5 Yoga Poses You Can Do At The Barn
One of the best things about yoga is that you don’t have to restrict your practice to the studio setting. You can sit on the floor with your legs crossed while watching This Is Us (or whatever is your thing at the moment), you can have a little stretch when popping into the kitchen for a tea break, and most important — you can have lots of yoga fun at the barn! Here are some poses I like to do with the help of stable doors, fences and gates:
1. Stable Door-Assisted Downward-Facing Dog
It may be one of the better-known poses, but Downward-Facing Dog can be a challenging one, especially if you’re just starting out on your yoga journey or have tight hamstrings (which many of us do). The stretch above can be great preparation, helping you to open up the backs of your legs and lengthen your upper body.
How to do: Face and gently hold the stable door, hands about shoulder-distance apart, then walk yourself away from it so that your arms are straight but your hips and ankles are in line. Make sure you have a good grip of the stable door as you think of pulling your hips backwards and pushing your hands forwards at the same time. You can turn your gaze down to the ground and take it easy here with five deep breaths.
2. Horsey Girl Hamstring / Hip Opener
One thing I love to do to stretch my hamstrings and hips is prop my foot up on a solid surface and let my body open up slowly. The trick is to start low and work your way up over time. The stable door might be too high for new yogis or those with tight hamstrings, but the bottom or lower rail of the fence is often a great starting point.
How to do: Begin by seeing if you can lift your foot up on the lower rail of the fence with both legs straight. If that feels too high, try something lower. If that feels OK, flex your foot (pushing your heel away and pointing your toes towards your body) and think about lengthening your calves while engaging your thigh muscles. If you like, you can then turn your body away from your leg (or slide your leg away from your body) to open up your hips. Take five breaths in what should feel like a nice, relaxing stretch. As you become more flexible over time you can gradually start to bring your leg up a bit higher.
3. Equestrian Yogi Squat
This is a challenging pose for those with tight hips but also a great way to open them up, both before and after riding. Leaning up against a stable door or wall could be helpful if your hips are tight.
How to do: Stand slightly away from the stable door (about the length of a ruler), open your feet slightly wider than your hips and turn your feet out about 45 degrees. Bring your hands together in front of your chest (in prayer position), take a deep breath in, and as you breathe out lower yourself down so that your tail bone comes close to the ground (you can slide down the stable door). Next, bring your elbows inside your knees, then as you breathe out, see if you can gently push your knees further apart with your elbows. Look forward as you open your chest and lengthen your spine against the door, keeping your tail bone down. Hold for five breaths.
4. Gate-Assisted Chest And Shoulder Stretch
This gentle gate-assisted pose is nice for opening up your shoulders and front body, while strengthening your upper back.
How to do: Stand near the gate or fence, bring your arms behind your back and get a good grip (holding the gate lower will make the pose slightly easier, so adjust for your own body) and lean slightly forward so your arms are straight. Then take a deep breath in and as you breathe out, try to squeeze your shoulder blades back and down, while lifting and opening your chest and keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Push down into your heels and tuck your bottom in. Hang out here and enjoy the sunshine until you feel like rejoining the world.
5. Dancer’s With The Fence (Horse Rider Version)
My favourite pose and a fantastic one to do at the barn, as the fence or gate is going to help you keep your balance while you work on getting it right. In fact, you can use the fence/gate/stable door to help you learn any new balancing pose.
How to do: The key to this pose is to kick your leg and lift your chest at the same time. Another trick is to go step by step. First, grab your left ankle from the inside. Step two, bring your knees together and find your balance. Step three, lift your right arm up above your head. Step four, kick your left leg up and back (while keeping your hip down) as stretch your right arm forward and gently bring your body down (but keep lifting your chest up). Hold the fence and take five breaths here. Repeat on the other side.
