One Stop Shopping

Why do this?

Most riders have extremely tight iliopsoas muscles. These muscles live on the front part of your lower, or lumbar, spine and attach to the front of your upper thighs. If restricted, these muslces will pull your spine either forwards or backwards - your abdominal muscles, no matter how engaged, will have a tough time counterbalancing this strained pulling. One Stop Shopping, if done correctly, will release the ilopsoas muscles on the front, back and outer sides of your hips and thighs plus reduce the pressure in your back.

What it does for me:

Great for easing soreness and tension in my hips, legs and back. It also helps me be aware of stacking my spine one vertebrae on top of the other and keeping all my body parts in the same plane. The result, I'm less twisted and bent and more balanced and symmetrical when riding my horse. I do this on my way out of bed most mornings.

Breathe - inhale through your breastbone and exhale through the bottom of your shoulder blades.

Encourage a neutral, not arched, spine.

Lock your pelvis by pulling your belly button towards your spine.

With your legs and feet hanging loosely from your hips, sit on the very edge of a firm bed.
Lift your right knee towards your chest until you feel your low back is stable.
Let your slightly raised left leg drop down towards the floor with your knee bent and your foot underneath your knee.
Hold the front of your right knee with your right hand and hold the back of your right knee with your left hand underneath the thigh.
Hold that position in your low back and pelvis (by remembering to keep pulling your belly button towards your spine and breathing) and roll backward on the bed.
You ultimately want the right knee to be able to drop below the hipbone while maintaining the position of the knee and foot.
Make sure the hanging left foot is directly under the left knee and that the raised right knee is lined up with both the right hip joint and the inside of the right shoulder.
Hold the positions on both sides simultaneously for 30 - 60 seconds.
Remember to maintain a flat, not arched, back.
Rock back up into the sitting position while holding the right knee to the chest until you are upright.
Release and relax both legs back into a sitting position on the edge of the bed for 30 seconds.
Repeat on the other side.