So many people (cough, men) tell me they "can't" do yoga because they are the most inflexible person on the planet. Many then attempt to show me by reaching for their toes. The more muscle bound they are usually the more space between their fingertips and terra firma. 🌎

Stop trying to touch your toes if you want to get flexible.👣

Really! Hamstring injuries are real and take forever to heal. Mild tears are a couple weeks. More serious ones can take 3-6 months to properly heal. But, most of us grew up thinking that "toe touchies" are the measure of being flexible. Maybe. Rome was not built in a day and neither is your flexibility. So stop reaching for those toes only to be defeated again and again.

Hear me out 👂🏻

Forcing your body into that classic toe touch pose, especially if you are in a place of tightness, desk-hips, bodybuilder physique, or a couch potato does more harm than good. It can lead to strain, lower back issues, and just plain mental defeat that feeds the cycle of "I can't." I promise you — You can.

I am going to let you in on the secret to both aging well and having the flexibility to make the floor less well ... scary. It is simple. Meet your body where it is today. Start where you are and add consistency. Gravity and time will do the rest. Wishing you were more flexible isn't going to make it so but doing something about it is.

Why Forcing Forward Folds Backfires 🔥

Stop chasing the perfect forward fold. First, a flat palmed forward fold cold is a great way to get hurt. When you enter a forward fold cold this is what happens:

• You back rounds instead of hinging at the hips. This puts stress on your lower back. Know someone with bulging discs or have them yourself. Stop.

• Tight hamstrings or hips resist being elongated. You reach for the floor. You can't do it. Then you overcompensate by adding momentum or bouncing. This is forcing your hamstrings to surrender vs letting them ease into release and growth. What is ridgid breaks. What is loose flexs. This is certainly true with your brain getting stuck in the "I Can't" mode.

• Your brain gets involved with negative self-talk feeding the narrative, spiking stress hormone making you yes, freeze up and even more inflexible if you can believe it.

True flexibility comes from fascia release. That's the saran wrap which is around your tendons, muscles, ligaments, and organs. It doesn't come from "muscling through it". Flexibility is achieved with patience, support, and sorry ... time. This is exactly what our Gentle and Yin classes are built to do for you. Embrace support, patience, and yes— time to achieve the flexibility needed to age well, secure your independence and make life in general easier to move through.

How We Do it Differently at Compass Rose Yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️

In our on-demand library, we flip the script:

• Use props as your allies, and not crutches. Blocks under your hands in a standing forward fold (Uttanasana) support your lower back and actually can provide a more satisfying hamstring stretch to even the person that can flat palm the floor. Sit on a block, bolster, or pillow in a seated forward fold with bent knees to start. Use a strap around your feet to keep your back flat. Gravity works vs your lower back. Your nervous system can relax and allows the fascia to release.

• Focus is placed squarely on how YOU FEEL vs LOOK. I emphasize the gentle opening in your hips, hamstrings, back, or whatever area we are focusing on for that session. It isn't about how you look. Really, who cares? You are at home. I care you are finding success and select the option that meets you fully in the moment. Flexibility, like trust, builds when your nervous systems shifts into safe mode and relaxes.

• Choice architecture is yours. With on demand classes you are in control of what focus of "today's class" is rather than what your teacher decides for you in a group studio class. You can also select the length of class that fits your schedule and energy level. I don't know if you hit pause to hit the head or anything else. This equals truly no judgement.

  (Caveat: unless you are practicing with a cat, teenager, or a corgi, they may judge you.)

• Structured for long term results. Classes carefully warm up the parts of the body needed for the apex pose to allow for success. Options provide you to select the way you navigate each class. Often, that may be an entirely different pose which delivers the same results without risking injury for your particular anatomy.

Honor that every wellness goal starts in frustration.

Flexibility is a goal, not a starting point.🎯 Say that again and again to yourself. Say it out loud.

Students often tell me they feel more mobile and pain free after just a few weeks of this approach, even if their forward fold still a work in progress. Why? We are building real, functional flexibility that lasts easing —easing the tightness from sitting all day (the new smoking), release stress from the shoulders and correct tech neck, and simply help you achieve being able to move through life with confidence in your mobility.

You can start now:

1. Stand up. Grab two blocks, pile of books or face a wall/chair.

2. Place the props on the floor in front of you about 18 apart or stand back from the wall / chair in front of you so your back will stay flat as you will bend over.

3. Bend in your knees. 🦵

4. Exhale 💨, hinge at the hips. Feet separated about 18 inches or more. Hands on the wall, chair, or blocks. Slowly straighten your legs to the point you feel the stretch. We aren't forcing them straight. If after a couple breaths you can ease them straighter okay. If not, so be it. You meet your flexibility today.

5. Focus on breathing 🫁 in and out your nose. Hold this for 60 seconds or more.

6. Feel for the gentle release of the tightness in your hamstrings. The goal is NOT to touch your toes but to linger in the pose long enough to feel the fascia respond and trust you to relax.

✨ Magic Happens ✨

You have enhanced your hamstring's elasticity. You see, your goal wasn't to touch your toes. Maybe it was to be able to tie your shoes or grab a nickel off the ground. You are closer to the freedom of trusting your body to be able to do that in the future without fear or groaning. People that can touch their toes never think about being able to do it. Why, we trust our bodies to be able to respond to the moment. You can get there too.

Want to dive deeper without leaving home? 🏡

My unlimited on demand membership provides access to a growing library of Gentle Yoga and Yin classes inspired by the structure and principles of Forrest Yoga. Everyone packed with options for you to make the class fit your body and life as your flexiblity evolves. Designed with real bodies, busy schedules, tight hips and budgets craving less pressure, stress and pain and more freedom in how one moves through the world around them.

For the cost of 1-2 in person general studio classes a month, you level up with:

• Unlimited anytime access to practice in your pj's at midnight or 6A - your schedule your choice.

• Beginner-friendly guidance that progresses with you leveraging props to enhance your experience.

• Build your own toolbox to understand your own growing mobility and calm off the mat into life.

• Be able to revisit classes or take a different class, again your choice.

• Bonus perks like 1:1 calls, office hours for questions and tips, pop up live classes, newsletters, and short intro tutorials.

Stop reaching for your toes and reach for a supported way to reach your actual goal of longevity, mobility, and stress relief. Join our with the membership or take one of the single classes available to sample if it is right for you.