Magic Three yoga poses for your neck and hips

With summer winding down, work is about to pick up and we will all start getting busy again. That’s when our yoga practice tends to fall off the schedule, so it helps to have a few poses we can always fall back on. The good old magic three are made for exactly that. They’re simple enough to do with no preparation, versatile enough to adapt to whatever state we’re in, and potent enough to change how we feel in a few minutes. There is nothing fancy about them, but they work every time.

The adaptability is what makes them so useful. Chakravakasana with the chin tuck does something different than Chakravakasana with the knee lift, and Bhujangasana with an arm sweep does something different than Bhujangasana with forearms on the floor. A change in the position of the arms, feet, or head shifts where the movement happens in the body, which body parts are involved, and how hard the pose is to do. This means that we can direct the same three poses toward whatever needs attention, or make them gentler when the body isn’t up for much.

This version of the magic three focuses on the neck and the hips. In this practice, we articulate the spine, mobilize the neck and shoulders, and stretch the hip flexors by engaging their antagonists, the glutes. You can do this short practice anytime you start feeling like your body is stiffening up. At the end, we spend a few quiet minutes paying attention to our breath to give our nervous system a chance to settle, too.