Today I'm recording an exercise which I've wanted to do for a very long time, which is a combination of the hip flexor stretch which you all know so well, and also folds up the back leg when you're in the position to add quadricep to the hip flexor. It's intense and I'll explain a few more details as we go. So to start with, I'm going to bring my right foot in front of my right knee like this. Put my hands on the ground. You may find that you need a yoga block or something like that. And then I, if you say that little leg straightening action, I moved this leg back as far as I could, and then I'm folded the foot onto the floor. Also, I'm using a sticky mat and the reasons for that will become obvious in a moment. Also too, this floor is very padded so we're working on a soft dish kind of surface. You may find that you need padding underneath your back knee when you do this at home. Okay. So now all I'm doing is I'm letting myself settle into the position and you can probably see that my hips are going lower, that is towards the floor, just by relaxing in this position. Then if the stretch in here, and this is where you'll be feeling it, is not strong enough, you can increase it by pulling your hands back to your body like this, and I'll just exaggerate that a bit, that pulls the hips forward like so. Now in this position here we can do a contraction. The contraction for this exercise in the first part, at least, is to try to pull this knee forward, which is what I'm doing now, and that's why I'm using a sticky mat. Then the sticky mat holds the knee perfectly in position, and I slowly stop contracting. I take a breath in and I let my tummy go completely soft. I take another breath in, and on a breath out, I pull myself a little deeper into the stretch, and I think you can see my hips going a bit lower to the floor. I'm also feeling a stretch on the inside of the front leg as well, and you probably will too. The reason for this is we're actually using tension in the adductors and the hamstrings to hold the pelvis in position, because if you look at my lower back, you'll see it's perfectly straight. Then I'm going to push myself back like this, and watch, and fold the back leg up like this, and let myself come down further, but this time with the leg folded. I'm just again following the same sequence. I'm letting everything go soft, and you'll see that as I let things go soft, I can bring the hips closer to the floor. And when you're doing this for yourself, make sure you rest in this position for at least 30 seconds before doing anything. That's a bin mat 15 seconds, so I'll just move around a little bit, and that's something else. You'll notice that I'm moving the back leg around in and out like this, and what that does is it changes the exact location of the stretch at the top of the thigh. And then when I go a bit further forward like this, I'm now feeling it in the middle of quadricep as well. Now there are two contractions I can do. I can try to straighten the legs. I'm pressing the foot back into the hand that's holding it. Three, two, one, stop. I can drag the folded leg forward, as we did before. Three, two, one, slowly stop. Take a breath in, let the tummy go soft as you breathe out, take another breath in, and this time as you breathe out, pull yourself forwards both with a front leg and with the hand like this, and you'll see that brought both hips considerably closer to the floor. Stay in the position for a while, and you can also do that little moving around a bit. Some people like to do what we call micro movements or pulses too, and the end result of all of these techniques is that the hips go closer to the floor as you can see. Then let the foot go like this, put both hands back in the front position and now watch. Immediately you'll find that you'll go much lower to the floor, having stretched quadricep as well, and we'd stay in that position for at least 30 seconds to a minute. In fact, I'm feeling that just by resting here, the hips are going lower all by themselves. Lovely. To come out, push back gently like this, and now we'll do the other side and you'll be able to see a view of all the parts of the exercise. Also, too, watch how I'm moving the foot on the sticky mat. Now, using a foot creeping action like this, you'll just find that allows you to position the parts of your body carefully and precisely. I've got all my bodies weight on my hands, like so. Take a breath in, let my hips go closer to the floor. Closer still, I can remember, I can pull the hands back on the floor like this, sticky mat, stocks them from sliding, and again, you can try turning the back leg and the hip joint like this and find where today's tightest line is, and that's it right there. I breathe in again, and as I breathe out further forwards. Now, to add quadricep to it, always push yourself back as far as you can go. If you don't do that, you'll find the hamstring on this leg, heel, or cramp. We don't want that. Fold it up, hold it like so. Move the hands back into a strong position and slowly pull yourself forwards. Now, when I say pull, I'm really only moving myself into that position. I'm not using any effort at all. In fact, I'm trying to keep everything as soft as possible. And I find that staying here a bit longer, I can go forward a bit without doing any contractions. It's just a natural relaxation process that we're trying to foster in the body. That feels excellent. So now I'll do those same two contractions. I will press the foot into my hand. Five, four, three, two, one. Slowly let that effort go. And I will drag the folded leg towards my chest. Five, four, three, two, one. Stop. Take a breath in. On a breath out. Pull yourself forward and you'll find that's an absolutely wonderful release. Stay there for a while. We recommend about 30 seconds. But look, those numbers are not set in stone. Actually, what you're waiting for is, and it just happened then, you're waiting for the muscle you're stretching to relax. And that just happened in the result of that, of course, was the hips bent closer to the floor. Then I'll let the leg go. And now we have the combined effects of those two movements visible as you go much closer to the floor. Regal around a bit. Find that tight line again. Put a bit of effort into the muscles under your arms to pull yourself forward to increase the stretch if you need to. Don't be surprised to find a little cramped happening here and there. That's normal. And also I'm feeling quite a strong sensation here on the inside of the leg, not on the outside. Nothing there. And that's enough for today. So I'm going to push myself out slowly. Please let us know what you think of this in the comments. But in the era of COVID, where everyone is spending time in the meetings and Skype calls, sitting down, binge watching your favorite television programs and other sorts of things like that, these muscles get shorter and shorter. You'll find that as you let, as you practice this exercise and these muscles get longer and longer, your own posture will naturally emerge and you'll be able to move around more freely and feel more graceful. So there you have it. Let us know what you think.