn't, however, is exciting. The DVD is 60 minutes and consists of ten poses, so for each segment you're either slowly moving in and out of the pose or getting into the pose and holding it, for about 5-6 minutes. The music is a kind of monotonous drone that can be either really effective at getting you to focus on what your body is doing or totally annoying depending on one's mood. A no-music option would have been nice, but I don't find it difficult to ignore.

The practice starts with deep breathing and ends in Tranquility, or corpse pose. The ten poses are:
1. Bridge rolls
2. Hip side stretch
3. Leg stretch
4. Hip rotations with one knee to chest
5. Reclined tree
6. Spider
7. Cradle
8. Reclined twist
9. Reclined free seat
10. Reclined butterfly

If you're the kind of person who is easily bored, this is probably not a good choice for you. If your hips are tight and you're willing to just zone out for an hour while you loosen them up, Free the Hips is hard to beat.

Instructor Comments:
Kali Ray narrates through voiceover as she models the poses. She has a gentle, charismatic presence and her voice is extremely soothing.

Chemical Emma